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23 June 2003



10th Annual Meeting of Special Rapporteurs, Representatives,
Independent Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups
of the Commission on Human Rights

(Geneva, 23 – 26 June 2003)


Opening Statement
by Bertrand Ramcharan
the Acting High Commissioner

10:15 am
Palais Wilson, Conference Room, Ground Floor




Distinguished Experts, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a pleasure to welcome you once again to Geneva and to thank you all for participating in the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures mandate- holders. This meeting has become an important forum for you to discuss and share your joint experiences and expertise and to build upon your efforts to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of your work.

In welcoming you to this annual meeting of special rapporteurs, representatives, and independent experts, my first thoughts are of deep gratitude to each and every one of you for the service, commitment, and devotion you bring to the promotion and protection of human rights at the United Nations. You give of your time freely to the United Nations without recompense. You put in long hours with minimum support. You deal with difficult and challenging issues and oftentimes are called upon to visit rough terrains. You bring your talents and expertise to the cause of human rights protection. We owe you a great deal and, today, I thank you on behalf of the United Nations for your contributions.

Some of you deal with the human rights dimensions of world order issues. You seek to ensure that human rights are the starting point for governance, globally, regionally and nationally. Some of you are helping to clarify the content of key economic, social and cultural rights and thereby to give expression to the vision of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of a world of rights, economic, social and cultural, and civil and political. Some of you are engaged in the exploration of current problems affecting the enjoyment of human rights in a world in rapid evolution. Here again, it is the human rights dimension of human governance that is at the centre of your concern. Some of you are involved in efforts to help bring protection to people affected by pernicious practices that violate the human rights of women, children, and men in different parts of the world. The special procedures mandate-holders are indeed the first-line protection actors in today’s United Nations. Here again, the international community owes a debt of gratitude to you.

Before I go on to discuss some important matters that have occurred throughout the year that affect your work, I would like to pay tribute to Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women Param Cumaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and Louis Joinet, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, whose tenure will end shortly. All of you have contributed significantly to the building of the special procedures system through your expertise, dedication and professionalism.

You will see on your draft agenda this year a large portion of time dedicated to improving the special procedures system. It has been a significant year for the special procedures system, with a reaffirmation of the vital role mandate holders play in the promotion and protection of human rights, and of the need to find ways to continue to support and strengthen their activities.

All of you have contributed significantly, through your commitment and expertise, to the strengthening of the system of special procedures and the consolidation of the human rights protection system. To mention but two recent examples, let me congratulate Param on his recent receipt of the 2002 International Justice in the World award and Asma Jahangir, who was named among the 2003 “Asian Heros” by a prominent magazine.

While we have witnessed growing international recognition for the important role played by special procedures, they have also been confronted recently with an unprecedented level of criticism and have been questioned on a number of issues by Member States, including during the session of the Commission this year. Even if we believe that such criticism may often not have been well-founded, there is a need to reflect on how to rationalize and enhance the effectiveness of this vital component of the human rights machinery.

The Secretary General’s “Agenda for Change”, presented to the General Assembly last year, outlined a program of reform and renewal of the Secretariat’s activities. It focuses on ensuring that what we do, we do well. Central to this process is the strengthening of the United Nations human rights program. The report identified 4 specific action points that will enable the UN human rights system to build upon its achievements and to continue to strengthen its promotion and protection of human rights, namely:


the development and implementation of a plan by OHCHR, in cooperation with UNDG and the Executive Committee for Humanitarian Affairs, to strengthen human rights related actions at the country level;
the streamlining of reporting procedures for treaty bodies;
the undertaking of a review of the special procedure system with a view to enhancing their effectiveness and improving the support provided to them; and
the development of a plan to strengthen management.


The General Assembly endorsed the Secretary-General’s report in resolution 57/300 and requested the Commission on Human Rights to review the system of special procedures in order to rationalize their work and enhance their effectiveness. OHCHR was asked to support this exercise.

Numerous steps have already been taken in response to the action points contained in the Secretary-General’s report. A note on this subject was shared with the Commission on Human Rights at its last session and is part of your background information. Such steps, as you are aware, included your own on-going efforts to develop a common methodological tool , i.e. your manual for Special Rapporteurs; the drafting and endorsement by OHCHR of internal Guiding Principles regarding the working relations between special procedures mandate-holders and OHCHR staff; the introduction of an induction kit for special procedures mandate-holders, which is routinely updated as well as briefing sessions for new mandate-holders; efforts to keep you informed on control and limitation of documentation. Also, in an effort to strengthen the analytical, communications, information and logistical assistance to special procedures, OHCHR has increasingly resorted to the recruitment of human resources in order to provide the necessary assistance to mandate-holders from extra-budgetary resources. The establishment of a Quick Response Desk in July 2001 ensured better coordination of and follow-up to your communications with Governments.

The above mentioned efforts need to be sustained and strengthened in the coming years. We have initiated an in-depth brainstorming process within the Office to come up with a series of recommendations to present to the Secretary-General. The discussions are focusing on a whole range of activities, and an effort is being made to identify main needs and challenges together with suggestions and recommendations. I encourage you to think on this matter deeply, and contribute to the ongoing process, bearing in mind its purpose of strengthening and furthering your work. With this in mind, I wish to share with you the following summary of some issues we think are relevant to the process:

Appointment: There is a need to explore ways and means of enhancing methods of selection of special procedures mandate holders. OHCHR, utilizing its experience in servicing special procedures, can help develop a job description which would describe the required skills/qualifications, the activities that are commonly undertaken in the course of the mandate and the minimum amount of work that is required to discharge the mandate. These “job descriptions” would be made publicly available to guide parties interested in nominating candidates for consideration. They would also be sent directly to member states.

Induction and Periodic Exchange of Information: efforts need to be maintained and strengthened to ensure that special procedures mandate holders are adequately briefed upon appointment and regularly updated on all relevant issues, including administrative rules and regulations, the functioning of the human rights machinery, the UN system-wide and so on. In view of the fact that special procedures consist of a large number of mandates which have grown in an ad-hoc fashion, it is also essential to provide opportunities for exchange of information on methods of work developed under each mandate, in order to harmonize their work and to assist newly appointed special procedures mandate holders.

Operational Standards: while basic rules and methods of work are common to all special procedures mandates, each mandate has its own specificities. A better overview of methods of work and practices is needed in order to provide guidance to mandate holders and staff servicing their mandates. Such an overview could also assist new mandate holders in determining their methods of work. OHCHR should also continue its efforts to provide adequate support to each mandate holder and provide staff with specific training in order to provide strengthened methodological and substantive support to mandate holders.

Urgent Appeals and Follow-up: substantive progress has been achieved in the coordination of urgent appeals sent by special procedures mechanisms on behalf of alleged victims of human rights violations through the establishment of a quick response desk in July 2001. Further efforts are needed in order to ensure that the use of this tool can be extended and can include information on follow-up given to special procedures communications. This, in turn, would strengthen special procedures’ capacity to give continuous follow-up to their communications. It would also facilitate the inclusion of information on follow-up in special procedures’ reports, thus enhancing their effectiveness.

Special Procedures and the Media: starting from the assumption that in a global information society the media represents a strategic partner to advance the cause of human rights, there is a need to encourage special procedures mandate holders to benefit from interacting with the media, while at the same time ensuring that they are aware of the potential political impact of their statements/briefings. Hence the need to define cautiously the relations between mandate holders and the media both in terms of the kind of media options that suits their work and the form and content of the message conveyed. The establishment of guiding criteria could be useful in this respect.

Interaction with the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly: recent measures aimed at increasing the level of interaction between special procedures and both the GA and CHR proved to be effective in ensuring an increased level of attention to their reports. Such efforts should be maintained and strengthened.

Special Procedures and treaty Bodies: As the work of special procedures and treaty bodies is complementary, it is important that they support each others work. Cooperation between these two types of mechanism has increased substantially in the last few years with regular interaction now taking place. However, this cooperation should be furthered and the Office sees an added value in better linking the work of Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies, by inter alia, ensuring mutual reference to recommendations and jurisprudence.

Strengthening relations with the UN Secretariat and the UN Country Teams: A better linking of the work of special procedures to other parts of the UN secretariat, OHCHR field presences and to the UN Country Teams, would increase the impact of special procedures’ work, particularly at the country level. It is particularly important that country-specific recommendations of special procedures are acted upon by relevant actors in the field and mainstreamed into the work of UNCTs.

Standing Invitations: the number of standing invitations to special procedures has impressively increased in the past three years. It is important to encourage more countries to extend such invitations. Such efforts should be accompanied by efforts to ensure that adequate follow-up is given at the national level to the recommendations of special procedures.

Dissemination of Information on Activities of Special Procedures: in order to raise awareness about the role and activities of special procedures and therefore encourage greater interaction with them, more effort is required to disseminate relevant information. Stronger partnerships with the Department of Public Information, UNCTs and OHCHR field presences are required. It is also important to switch the focus from their role and mandates to their achievements. Mandate-holders should be encouraged to gather and share success stories and best practices. Such information should be regularly shared with partners within and outside the UN system.

Measurement of Impact: The effectiveness of special procedures can be ascertained only by measuring their impact through an assessment of the results achieved. The effectiveness of special procedures will depend, to a great extent, on the ways and means by which their stated objectives are achieved. Verification of their effectiveness will require that adequate tools are developed and utilized to measure- in both quantitative and qualitative terms- progress made towards the realization of those achievements.

National Implementation: An essential aspect of enhancing the effectiveness of the work of special procedures is ensuring that their recommendations are followed up by the various relevant actors and that they are drafted bearing in mind the need to facilitate their implementation. In order to further facilitate this process, mandate holders could be encouraged to also consult with donors, UNCTs and other relevant national institutions in the formulation and drafting of their recommendations. In this connection, it is necessary to maintain and strengthen efforts aimed at ensuring that special procedures recommendations are linked to OHCHR technical cooperation programmes and to OHCHR’s mainstreaming efforts.

I would like to invite you to use this meeting as an opportunity to share experiences on these and any other relevant issues and to reflect, in particular, on the following: how to strengthen the follow-up to urgent appeals and communications and to country-specific recommendations; how to best benefit from interaction with the media; how to increase coordination among special procedures and between special procedures and treaty bodies; how to better link the work of special procedures to other parts of the UN secretariat and to the UN Country Teams, in order to increase the impact of special procedures’ work at the country level; and, finally, how to raise awareness about the role and activities of special procedures and thereby encourage greater interaction with them.

A number of other important changes have taken place throughout the year that affect your work. As a result of the management review of OHCHR, undertaken by the Office of Internal Oversight Services, and in line with the Secretary-General’s recommendation to strengthen the Organization’s support, a new Special Procedures Branch was established on 1 May 2003. As it is only in its initial stages of development, it currently services only the special procedures that were serviced by the former Thematic Team. Discussions as to its future arrangements are ongoing.

The 59th session of the Commission on Human Rights was notable for a marked increase in the attention given to, and the level of participation by, special procedures in the work of the Commission. With the introduction of an “interactive dialogue” session for each special Rapporteur interaction between special procedures and Member States increased significantly in comparison to previous years. Although there were some problems, most special rapporteurs had on average ½ hour of commission time dedicated to the consideration of their reports and issues related to their mandates.

Several interventions were also made by the Secretariat in support of the special procedures system. The Secretary-General, in his statement to the Commission on 24 April, drew attention to the achievements of the special procedures system and reaffirmed their important role in monitoring and advancing human rights at the country level.

The situation concerning documentation also continued to improve this year, with the majority of reports available in their final version sufficiently in advance of the general debate under the relevant agenda item. The United Nations Conference Services Division and OHCHR’ s Documents Processing Unit were most appreciative of everyone’s efforts to submit their reports on time and in accordance with the established guidelines.

Finally, I would also like to refer to the first annual report of the High Commissioner submitted to the last Commission session where he highlights some of the most pressing challenges for the human rights movement. Central to the report is the need to find ways of more effectively protecting human rights, through ensuring the establishment and effective operation of national protection systems anchored in the rule of law. The special procedures system has an essential role to play in this regard. With your ability to directly protect individuals from human rights violations and to investigate and evaluate existing protection frameworks, through communications and fact-finding missions, you can play a catalytic role in ensuring the day-to-day protection of human rights. I encourage you to consider seriously, not only this week but as an ongoing process, the importance of reviewing the way in which you perform your tasks and the means that you employ, individually, as a group, and as part of a wider system, to ensure that you achieve in the most effective manner the protection of the vulnerable and the prevention of future human rights violations.