Treaty Body Report

Meetings in Jan/Feb/March 2012

Jan 2012
Committee on the Rights of Child (CRC) / 59th session
16 Jan - 3 Feb 2012, Geneva

Azerbaijan, Cook Islands, Madagascar, Myanmar, Niue Islands, Thailand, Togo
OPSC: Azerbaijan, Thailand, Togo
OPAC: Azerbaijan, DRC, Thailand

Feb 2012
Pre-sessional WG - CRC / 60th session
6 - 10 Feb 2012, Geneva

Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Guinea-Buissau, Liberia, Namibia
OPSC: Albania, Canada, Philippines
OPAC: Albania

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) / 51st session
13 Feb - 2 March 2012, Geneva

Algeria, Brazil, Grenada, Jordan, Norway, Rep. of Congo, Zimbabwe

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) / 80th session
13 Feb - 9 March 2012, Geneva

Canada, Italy, Israel, Jordan Kuwait, Laos, Mexico, Portugal, Qatar, Senegal, Turkmenistan and Viet Nam

Sub-Committee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) / 16th session
20 - 24 Feb 2012, Geneva

March 2012
Pre-Session Working Group CEDAW / 52nd session
5 - 9 March 2012, Geneva

WG on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) / 96th session
12 - 16 March 2012

Human Rights Committee (CCPR) / 104th session
12 - 30 March 2012, New York

Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Turkmenistan, Yemen
Task Force: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Paraguay, Portugal, Philippines

Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) / 2nd session
26 - 30 March 2012, Geneva

Reporting Schedue
By Month:
Jan: CRC
Feb: CEDAW, CERD
Mar: CCPR, CED
Apr: CMW, CRPD
May: CAT, CMW, CRPD
July: CCPR, CEDAW
Aug: CERD
Sept: CRC
Oct: CCPR, CEDAW, CMW, CRPD
Nov: CAT, CESCR

By Treaty Body:
CRC: Jan/May/Sept
CEDAW: Feb/July/Oct
CERD: Feb/Aug
CCPR: March/July/Oct
CMW: April/Oct
CRPD: April/Oct
CESCR: May/Nov
CAT: May/Nov

For more on Reporting Schedule Click Here

United Nations Human Rights Treaties
There are 9 treaty bodies that monitor compliance of the 9 core UN human rights treaties that are in force. Most of the
treaties are supplemented by optional protocols dealing with specific concerns. The majority of the optional protocols relate to a procedure where individuals and groups can submit complaints. The optional protocols are also monitered by the same treaty body as the treaty to which they are a supliment to. OP-CAT is an exception as it has its own monitering body: the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT). For an overview of treaty bodies, click here

The latest treaty to enter into force is the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. This convention entered into force on 23 Dec 2010.

1. ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, EIF: 4 January 1969
Monitoring Body: CERD

2. ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, EIF: 23 March 1976
2a. ICCPR-OP1, Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, EIF: 23 March 1976,
2b. ICCPR-OP2, Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the
abolition of the death penalty, EIF:15 Dec 1989
Monitoring Body: CCPR

3. ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, EIF: 3 January 1976
Monitoring Body: CESCR

4. CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, EIF: 3 September 1981
4a. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, EIF: 22 December 2000
Monitoring Body: CEDAW

5. CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, EIF: 26 June 1987
Monitoring Body: CAT
5a. OP-CAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment, EIF: 22 June 2006
Monitoring Body: SPT

6. CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child, EIF: 2 September 1990
6a. OP-CRC-AC, Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed
conflict, EIF: 12 February 2002
6b. OP-CRC-SC, Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution
and child pornography, EIF: 18 January 2002
Monitoring Body: CRC

7. ICRMW, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, EIF: 1 June 2003
Monitoring Body: CMW

8. ICRPD, International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, EIF: 13 Dec 2006
8a. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, EIF: 30 March 2007
Monitoring Body: CRPD

9. ICED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, EIF: 23 Dec 2010
Monitoring Body: CED

Note: Beside the treaty bodies there are two Working Groups that Treaty Body Report will follow:
1. WGAD, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
2. WGEID, Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

There is one treaty that are not yet in force
3a. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, NOT IN FORCE
Text of the Convention contained in A/RES/63/117 of 10 December 2008. The Convention was open for signature from 24 September 2009. As of Jan 2011 there are 3 state parties.

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Overview of Monitoring bodies -- Treaty Bodies
Note: The document, HRI/MC/2007/4 -- Report on the Working Methods of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies Relating to
the State Party Reporting Process, is an excellent resource for information about treaty bodies. The document is
produced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in collaboration with the
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW).

Annual Reports
Guidelines for preparing reports
General Comments/Recommendations
List of Issues
Summary Records
Concluding Observations
Periodicity of reports
Complaint Procedures
Membersip & Meetings of States Parties

Annual Reports

Each treaty body prepares an Annual report (except CRC), which is submitted to the General Assembly. The Annual Report lists the number sessions held during the reporting year and all documentation pertaining to the respective sessions. The Annual report usually covers a period of twelve months and may or may not coincide with a calendar year.

CERD's Annual report covers two sessions, Feb/March and July/August sessions
CESCR’s Annual report covers two sessions, April/May and November sessions
CEDAW’s Annual report covers three sessions held between January and November
CCPR’s Annual report covers three sessions held between October to July
CAT’s Annual report covers two sessions, November and the subsequent April/May session
CMW’s Annual report covers two sessions held between October and April
CRC's Biennial Report covers six sessions over a two year period

Note: The CMW has started to hold two sessions since 2005 due to the increase in state party reports submitted. The Committee first began to meet in April 2004

Depending on the Committee, typically the Annual report consists of organizational issues: number of sessions, membership and attendance of the committee; list of the state party reports considered; the text of the concluding observations, if any; text of any General Comment adopted; List of state parties to the convention;etc.,

Annual Reports are sent to the General Assembly, and therefore become a Official Record of the General Assembly. The Symbol for General Assembly documents always starts with an “A” then the “number of the General Assembly session”, and then the “document number”.

Guidelines on preparing reports

Each committee issues a set of guidelines, which States Parties need to follow when submitting their report. For a
list, please look under each treay body. In May 2006, the Inter-Committee Technical Working Group established by the fourth inter-committee meeting and the seventeenth meeting of chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies, prepared a harmonized guidelines on reporting under international human rights treaties. These guidelines, HRI/MC/2006/3, are used in preparing the Common Core Document that is required by all treaty bodies.

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General Comments/Recommendations

General Comments/Recommendations are guidelines for States Parties on the interpretation of specific aspects of the human rights treaty of concern to the particular committee.

General Comments/Recommendation clarify the content of treaty rights in more detail, may outline potential
violations of those rights and offer advice to states parties on how best to comply with their obligations under
the treaties.

CERD and CEDAW refer to these guidelines as "General Recommendations”
CCPR, CESCR, CAT and CRC refer to them as "General Comments"
CMW has yet to issue any General Comments/Recommendation

Usually States Parties have to take into consideration the General Comments/Recommendations when they
prepare their periodic reports.

List of issues

A list of issues is prepared by a treaty body in advance of the consideration of state report and submitted to the state party. The list of issues is prepared based on the state party report, information provided by UN Specialized agencies, NGOs, individuals etc. Lists of issues provide an opportunity for States parties to supplement the information contained in their report and also provide a guide to States parties on the line of questioning they are likely to face when their report is formally considered.

NGOs wanting to write a report should ideally send their report before the committee formulates the list of issues. This should give the committee and the secretariat enough time to read the NGO report and include questions, it they think one is warranted, in the list of issues.

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Summary Records

There are no verbatim records for proceedings of the meetings of the committees. Instead, a summary of the meeting is produced, which is called Summary Records. These records are only available for open/public meetings.

The Summary Records are important as they give an indication as to how government delegations respond to questions posed by the committee and what type of questions the committee is asking.

Concluding observations

The committee issues concluding observations after examining a state party report. In general, these take the following structure:

* introduction;
* positive aspects;
* principal subjects of concern; and,
* suggestions and recommendations.

Concluding observations may also include factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the treaty, a request for their wide dissemination in the State party concerned, and a paragraph may be included requesting that additional information be provided to the respective committee by a specified deadline (usually one year), or on specific points of the concluding observations The Concluding Observation, highlight areas which should be given priority by the state. In certain circumstances the committee might ask the state to report back within a specified timeframe –- 6 months to 1 year –- on follow-up information.

Please look at specific treaty bodies for how individual committees address concluding observations.

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Periodicity of Reports

States Parties, after ratification, have to submit an "initial report outining measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the convention and on the progress made in that regard". Subsiquent reports must report on progress made and "indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of obligations".

The reporting cycle varies for each treaty. And the respective committees can request a report from a state party at any time.

CERD -- Initial report to be submitted 1 year after ratification; subsequent reports every 2 years
CCPR, CEDAW, CAT -- Initial report to be submitted 1 year after ratification; subsequent reports every 4 years
CMW -- Initial report to be submitted 1 year after ratification; subsequent reports every 5 years
CRPD -- Initial report to be submitted 2 year after ratification; subsequent reports every 4 years
CESCR -- Initial report to be submitted 2 year after ratification; subsequent reports every 5 years

Membership & Meetings of States Parties

States Parties to a treaty meet periodically to elect members of the Committee. Committee members serve in their personal capacity and act independently. Committee members do not act as representatives of the State Party who nominate them. Term of committee members vary from treaty body to treat body, and they they can be re-elected.

Usually in regard to the composition of the Committee, due consideration must be given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of different forms of social and legal systems.

CCPR, CESCR, CERD, CEDAW, CAT, CRC, CMW: 4 year terms, eligible for re-election (no limits);
CRPD: 4 year terms, eligible for re-election once;

Note: For information on committee members of a particuler committee, please go to the committee's page.

State Parties who have nominated nationals as independent experts to the various monitoring bodies -- as of Jan 2012:

CERD	CCPR	CESCR	CEDAW	CAT	CRC	CMW	CRPD	CED
Algeria Brazil Burkina Faso China Colombia France Guatemala India Ireland Niger Pakistan Romania Russia Tanzania Togo Turkey UK USA	Algeria Argentina Colombia Egypt France Ireland Japan Mauritius (Morocco) Romania South Africa Suriname Sweden (Switzerland) Netherlands (Tunisia) UK USA	Algeria Belarus Cameroon China Colombia Costa Rica Ecuador Egypt France Germany India Jordan Mauritius Netherlands Philippines Poland Portugal Russia	Afghanistan Algeria Bangladesh Brazil China Croatia Cuba Egypt Finland France India Israel Jamaica Japan Kenya Mauritius Paraguay Romania Slovenia Spain Switzerland Timor Leste Turkey	Chile China Cyprus Ecuador Italy Morocco Norway Senegal Spain USA	Chile Egypt Ghana Hungary Mauritius Monaco Norway Peru Rep. of Korea Saudi Arabia Slovakia Spain Sri Lanka Switzerland Syria Thailand Tunisia Uganda	Algeria Azerbaijan Burkina Faso Ecuador Egypt Guatemala Jamaica Mali Morocco Peru Philippines Senegal Sri Lanka Turkey	Algeria Australia Bangladesh Chile China Denmark Ecuador Germany Guatemala Hungary Jordan Kenya Mexico Qatar Rep. of Korea Serbia Spain Tunisia	Albania Argentina France Germany Iraq Japan Senegal Spain Uruguay Zambia
18	15	18	23	10	18	14	18	10

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