Communications Report of Special Procedures – HRC 25th session – Communications and replies received from States and other entities (excerpts)

Communications report of Special Procedures*

Communications sent, 1 June to 30 November 2013;
Replies received, 1 August 2013 to 31 January 2014 

    Joint report by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context; the Working Group on people of African descent; the Working Group on arbitrary detention ; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus; the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia ; the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography ; the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights; the Independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the Special Rapporteur on the right to education ; the Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment; the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances ; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions ; the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights; the Special Rapporteur on the right to food ; the Independent expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression ; the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief ; the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti; the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health ; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders ; the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers ; the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people s; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran ; the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants ; the Independent Expert on minority issues ; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 ; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation & guarantees of non-recurrence; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism , racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia; the Independent Expert on the situation on human rights in the Sudan ; the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism ; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes; the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons , especially women and children, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation; the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice ; and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women , its causes and consequences.   

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^*The present report is circulated as received.

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 I.  Introduction 

1.  Special procedures are mandated by the Human Rights Council to report to it on their activities (see Appendix).

2.  In 2009, the sixteenth annual meeting of special procedures mandate holders decided that a joint communications report would be prepared (cf. A/HRC/12/47, para 24-26), with this decision being reconfirmed by the seventeenth annual meeting of special procedures in 2010 in order to avoid duplication, rationalize documentation, allow examination of cross cutting issues and ensure that the content of communications and any follow-up would feed into the universal periodic review mechanism more effectively. Mandate holders decided that the report should contain summaries of communications, and statistical information (A/HRC/15/44, para. 26-27).

3.   The Outcome of the review of the work and functioning of the Human Rights Council calls on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to maintain information on special procedures in a comprehensive and easily accessible manner, and encourages the use of modern information technology to reduce the circulation of paper (A/HRC/RES/16/21, Annex, para. 29 and 60).

4.   Short summaries of allegations communicated to the respective State or other entity are included in the report, and the communications sent and responses received are accessible electronically through hyperlinks. Communications are reproduced in the language in which they were sent. Replies received in Arabic, Chinese or Russian are included with translations into English, where available.

5.  This report covers all urgent appeals, letters of allegations and other letters sent by special procedures mandate holders between 1 June and 30 November 2013 and replies received between 1 August 2013 and 31 January 2014. Communications sent before 1 June 2013 are reported in A/HRC/24/21, A/HRC/23/51, A/HRC/22/67, A/HRC/22/67 corr.1 and corr.2, A/HRC/21/49, A/HRC/20/30, A/HRC/19/44 and A/HRC/18/51 respectively. 

6.  The report also includes replies received between 1 August 2013 and 31 January 2014, relating to communications sent by special procedures mandate holders before 1 June 2013. Some of these replies supplement information communicated earlier by the respective State.

7.  The present report contains urgent appeals sent by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and joint urgent appeals sent by them together with other mandates. It does not contain other types of communications issued by these mandates, which are processed according to their own distinctive procedures, and are reported in the annual reports of these two working groups. 

8.  The names of some alleged victims have been obscured in order to protect their privacy and prevent further victimization. Names of victims who would otherwise have their identities protected are mentioned only when the concerned individual has expressly consented or requested to have his or her name in the public report. In the original communications, the full names of the alleged victims were provided to the Government concerned. Names of alleged perpetrators have systematically been darkened in State replies to preserve the presumption of innocence. 

9.  In preparing the statistics included in this report, uniform reporting periods have been used, reflecting all communications sent between 1 June and 30 November 2013, and responses received in relation to these communications up to 31 January 2014. 

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II.  Communications sent and replies received 

A.  Communications sent between 1 June and 30 November 2013 and replies received between 1 August 2013 and 31 January 2014 

10.  Communications are presented in chronological order. Copies of the full text of the communications sent and replies received may be accessed from the electronic version of this report available on the OHCHR website. Some names of individuals or other information have been rendered anonymous or otherwise unidentifiable.

  

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