Coordination Committee of Special Procedures

At the 12 th Annual Meeting of special procedures mandate holders in 2005, it was agreed to establish a Coordination Committee (CC). The Committee's main function is to seek to assist coordination among mandate holders and to act as a bridge between them and the OHCHR, the broader UN human rights framework, and civil society, promoting the standing of the special procedures system.

The mandate of the CC has evolved since its creation, especially in respect to developments at the Human Rights Council and increasing dialogue and cooperation between mandate-holders. The CC is tasked with the following functions, among others:

• Enhancing the effectiveness and independence of mandate holders and facilitating their work;
• Being available to mandate holders to share experience concerning methods of work;
• Raising the concerns of mandate-holders in discussions of the Human Rights Council, in particular ensuring that the concerns of the Special Procedures system are taken into account in the reform process, and reporting on the developments and progress in this regard;
• Proactively identifying issues of concern to groups of mandates and facilitating joint action on cross-cutting issues or issues of shared concern;
• Structuring the exchange of information and in particular keeping mandate holders informed of the activities carried out by colleagues;
• Encouraging States to cooperate with Special Procedures;
• Identifying innovative ways to raise awareness about special procedures and their work;
• Proposing a draft agenda for the Annual Meeting of the Special Procedures and presenting a report to the Meeting.

MEMBERS AND SECRETARIAT:

2008/09: Asma Jahangir (Chairperson), Olivier De Schutter, Cephas Lumina, Maria Magdalena Sepúlveda, Gulnara Shahinian and Gay McDougall (ex-officio).

2007/08: Gay McDougall (Chairperson), Miloon Kothari, Okechukwu Ibeanu, Vernor Muñoz Villalobos, Yakin Ertürk, and Vitit Muntarbhorn (ex-officio).

2006/07: Vitit Muntarbhorn (Chairperson), Gay McDougall, Amada Benavides de Perez, Asma Jahangir, Charlotte Abaka and Philip Alston (ex-officio).

2005/06: Philip Alston (Chairperson), Sigma Huda, Ghanim Alnajjar, Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Leila Zerrougui.

The Coordination Committee is elected by the Annual Meeting of Special Procedures mandate holders, which takes place in June. The Chair of the previous Coordination Committee remains on the Committee for a further year, as ex-officio member. In electing the members of the Committee, mandate holders take into account the need for regional and gender balance, as well as for a balanced representation of thematic and country special procedures, to the extent possible.

The CC is supported in its work by the Information, Coordination and Management Team of the Special Procedures Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN

Since its establishment, the Coordination Committee discussed or took action in relation to the following issues, among others:

• Human Rights Council review of mandates
• Participation of mandate holders in the sessions of the Human Rights Council
• Consultations with mandate holders
• Special Procedures Annual Meeting
• Revised draft Manual
• Joint missions/reports
• Communications to Governments
• Interaction with Treaty Bodies, NGOs and UN/external partners
• Briefings by CC Chair and members at the invitation of the Human Security Network
• Issues concerning cooperation between mandate holders

The Coordination Committee played an active role during the process of the review of mandates conducted by the Working Group on the issue of reviewing and, where necessary, improving and rationalizing all mandates, mechanisms, functions and responsibilities in order to maintain a system of special procedures, expert advice and a complaint procedure of the Human Rights Council. The aim was to ensure that the process of review of mandates would result in a more effective and strengthened system of special procedures. In this regard the following were the major activities undertaken by the CC since its inception:

Statements of the Coordination Committee to the HRC

Statement by Mr. Miloon Kothari, Coordination Committee of Special Procedures
(10 December 2007)

Statement of the Chairperson of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, Gay MacDougall, at the fifth session of the Human Rights Council ( 22 June 2007 )

Statement of the Chairperson of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, Vitit Muntarbhorn at the second session of the Human Rights Council ( 28 September 2006 )

Statement of the Chairperson of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, Vitit Muntarbhorn at the first session of the Human Rights Council ( 23 June 2006 )

Coordination and Drafting of the Coordination Committee's response on the draft Code of Conduct

The Chair and other members of the Coordination Committee held meetings with mandate holders to discuss the position of mandate holders on the review of special procedures mandates and the Code of Conduct. In this regard a “Note by the Special Procedures' Coordination Committee in Response to Discussions on a Code of Conduct and Annex: Possible Elements of a Code of Conduct” was submitted to the President of the Council and made public in April 2007.

Interim Advisory Procedure to Review Practices and Working Methods

During the 14th Annual Meeting of Special Procedures mandate-holders authorized the Coordination Committee to draft and present to its fifteenth Meeting an appropriate procedure by which the Code of Conduct and other relevant documents, including the Manual of the United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures may best be implemented to enhance the effectiveness and independence both of the Special Procedures system as a whole and also of individual mandate-holders. In the meantime the Coordination Committee was authorized to give appropriate consideration to any matter concerning the working methods of mandate-holder which may be brought to its attention. The CC has followed up on discussions on special procedures methods of work and accountability procedures, and established an interim advisory procedure to review practices and working methods.

At the 15th annual meeting in June 2008, mandate-holders discussed the interim procedure in the light of developments over the past year, and adopted the final advisory procedure to review practices and working methods.

At the second and forth session of the Human Rights Council, the CC held meetings with the President of the Human Rights Council, the facilitators of the institution-building working groups of the HRC, and the coordinators of regional groups to discuss issues concerning the review of mandates. The Chair of the CC also participated in the meetings of the HRC Working Group on the review of mandates.

Participation of mandate holders in the review process

The CC encouraged other special procedures mandate holders to participate in the meetings of the Working Group on the review of mandates that took place in November 2006, February 2007 and April 2007

Working Methods - Draft Manual

At the 13 th Annual Meeting, the CC decided to engage in a broad consultation process with all relevant stakeholders on the draft revised Manual of Special Procedures. The CC discussed strategies and timelines for the preparation of the draft Manual on several occasions, taking into account relevant development in the Human Rights Council, which took a decision at its resumed second session to request the CC to extend the deadline, and requested a further extension at its fourth session. Further to consultations with mandate holders, the Coordination Committee extended the deadlines before each of these decisions were adopted by the Council. The deadline was finally set for 18 June 2007 . At the 14 th annual meeting it was underlined that the question of the revision of the draft Manual would be one of the priority issues during the next CC term.

Coordination and Drafting of the Coordination Committee's imputs on the technical criteria for placing candidates in the public list.

The chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures sent a letter to the President of the Human Rights Council providing some inputs of the members of the Coordination Committee on the technical criteria for placing candidates in the public list in September 2007.

Report of the Twelfth meeting of Special Rapporteurs/Representatives, Independent Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups of the Special Procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and of the Advisory Services Programme (E/CN.4/2006/4)

[Excerpts:]

B. Enhanced coordination

The Meeting agreed to establish a Coordination Committee, whose principal role will be to contribute to the ability of the individual experts to carry out their mandates in the most effective way and to promote the standing of the Special Procedures system within the broader framework of the United Nations and its human rights programs. It was agreed that the Coordination Committee for 2005-06 would consist of: Philip Alston (Chairperson of the annual meeting), Sigma Huda (Rapporteur of the annual meeting), Ghanim Alnajjar, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, and Leila Zerrougui.

The Committee's proposals will be of a recommendatory nature, designed to play a facilitative role. The Committee will have no role in relation to the substantive issues being dealt with by each special procedure. Its overall role will be limited in order to avoid an excessive workload for its members and to ensure the independence and autonomy of mandate holders.

The mandate will be reviewed by the meeting of special procedures in 2006 in light of experience in the first year.

The Committee's main function is to seek to assist coordination among mandate holders and to act as a bridge between them and the OHCHR, the broader UN human rights framework, and civil society. Consequently, it should play a role in:

(a) Enhancing the effectiveness and independence of mandate holders and facilitating their work;

(b) Being available to mandate holders to share experience concerning methods of work;

(c) Ensuring that the concerns of the Special Procedures system are taken into account in the reform process, and reporting on the developments and progress in this regard;

(d) Proactively identifying issues of concern to groups of mandates and facilitating joint action on cross-cutting issues or issues of shared concern;

(e) Structuring the exchange of information and in particular keeping mandate holders informed of the activities carried out by colleagues; and

(f) Proposing a draft agenda for the Annual Meeting of the Special Procedures and presenting a report to the Meeting.

The Coordination Committee will not be a policy making body, nor will it set priorities or have a role in relation to substantive issues, except to express the collective concerns of the experts. It will not deal with issues of resources available to individual Special Procedures.

The Coordination Committee will consist of five members, including the Chairperson and the Rapporteur of the annual meeting. The Chairperson and the Rapporteur will select three more members from a list of nominees submitted to them by mandate holders. Those members shall be selected with a view to ensuring appropriate balance and diversity in terms of country and thematic mandates, geographical balance, gender, and experience in the special procedure system. There should be some continuity over time in the composition of the Committee.

The Coordination Committee members should be in touch via internet and conference calls. If need be, they should meet at an appropriate time during the course of the year, and should meet informally one day before the annual meeting. The Committee should oversee the development of a more effective system of communicating among mandate-holders involving an interactive webpage or ‘blog' open only to the experts themselves. The Coordination Committee needs to be provided with sufficient secretariat assistance so that the workload of the relevant mandate holders is only minimally increased.

Report of the Thirteenth meeting of Special Rapporteurs/Representatives, Independent Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups of the Special Procedures of the Commissioner on Human Rights and of the Advisory Services Programme (A/HRC/4/43)

[Excerpts:]

II. THE ACTIVITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE COORDINATION COMMITTEE

The outgoing chair of the Coordination Committee (CC) briefed participants on the activities of the CC. He reported on an exchange held by members of the CC with the High Commissioner the previous day, during which the role of special procedures in the context of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was addressed.

Concerning the Manual of Special Procedures, which was adopted by the annual meeting in 1999, the CC had worked on an initial revision and updated the Manual to reflect the evolving practice of special procedures. The Manual is intended to be a living document to be updated regularly. It is meant to provide guidance to mandate-holders. It was decided that after a preliminary discussion at the present annual meeting, mandate-holders, in a spirit of transparency, would call for comments on the draft from governments, civil society organizations, treaty bodies' experts and all other stake-holders in a period of 4 months. The CC would then go through the different comments to revise the manual accordingly. It would also issue an explanatory memorandum on major approaches in the comments, as well as reactions to them. The new draft would be circulated a month ahead of the 14 th meeting which should adopt the new manual. The new manual would be made public for reasons of transparency. Some participants stressed that the circulation of the manual would also serve educational purposes and would raise awareness about the role of special procedures.

The majority of participants expressed support for a stronger and more proactive role of the CC which would facilitate the interaction between special procedures and the HRC and increase synergies between mandate-holders. It would also ensure that mandate-holders speak with one voice, which is particularly important at a time where fundamental reforms, which could have an impact on the role of special procedures, are being discussed. Some participants stressed that while it was agreeable that there should be a mechanism of coordination this should not lead to conformity.

There was general agreement on the following points: the outgoing chair of the CC, or another member, should become an ex officio member of CC; due consideration should be given to geographical representation and gender balance in the elections of members; there should be a rotation system; the CC should be appointed for a one-year term; in case of vacancies, these should be filled through electronic consultations with all mandate-holders; the CC would as appropriate seek advice and assistance from other mandate-holders; the CC should not be a substitute for bilateral consultations between mandateholders and other institutions; the CC should respect the independence of mandate-holders; and the CC should circulate updates on its activities through e-mail.

In terms of the functions to be performed by the CC, several proposals were made, including: the participation of the CC in consultations regarding the review of mandates; bringing into the discussion with the HRC the concerns of mandate-holders, including the issue of cooperation with special procedures; advocating for more resources for special procedures in the context of the reform; identifying innovative ways to raise awareness about special procedures and their work; taking action in a proactive manner to ensure that the “rationalization” of mandates does not result in an erosion of the effectiveness of the system.

Report of the Fourteenth meeting of Special Rapporteurs/Representatives, Independent Experts and Chairpersons of Working Groups of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council and of the Advisory Services Programme (A/HRC/7/29)

[Excerpts:]

II- ACTIVITIES OF THE COORDINATION COMMITTEE

The outgoing Chair, Vitit Muntarbhorn, briefed participants on the activities of the Coordination Committee under his chairmanship.

The first thread of activities of the CC was related to interaction with the Human Rights Council and other stake-holders with regard to the institution building process. The aim was to ensure that the review of mandates would result in a more effective and strengthened system of special procedures. In this regard, t he Chair of the CC delivered two statements on behalf of the Special Procedures' mandate holders at the first and second sessions of the Human Rights Council.

At the second and fourth sessions of the Human Rights Council, the CC held meetings with the President of the Human Rights Council, the facilitators of the institution-building working groups of the HRC, and the coordinators of regional groups. The Chair gave a public briefing on 29 March 2007 in Geneva . During the final session of the Working Group on the Review of Mandates, in April 2007, the Chair of the CC again held meetings with the President of the Human Rights Council and other stake-holders.

The second thread of activities was related to facilitating cooperation among mandate-holders. The CC held two meetings, in Geneva and New York, and telephone conferences about every six weeks. Mandate-holders had been consulted by e-mail, telephone and other means on various occasions, with a view to facilitating cooperation and a common response to issues that arose during the year.

The third thread of activities referred to interaction with civil society. Throughout the year the CC had received comments and inputs from the civil society and had engaged in a fruitful discussion with several NGOs on issues of common interest, including the institution building process.

The outgoing Chair outlined a number of challenges which the annual meeting, and the new CC, would have to address, including: issues arising from the institution building process, including implementation of the Code of Conduct; the finalization of the special procedures manual; the analysis of protection gaps; the facilitation of an increasing number of joint activities; and the definition of the role and functions of the Coordination Committee in the new framework.