This section provides information on how you can request Special Procedures to issue a communication. It follows from the last section on Communications – Why are they useful?
The communications procedure may be the single most useful tool of the Special Procedures from the perspective of human rights defenders, who can submit information or allegations to the experts and request that they take the matters up with governments.
In most cases, anyone can submit information to a Special Procedure for consideration in their communications. Organisations are not required to have ECOSOC status (or be registered with the UN). Even individuals can submit information to a Special Procedure.
The Working Group on arbitrary detention and the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances have slightly more formal requirements and accept information only from the individuals concerned, their families or representatives (including NGOs). Check on their respective webpage for the specific procedure.
You will need to submit information through an online questionnaire. This questionnaire is used to facilitate the consideration of alleged violations by all mandate holders.
Submissions are also considered when they are sent by email to specific mandate holders.
If you wish to target one specific mandate holder, you should also send a message directly to their email address, available in the list of thematic or country-specific Special Procedures.
Specific information to include and criteria for communications for individual special procedures are available on the web pages of the particular mandate holder.
Submissions should be made in English, French or Spanish.
If you are interested in a joint action by various Special Procedures, it is important to share information with all of the relevant mandates and to explain why it is important for them to act together (i.e. why there would be a greater impact). If you specifically do not want a joint action, you should explain why.
You can create a submission for Special Procedures with information you already have – using relatively few resources. To ensure that your information is considered credible, avoid exclusively using media sources. Instead, use first-hand sources as much as possible as the basis for your information.
Some Special Procedures receive over 100 submissions each week. To increase the chances of your submission being picked up, you should:
You can sometimes find out who is the OHCHR staff member supporting the relevant mandate by looking at the contact details given at the end of the most recent press releases or calls for inputs on country-visits issued by that Special Procedure. Double check if it’s a joint press release, because the contact details might be for someone supporting a different mandate!
Be sure to answer the following questions, most of which are also included in the online questionnaire:
Because of the very specific nature of their mandates, the methods of work for those working groups have some specificities.
WGAD
The Working Group has the mandate to investigate cases of deprivation of liberty imposed arbitrarily or inconsistently with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or the international legal instruments accepted by the States concerned. The WGAD has the same tools as any other Special Procedures. In addition, it considers individual complaints under its regular communications procedure, leading to the adoption of opinions as to the arbitrariness of the detention (see the database of opinions in the webpage). You can find more information on the dedicated webpage, including the consent form, mandatory.
WGEID
One of the Working Group's primary tasks is to assist families in determining the fate or whereabouts of their family members who are reportedly disappeared (known as the ‘humanitarian mandate’): it serves as a channel of communication between family members of victims of enforced disappearance and other sources reporting cases of disappearances, and the Governments concerned. It has a preventive role, by assisting States in overcoming obstacles to the realization of the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (for which you can submit general allegations). The WGEID also held three sessions per year, in which it can be possible to participate in some instances.
Once the OHCHR has received your information, OHCHR staff will consider the submission to see if there is enough information and enough credibility to the information, for a mandate holder to send a communication.
Sometimes, OHCHR staff will make contact with the source of information to request additional details. They must also be sure that the case falls within the mandate of one or more of the Special Procedures. For these reasons, as well as due to limited resources, the OHCHR is not able to act upon all information that they receive.
Communications are published in the official database once the ‘deadline’ for a government response has expired. This deadline is stated in the letter, but is usually:
Even with this change, one of the weaknesses of the system is that it is hard to follow the exact status of any information submitted to the Special Procedures. Sometimes updates are provided, sometimes not - do not hesitate to also follow-up with the staff in charge.
Consequently, if you wish to know the status of the Special Procedures’ activity on a case, it may be necessary to send a follow-up letter or email, or to telephone and ask to speak to the desk officer supporting the relevant mandate.
You should inform OHCHR if there are any changes to the situation addressed in your submission and keep them updated on new developments.
See the next sections on how you can engage in other actions of Special Procedures, including Statements and Press Releases, Country Visits, Thematic Reports, and Follow up Activities.
