This and the next section provide information and tips on how you can input effectively into the review of your country.
It follows from the section on Periodic Reviews – Why are they useful?
There are several ways you can participate in the periodic review process – you can:
Section 3.5: Engage prior to the Treaty Body review
Section 3.6: Participate in the Treaty Body review and post review follow up
This section focuses on:
To view the Treaty Body Reporting Cycle with Stakeholders, click here
Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
Before the review (Steps 1, 2, and 3 above)
You can participate in the periodic review of your State by the Treaty Bodies by:
and:
Before you begin…
To find out when your State is due to be reviewed by a Treaty Body, the history of State reports submitted, information received from NHRIs and civil society in previous reporting cycles, concluding observations, and follow up comments and reports:
Under the heading ‘Reporting status’ click on the Treaty that you are interested in.
You will find a drop down menu which lists the reporting cycles under that particular Treaty. Click on a reporting cycle, and you will find all relevant documents filed, and key dates, including due dates for outstanding documents.
For those Treaty Bodies that have adopted the simplified reporting procedure, you can also click on ‘Simplified reporting procedure’ under the heading ‘Reporting to the Committee‘ to get a list of countries and status of reporting.
Another way to find out when your country will be reviewed by a particular Treaty Body, is to contact the relevant INGO TB-Net member that works closely with that particular Treaty Body, or the relevant OHCHR Secretariat.
Remember! In practice, the Human Rights Committee is currently the only Treaty Body with a fixed and predictable review cycle, although it is expected that other Treaty Bodies will follow.
You can then participate in the periodic review of your State by the Treaty Bodies:
You may be invited to participate in national consultations preceding the drafting of the State report, if the State chooses to organise them.
A number of States involve civil society (as well as National Human Rights Institutions, media, parliament, etc.) at the early stage of preparing their periodic reports to the Treaty Bodies which is a good practice to ensure the report is as comprehensive and inclusive as possible.
During the review, most Treaty Bodies will often ask the State whether their periodic report was the subject of a consultative process.
Unfortunately, not all States make the effort to include the participation of other stakeholders in national consultations, and NGO perspectives and information are often excluded from the State party report. If your State does not organise national consultations, or if you are unsure whether your views will be accurately reflected in the State compiled report, you may wish to submit an alternative or shadow report to the Treaty Body or participate in (and influence) the periodic review in other ways (see below).
Engaging in national consultations can be an effective way to strengthen dialogue with national authorities. However, this is only feasible if there is limited or no risk of retaliation for NGOs to speak up with government interlocutors about human rights issues.
In many countries, National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-up (NMRFs) coordinate the process of preparing State reports to the Treaty Bodies, including organising consultations with civil society. In many countries, NMRFs benefit from UN support to prepare periodic reports to the Treaty Bodies.
The OHCHR provides support to States to uphold their reporting obligations to the Treaty Bodies. You are entitled to request to be involved in such activities as well, which can be requested through OHCHR or relevant contacts in your government.
When participating in national consultations, you may choose to disclose your intentions to submit an alternative or shadow report. This is all the more relevant where the information provided by the State in its report fails to address comprehensively the challenges in fully complying with treaty provisions.
Examples of NGO participation in national consultations
In South Africa, NGOs participated in consultations for the State’s initial report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in 2017. The initial report of South Africa to the CESCR noted that extensive consultation with civil society had taken place and that comments by civil society organisations on the draft report had been incorporated in the final draft.
In 2018, when the initial State report was reviewed by the CESCR, a group of three NGOs submitted a joint report which focused primarily on the situation of human rights defenders of economic, social and cultural rights, including those in the mining sector. The text of this NGO report contributed to a dedicated paragraph in the CESCR’s concluding observations, including three focused recommendations on the situation of human rights defenders in South Africa.
Prior to the formal review, all Treaty Bodies (except SPT) prepare a detailed list of issues and questions (LOI) for the State reviewed, for State response. You can submit written information to assist the Treaty Body in drawing up the list of issues for your country.
This process is similar for those Treaty Bodies who offer the simplified reporting procedure, in which case you can submit information to assist the Treaty Body to draft the list of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR).
Inputting into the LOI / LOIPR is a valuable opportunity for you to influence and highlight specific human rights issues in your country, as these lists have a direct influence on the content and focus of the country review. Your input also ensures that the Treaty Body will ask all the relevant questions ahead of the review, which may not be addressed in the State report (LOI), or in the absence of a State report entirely (LOIPR).
Remember! Some Treaty Bodies won’t raise questions in the dialogue during the Treaty Body session that are not included on the LOI or LOIPR, and won’t issue recommendations on topics that were not raised during the dialogue. It is therefore crucial that NGOs submit information on topics they would like addressed in the Treaty Body recommendations at the LOI/LOIPR stage.
See also below the TOP TIPS under General Information for NGO Submissions to a Treaty Body for a periodic review
Example of NGO input to LOI / LOIPR
During the review of China by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 2018, a group of NGOs including Chinese Human Rights Defenders, made a joint submission to the Committee for its consideration in preparing the list of issues and themes to be sent by the Treaty Body to China. The NGO submission included a range of suggested issues and questions relating to the situation of ethnic minorities in China, including Tibetan and Uighur minorities. These submissions were integrated in the list of issues which were adopted by CERD and presented to China.
The CEDAW Committee’s summary of inquiry findings (see Defender Story in ISHR Academy: Inquiries - Why are they useful?) was used as a basis for an NGO submission in the periodic review of the Philippines by the CEDAW Committee. The joint NGO submission Supplementary Information on the Philippines was considered by the Treaty Body in its drafting of the list of issues and questions for the Philippines during its Pre-Sessional Working Group.
Whether or not you are involved in the preparation of the State report, you can submit a report of your own to the Treaty Bodies, based on your findings and views on the national implementation of the relevant treaty. Such alternative or shadow reports from national NGOs are of particular value to the Treaty Bodies in examining State reports, as they provide an alternative source of information on the human rights situation in a particular country.
Information submitted by NGOs will be included in the relevant country file prepared by OHCHR for the Treaty Body members prior to the review of the concerned State.
Remember! You can reference general comments of the Treaty Bodies in your submission to support your legal arguments on how a Treaty should be implemented by your State. Relevant findings contained in a Treaty Body inquiry report can also be referenced.
Examples of NGO alternative or shadow reports
During the fifth review of Australia by the Committee Against Torture (CAT) in 2014, a joint NGO report was prepared by the Human Rights Law Centre, informed by a coalition of NGOs from across Australia and endorsed by 77 NGOs. It addressed key issues related to Australia’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture, highlighted gaps, and identified significant areas in which the Australian government was failing to meet its obligations. Although the report is lengthy (115 pages) and detailed, it contains concise proposed recommendations to the Committee.
In 2016, the Committee Against Torture (CAT) undertook a special review of Burundi based on widespread allegations of torture related to political unrest in the country. A coalition of national human rights defenders and international NGOs prepared a joint alternative report to CAT for consideration in its review of the State.
After the first day of the review, the government of Burundi stated that the NGO alternative report had not been made previously available and it therefore had insufficient time to review the allegations contained within it. The State made the unprecedented decision to not attend the rest of the review. In its response to the government of Burundi, the Treaty Body stated that it regretted Burundi’s decision to discontinue the dialogue and reminded the government that reviews are based both on the reports of State Parties and information received from civil society. The review was completed without the presence of the Burundi government delegation.
Burundi’s lack of cooperation with the CAT was subsequently noted by the UN Human Rights Council and mentioned as one of the factors evidencing a deterioration of the human rights situation in Burundi, which subsequently contributed to the establishment of a UN Commission of inquiry on Burundi. The UN Human Rights Council Resolution establishing the Commission of Inquiry condemned the “unprecedented non-cooperation of the Government of Burundi with the Committee against Torture during the review of the State on 29 July 2016, and the retaliatory threat to disbar Burundian lawyers participating in the review”. This commission is now replaced by a Special Rapporteur.
In 2023, during the HRCtte review of the State of Burundi, the delegation also withdrew from the public dialogue with the member of the Committee, because of the presence of certain activists in the room.
General information on submitting information to a Treaty Body for a periodic review
This includes NGO input to the LOI / LOIPR and NGO alternative or shadow reports.
Who can submit information?
Anyone (individuals, NGOs, civil society organisations and NHRIs) can submit information to a Treaty Body in the context of a country review. NGOs do not require ECOSOC status to submit information.
When preparing input to the LOI/LOIPR or drafting shadow or alternative reports, you should consider the following:
Remember! You do not need to be a legal expert or lawyer to produce a submission or report to a Treaty Body.
How do you submit information for a periodic review?
All Treaty Bodies have their own deadlines for the submission of written information to the periodic review process. The deadlines differ depending on whether the information is in relation to the list of issues (LOI), or the list of issues prior to the review (LOIPR), or submission of an alternative or report for the country review.
To view the table on the Treaty Body Periodic Reviews: Deadlines for Submitting Information, click here
Where should information be sent?
Submissions (inputs and reports) should be submitted electronically to the OHCHR Secretariat of the Treaty Body (a hard copy is no longer required).
Also, submissions to CESCR must be made through the dedicated online CESCR portal for the submission of NGO reports.
In the case of submissions to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the INGO Child Rights Connect facilitates NGO participation with the Treaty Body. Thus written inputs from NGOs must be submitted through the Child Rights Connect platform.
Go to the next section for tips on how you can participate in the Treaty Body review and post-review follow up.
