Although each Treaty Body focuses on a different treaty or convention, the tools or outputs that are available to the Treaty Bodies are basically the same, with some procedural variations.
This section focuses on one of the following main outputs of the Treaty Bodies:
An individual communication is a complaint by or on behalf of an individual alleging that their rights under one of the treaties have been violated by a State party.
Several Treaty Bodies can receive individual communications – sometimes called individual complaints or petitions - regarding a violation of a right or rights under the relevant treaty.
What's the difference?
| Treaty Body Communications | Communications of Special Procedures |
|---|---|
|
What are they? Individual communications are complaints submitted to Treaty Bodies and result in views or decisions that are quasi-judicial (similar to decisions of courts and tribunals) |
What are they? Communications of Special Procedures are public statements issued by UN mandate holders (Special Rapporteurs, independent experts and working groups) relating to violations asking States to remedy them. They are not bound by one specific treaty |
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What's their timeline? Procedures for individual communications to Treaty Bodies can take at least three to five years from the time you submit your complaint. With existing limited resources, the 10 Treaty Bodies together adopt an average of 250 individual communications per year. |
What's their timeline? Special Procedure communications can be issued very quickly, often in a matter of days or even hours. See ISHR Academy: Special Procedures |
Similar to inquiries (which will be discussed in Section 1.8), a Treaty Body can consider an individual communication or complaint, where the State has recognised the competence of the Treaty Body to do so, in other words, the concerned State has agreed to be bound by the individual communications procedure.
A Treaty Body can consider an individual communication or complaint from any individual claiming a violation of their rights under that treaty, or from any third party on behalf of an individual who has either given their written consent or who is incapable of doing so. In some cases, complaints can also be submitted on behalf of groups of individuals (for example to the CESCR, CERD, CEDAW, CRPD or CRC) whose rights have been violated.
Once a complaint is submitted, it is reviewed by the Petitions Unit (a unit at the OHCHR that supports Treaty Body complaint processes) for basic elements, including contact information. It is then transmitted to the Committee, where a member or group of members specially designated to analyse petitions (usually called Rapporteurs - not to be confused with UN mandates called Special Rapporteurs) reviews the petition and determines whether it complies with the admissibility criteria set by the Committee (which includes exhaustion of domestic remedies, competence of the Committee and other requirements). Then, the Rapporteur makes a decision which is elevated to the rest of the Treaty Body, which then shares its decision on admissibility.
If the communication or complaint is deemed admissible, the Treaty Body reviews the case (which normally involves exchanges between the complainant and State party through the Committee), and then adopts a decision (often called ‘views’) which the State is expected to implement. However, even though Treaty Bodies are quasi-judicial mechanisms, there is no way to enforce their decisions or penalise the State party for not implementing them.
Which Treaty Bodies can consider individual communications? Eight Treaty Bodies have the mandate to consider individual communications or complaints: CERD, HR Ctte, CESCR, CEDAW, CAT, CRC, CRPD, CED.
See here for a full list of Treaty Bodies.
Examples of individual communications:
Individual communication submitted by ISHR to the Human Rights Committee (HR Ctte) on behalf of two members of the National Human Rights Commission in the Maldives who were dismissed in a clear act of retaliation for their engagement in the periodic review of the State. In their submission under the periodic review, they referenced a number of human rights issues in the country, including concerns with the independence of the judiciary. The HR Ctte found a violation of the rights of the victims and further urged the State to provide remedies.
Individual communication submitted by the Open Society Justice Initiative to the Committee against Torture (CAT) on behalf of an individual who was detained and tortured by police in Kazakhstan. The Committee found against the State and called for reparation to be provided to the victim. For the full Defender Story, see ISHR Academy: Individual Communications – Why are they useful?
Some INGOs provide analysis and summaries of UN Treaty Bodies decisions and views which you can access:
In January 2025, the UN Human Rights Committee issued a landmark decision finding that Australia had violated the rights of asylum seekers — including children — by detaining them arbitrarily in offshore facilities on Nauru even after they were recognised as refugees. The Committee ruled Australia breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right to freedom from arbitrary detention and the right to challenge detention in court. This decision clarified that a State cannot escape responsibility for human rights abuses simply by transferring people to another country’s facilities when it retains effective control over their detention conditions. Advocates continue to call on Australia to evacuate people from offshore detention and provide compensation and legal pathways in line with the Committee’s recommendations. This case shows how individual communications can expose human rights violations and push for accountability, even though implementation of reforms remains a continuing struggle.
Article about the case (OHCHR)
Treaty Bodies can also examine complaints from a State against another State, , although this is fairly uncommon. For information on inter-state (or state-to-state) complaints see ISHR Academy: Inter-state complaints.
Go to the previous section and the next sections to find out more about other tools and outputs of the Treaty Bodies, including: periodic reviews, general comments, inquiries, early warnings and urgent actions, and follow-up activities.
For more information on Individual Communications, including examples of how human rights defenders use them, you can jump to Chapter 3:
