Resources and Tools

This guide provides detailed information on how to effectively use Treaty Body complaint (or communication) and inquiry procedures, including examples of comparative legal arguments, strategies, and jurisprudence from other international human rights enforcement mechanisms. It offers advice on crafting communications and on strategies to ensure that the cases brought forward under the Optional Protocol enhance the efficacy of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and advance accountability, remedies, and enforcement of these rights.

This guide explains how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) periodic reporting process can be used to apply pressure on States to take steps to improve the enjoyment of human rights. The guide advises how NGOs can attend and participate in periodic review sessions held by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), including submitting a shadow report.

This guide provides a thorough background on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and state obligations under the treaty. It also details the ways in which civil society may engage with the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) through the state reporting cycle, by submitting an individual complaint, by utilising early warning measures and urgent procedures, or through thematic discussions.

This guide provides information on the procedures for the examination of reports submitted under the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols. It also details how NGOs can effectively interact with the Committee by submitting information and participating in the pre-sessional working group meeting.

This guide outlines the steps and provides advice to NGOs in preparing shadow/alternative reports to the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

This manual explains the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in the context of other core human rights treaties. The manual reviews all the articles of the Convention, providing background on the drafting process to aid in the understanding of certain provisions.

This 1361-page commentary provides an in-depth analysis of all substantive, organizational, and procedural provisions of the Convention against Torture (CAT) and its Optional Protocol (OPCAT). It aims to serve as a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners alike, giving a thorough analysis of the preparatory work of the Convention and its Optional Protocol in the Commission on Human Rights and its inter-sessional Working Group.

These general guidelines describe the alternative (or shadow) reporting process to the Committee against Torture (CAT), a means by which NGOs may make written submissions to participate in the review process of their country and thus facilitate the enforcement of treaty obligations.

This manual describes the process by which the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) has come into existence and is being implemented.

This handbook gives practical guidance to persons seeking redress for torture and other ill-treatment before the UN Treaty Bodies. It provides an overview of the mandate and functions of the Human Rights Committee (CCPR), the Committee against Torture (CAT), and the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and describes the individual complaints procedures with special emphasis on providing strategic advice to persons litigating torture cases.