Human Rights Committee (English)

United Nations constituted Human Rights Committee as an apex body to implement and monitor human rights-related issues. This is a different body from the UN Human Rights Council. UN Human rights committee is an expert body, a treaty-based institution. It is referred to as CCPR, the Committee on Civil and Political Rights. Part four of the ICCPR and its Articles twenty-eight to forty-five deal with the structure, nomination and reporting procedures of the Human Rights Committee.
Human Rights Committee is an eighteen-member treaty-based body. The committee members are nominated from the State Parties of the ICCPR.
State parties mean the signatory states. According to the UN, there are one hundred and sixty-seven States out of One Hundred ninety-three UN member states ratified, and 74 have signed the ICCPR.
The committee members are the nationals of the state parties. They are elected by secret ballot, and each state party can nominate not more than two persons; each member has a right to renominate; however, the committee may not include more than one national of the same state. The election process shall ensure equitable geographical distribution of the members. The members are elected for four years and have a right to be reelected, of which one-half of their number are elected every second year.
The committee functions at the UN Headquarters under the direct control of the UN Secretary-general under the leadership of a chairman. The committee members serve in their capacity rather than as representatives of their countries.
All state parties to the ICCPR have an obligation "to submit reports on the measures they have adopted that affect the rights recognised and, on the progress, made in the enjoyment of those rights." The committee's responsibility is to study the state parties’ reports and respond to them to improve human rights conditions. This reporting system is mandated by Article 40 of the ICCPR. The UN has provided guidance for states on reporting to the Committee. The principal purpose of the report is to promote state compliance with the treaty principles. The information should be an "honest appraisal of their conformity to the treaty obligations". The committee also considers the individuals who file complaints about human rights violations. Before considering a complaint, the committee will evaluate the merits of the complaint in whether the ICCPR protects it or not. The committee’s comments are supposed to establish domestic human rights standards by the state parties.