International Human Rights: Individual Communication Mechanism under ICCPR

This article discusses the individual communication mechanism under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the periodic reporting mechanism for the implementation of international human rights. It also covers the monitoring bodies for the implementation of human rights treaties and the role of Finland in periodic reporting.

INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS

Table of content
Table of content...............................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Universal declaration on human rights adopted in 19481, together with the international
covenant on civil and political rights adopted in 1966 created history for the very first time with
a purpose to maintain cooperation and harmony and to avoid differences between the
international recognised states so that international disputes can be avoided. Basically, the bill on
human rights has an elevated status and it governs mainly international obligations, cooperation
on human perspective. The aim is to laid down human rights law on, social, political, economic.
These human rights conferred obligations upon the states member which are bound to respect
and promote2. The ICCPR is a chief body of international human rights treaty, providing a vast
protection for civil and political rights and preserve basic human rights. Human rights are also
known as inherent right and available to person by birth. The emergence of International law find
its place after second world war. These rights deals with the core protection of economic, social
and political rights of an individual. These treaties are binding on the member state to implement
and enforce the human rights to secure the rights of their citizens. The treaty directs the member
states governments to take measure on administrative relations, judicial establishment and law
making bodies in order to protect the rights put together in the treaty and encourage to promote
with effective remedy. The monitoring bodies has been established in this regards are periodic
reporting and individual communication reporting mechanism for implementation and
monitoring of policies governed by human rights treaties
TASK
Individual communication mechanism under the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (1966)
Monitoring bodies for the implementation of international human rights are notified
within the treaties3. A distinct body for monitoring treaties has been established whose prime
1 Universal declaration on human rights adopted in 1948
2 Yildiz, Ali, "Turkey's Recent Emergency Rule (2016-2018) And Its Legality Under
The European Convention On Human Rights And The International Covenant On Civil
And Political Rights" [2019] SSRN Electronic Journal
3 Nickel, James W., "International Human Rights; International Human Rights Law:
Cases, Materials, Commentary" (2016) 34(1) Nordic Journal of Human Rights.

object is to process the report periodically in relation to the implementation of treaties in the
jurisdiction of member states. States are required to report actively stating the progress in
achieving the human rights obligations and the commitments thereof. The communication
system between national governments and monitoring bodies is rapid which result in fair and fast
assessment of reports, this process contributes long term intra change in legal and policy
frameworks to generate an accessible environment for the safeguard of human rights.
The monitoring bodies comprises of 18 members, among them one person must be of high moral
character and is an expert in field of human rights and other members having a legal experience.
All members shall be nationals of state parties to be nominated by their governments and elected
by the states parties to the covenant all such members serve in their personal capacity acting
independent and without bias.
According to Article 40 (1) the parties to the state undertakes to submit reports on the
measures they have adopted and the progress as to experience of the rights so adopted whether
enjoyed by the people. The states are directed and under an obligation to send their initial reports
within a time specified whenever the monitoring committee so request.
Where state parties do not comply with the direction or attempts to delay with their reporting
obligation will subject to the implementation of the covenant in the absence of state report4.
Reports should have prepared in light of specific matters which are in direct relation with the
implementation of the covenant, the authenticity of report as fast as possible be accurate and fair
and duplication of information be avoided. states parties before preparing report must consider
the articles and guidelines of the covenant and the report must be well structured5.
The information should contain achievement or progress (if any) in respect of covenant together
with the involvement of the general public and observation made thereof.
Where a factor exists relating to the implementation to the covenant or a dispute thereof and the
approaches taken in order to eradicate such difficulties including their nature be notified in the
4 Szwed, Marcin, "The Polish Model Of Civil Post-Conviction Preventive Detention In
The Light Of The European Convention On Human Rights" (2021) 25(10) The
International Journal of Human Rights.
5 Tomaselli, Alexandra, "Political Participation, The International Labour Organization,
And Indigenous Peoples: Convention 169 ‘Participatory’ Rights" (2019) 24(2-3) The
International Journal of Human Rights

report. Followings are the information to be stated in reports specifically national laws and
protocols, legal frameworks, local statutes, policies, strategies and action taken for
implementation of covenant rights; progress achieved on each right; proper compilation of data
and statistics as to make committee easy to make assessment A proper description on legal
implementation, norms, observation, result of implementation, and steps taken on violation of
rights.
Initial and periodic reports are reviewed by the committee who is in charge of monitoring
the treaty. After reviewing the report, the conclusion and recommendations are being prepared.
The are various international human right treaties involves International Covenant on Economic,
social and cultural rights6, International Convention on Protection of the Rights of all migrant
Workers and their families7 and many more treaties were introduced to promote human life and
safety.
There is another mechanism which is open to individuals who themselves are at liberty to claim
that they are being deprived of rights and victims of crime that their rights are violated expressed
in human rights treaties the aim behind this idea is to bring every human rights problem into the
knowledge of the international organisation. This mechanism is individual centric and complains
is taken from the victim which is addressed and adjudicate individually, the body deciding the
result guide the states and other organisation working on same aspect such as non-governmental
organisation to interpret the core meaning of treaties.
It has been seen that individuals now effectively using the mechanism to redress them
complain at international level and the response is positive8. From 1970s the efforts have been
made to make international complaint mechanisms more advanced, fast and useful so that the
process of justice can be done without delay.
Among other treaties the treaty of international covenant on civil and political right the
complaint can be bring to the united nations concerning violations of their rights. This
6 International Covenant on Economic, social and cultural rights
7 International Convention on Protection of the Rights of all migrant Workers and
their families
8 Amos, Merris, "Transplanting Human Rights Norms: The Case Of The United
Kingdom's Human Rights Act" (2013) 35(2) Human Rights Quarterly.

mechanism is developed by keeping in view that it should accessible to a layman. Less legal
technicalities make this mechanism increasingly useful. It’s an open protocol, the committee
allocates its session into different times to consider and examine the communication of claim
received9. The mechanism also includes the follow up procedures since 2001, in this the
committee identifies recommendations which are distinct and specific that needs a special
attention and implementation. Further the state is at obligation to provide all relevant, additional
information on the steps and efforts made on implementation on those recommendations, the
special rapporteur is deployed to take and analysis follow up reports and present its analysis
before the committee and required measures can be taken based on such analysis and observation
and such concluding observation will further send to the state party of the decision taken by the
committee. International Covenant on other elimination of all forms of Discrimination10 was
introduced to condemn any kind of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion etc. There
are many special provisions are inserted in these conventions which expressly deals with widest
protection available to the signatory state and its citizens. Thus, Article 1 to 7 promotes
understanding among all the race and criminalize for inciting and abating to spreading hate in the
country. Therefore, it secures fundamental rights and freedoms of an individual in order to avoid
any kind of violation of their inherent rights.
An individual communication mechanism system is a complaint given by an individual
addressing that their rights have been infringed or violated by a State party under one of the
treaties of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “(ICCPR)”.11 In this mechanism,
an individual can communicate his grievance through four types of interpersonal communication
which are oral, verbal, nonverbal, listening, written and visual communication. In order to
communicate properly and specifically through which one's complaint can be solved is to master
the act of communicating through oral, verbal, in verbal, written, visual and listening mode
which is a key for success in the modern workplace. These International bodies are not only
monitor the functioning of these convention and treaties but also provide experts that enforce
these rights in the member state. The ICCPR are basically for the protection and preservation of
9 Hill, Laura Warren, "The Defeat Of Black Power: Civil Rights And The National Black
Political Convention Of 1972" (2019) 106(1) Journal of American History
10 International Covenant on other elimination of all forms of Discrimination
11 treaties of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “(ICCPR)”.

human rights in order to promote and undertake conditions within states to acknowledge the
enjoyment of civil and political rights for the recognition of dignity of each individual. It is a
multilateral treaty that combines the state parties in order to protect, preserve and respect the
rights of an individual, which are the civil and political rights including right to life, electoral
rights, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. Civil and political
rights are rights which ensure one's approach to participate in the civil and political life of a
society leading to not discriminate and repress an individual for his active and effective
participation for the overall development of a state in one's country. These rights are for the
protection of individual's freedom from infringement of rights by private individuals, social
organisations and governments. The Convention are used to encourage the quality of life , free
from threat and
The purpose of an individual complaint is to identify an individual's case whose right has
been violated by the state party which are obligated under treaty of human rights. A complaint
can also be generated through an e-mail on the country's regional office site of United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights. There is also a committee made for dealing with the
problems of individual which is the Human Rights Committee in order to address an individual's
complaint for the protection of individual rights which have been violated under ICCPR. The
committee may address an individual complaint by the means of communication in the form of
oral, written, verbal, nonverbal, visual and listening mode against the state parties which can be
instituted by an individual or by any other person assigned by his/her behalf for the effective
functioning and preservation of International Human Rights. It provides fair and reasonable
administration of justice to secure their available rights. If any human rights are violated, then a
complaint can be instituted at Independent Police Investigative Directorate “(IPID)”12. The
decisions made by the Human Rights Committee are not legally binding while evaluating and
identifying the different aspects of rights of an individual13. Therefore, Human rights are
foundation equality, justice, freedom and speech for the development and upliftment of humans
in the society who thrive to live with respect and dignity all over the world for enhancement of
human rights in the society. So, individual communication mechanism plays an important role
12 Independent Police Investigative Directorate “(IPID)”
13 Mazumder, Soumyajit, "The Persistent Effect Of U.S. Civil Rights Protests On Political
Attitudes" (2018) 62(4) American Journal of Political Science

for the overall upliftment and development of human rights under the international Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights. There is being opted that all such rights are majorly being undertaken
in order to manage the effective mechanism an d the general nature of growth with the principle
of natural justice and also by maintaining the equality and management in the general adherence.
Periodic reporting mechanism is more effective than Individual communication
mechanism because Periodic reporting mechanism is available for whole public and also comes
into effect through verified data which makes it a more specified and reliable reporting
mechanism. Periodic reporting is one of the main mechanism of in-depth conservation
monitoring mechanism which is submitted every six years to the World Heritage Committee.
Periodic reporting means that finances of a company are tracked down in a time period which
can further be classified into short, specific and distinct time periods by which finances of a
company are reported in a distinct time period. The different kinds of periodic reports are
Clinical Trial Periodic reports, ICH PSUR Reports, US IND Period Reports and US NDA
Periodic Reports. The main purpose of periodic reporting is to provide information for the public
which is objective. The international monitoring for the implementation of human rights are
usually defined in the treaty themselves. The mechanisms for providing international and
regional human rights are monitored through the treaties provided by the monitoring body which
is specifically established for most treaties. The monitoring bodies are responsible for analysing
the periodic reports on national implementation of states submitted by states, the issuance of
statement of expert on the interpretation of treaties and to analyse and process complaints made
by individuals or groups in regard to certain treaties14. Finland is a country which is signatory to
seven human rights treaties of the United Nations, whose implementation is monitored by
specific UN treaty body to submit periodic reports in compliance to the provisions of these
treaties. The ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the representatives of other ministries are
responsible for the representation of periodic reporting with an oral government hearing being a
member of Standing Committee on the Constitution. The issuance of recommendations of
periodic reporting is submitted to the committee usually between 6-12 months for the analytical
review of periodic report. The recommendations of the committee are widely distributed all
across central and local government as well as civic organisations and is also translated into
14 Ferrone, Vincenzo, "The Rights Of History: Enlightenment And Human Rights" (2017)
39(1) Human Rights Quarterly.

different national languages all across the globe. The basic element for periodic reporting under
ICCPR is honesty, transparency, openness and verified data which is provided in the reports for
its authentication.
Such kind of report provides a person with brief knowledge of information which is
provided for the public at an international level. The polished, professional and verified data with
yearly analysis makes it a very structured report with added risks, development, strategies and
future references which makes it a good report to be presented on an international level. The
segregation of data with hourly, daily, monthly and at intervals makes the result of it very apt
and clear. Such kind of data must be promoted through company's official website, using internal
communications, sending graphic mail, engaging it in social media and linking it with every
chance to a source15. Therefore, periodic reporting mechanism is more effective than individual
communication mechanism under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.16 All
these covenants will help out to administer the nature of working and also the ways in which he
intervals of the functions will be undertaken. This reluctantly maintain the laws and the octave
nature with the feature of risk, development and the other effective strategies that are aligned
their in. it helps in managing the functionality and the statements in adherence.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it is concluded that the International Human Rights under
ICCPR,1966 are the rights which are given to each and every person worldwide for the
protection and preservation of political and civil rights. The individual communication
mechanism is a complaint given by an individual addressing that their rights have been infringed
or violated by a State party under one of the treaties of International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights “(ICCPR)”, in order to identify an individual's case whose right has been
violated by the state party which are obligated under treaty of human rights. Periodic reporting
15 Guinn, David E., "Human Rights As Peacemaker: An Integrative Theory Of
International Human Rights" (2016) 38(3) Human Rights Quarterly.
16 Independent Police Investigative Directorate “(IPID)”

mechanism is available for whole public and also comes into effect through verified data which
makes it a more specified and reliable reporting mechanism, which in turn is proved to be more
effective for the people worldwide by setting up a higher pace at an international level. The
polished, professional and verified data with yearly analyse UN treaty basis makes it a very
structured report with added risks, development, strategies and future references which makes it
a good report to be presented on an international level.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Amos, Merris, "Transplanting Human Rights Norms: The Case Of The United Kingdom's
Human Rights Act" (2013) 35(2) Human Rights Quarterly.
Caparas, Perfecto, "Optional Protocol To The International Covenant On Civil And Political
Rights: Communication To The UN Human Rights Committee Concerning The
Philippiness Violation Of The Human Rights Of Children Prisoners Under The
International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights (ICCPR)" [2005] SSRN Electronic
Journal
Ferrone, Vincenzo, "The Rights Of History: Enlightenment And Human Rights" (2017)
39(1) Human Rights Quarterly.
Guinn, David E., "Human Rights As Peacemaker: An Integrative Theory Of International
Human Rights" (2016) 38(3) Human Rights Quarterly.
Guinn, David E., "Human Rights As Peacemaker: An Integrative Theory Of International
Human Rights" (2016) 38(3) Human Rights Quarterly.
Hill, Laura Warren, "The Defeat Of Black Power: Civil Rights And The National Black Political
Convention Of 1972" (2019) 106(1) Journal of American History
Jawoniyi, Oduntan, "Children's Rights And Religious Education In State-Funded Schools: An
International Human Rights Perspective" (2012) 16(2) The International Journal of
Human Rights.
Krumbein, Frédéric, "Two Chinese Tales Of Human Rights– Mainland China’S And Taiwan’S
External Human Rights Strategies" [2021] The International Journal of Human Rights.
Mazumder, Soumyajit, "The Persistent Effect Of U.S. Civil Rights Protests On Political
Attitudes" (2018) 62(4) American Journal of Political Science.
Nickel, James W., "International Human Rights; International Human Rights Law: Cases,
Materials, Commentary" (2016) 34(1) Nordic Journal of Human Rights
Szwed, Marcin, "The Polish Model Of Civil Post-Conviction Preventive Detention In The Light
Of The European Convention On Human Rights" (2021) 25(10) The International
Journal of Human Rights.
Tomaselli, Alexandra, "Political Participation, The International Labour Organization, And
Indigenous Peoples: Convention 169 ‘Participatory’ Rights" (2019) 24(2-3) The
International Journal of Human Rights
Yildiz, Ali, "Turkey's Recent Emergency Rule (2016-2018) And Its Legality Under The
European Convention On Human Rights And The International Covenant On Civil And
Political Rights" [2019] SSRN Electronic Journal