Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions

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NHRI full members, class A
NHRI associate members, class B
NHRI members, class C
NHRI suspended members International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions.png
  NHRI full members, class A
  NHRI associate members, class B
  NHRI members, class C
  NHRI suspended members

The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI; known until 2016 as the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions or International Coordinating Committee, abbreviated ICC) is a global network of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) which coordinates the relationship between NHRIs and the United Nations human rights system, and is unique as the only non-UN body whose internal accreditation system, based on compliance with the 1993 Paris Principles, grants access to UN committees. Institutions accredited by the Subcommittee for Accreditation (SCA) of GANHRI with "A status", meaning full compliance with the Paris Principles, are usually accorded speaking rights and seating at human rights treaty bodies and other UN organs, mainly to the Human Rights Council. GANHRI representatives often present statements on behalf of individual NHRIs or the regional groups.

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GANHRI is constituted as a non-profit entity under Swiss law, and has one member of staff representing it at the United Nations Office at Geneva. Secretariat support is provided to GANHRI by the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms (NIRM) Unit of the Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). [1] Additional work devolves on the NHRI elected to chair the network, currently chaired since 2016 by Beate Rudolf from the German Institute for Human Rights, and on the regional chairs of GANHRI's four regional networks.

GANHRI holds annual general meetings (usually in Geneva in March, coinciding with the UN Human Rights Council session) and a biennial thematic international conference; the tenth conference, hosted in 2010 by the Scottish Human Rights Commission, was on the theme of business and human rights. [2] The last International Conference to date was held in Merida (Mexico) in October 2015 and focused on the Sustainable Development Goals and on the topic of: "What Role for National Human Rights Institutions?" [3]

The Sub-Committee on Accreditation Archived 2022-05-15 at the Wayback Machine

The peer review process for initial accreditation, and re-accreditation every five years, is managed by a subcommittee consisting of one A status NHRI representative from each of the regional networks. According to the accreditation status document Archived 2023-01-07 at the Wayback Machine released in December 2021, there were a total of 128 institutions that have been accredited by the GANHRI. 86 of those NHRIs were accredited with "A status" by the GANHRI, and are thus entitled to vote or hold office in the GANHRI or its regional groups; those with lower status (32 B status, meaning not fully compliant with the Paris Principles, and 10 of the now discontinued C status meaning not compliant) can only participate as observers.

The SCA process examines NHRIs' legal, structural, and procedural independence. The designation and findings given to NHRIs through this peer- review process are used by governments to take such steps as may be necessary to obtain and retain A status as an indication of their compliance with national human rights and the rule of law. A status NHRIs are also afforded enhanced recognition and access by the UN to its human rights mechanisms in their own right, giving the SCA an exceptional status within the UN framework. This includes speaking rights before the Human Rights Council under Human Rights Council Resolution 16/21, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/16/21 (12 April 2011). Since 1998, and through the issuance of bi-annual accreditation reports Archived 2022-04-05 at the Wayback Machine since 2008, the SCA has made developed the understanding the Paris Principles by applying them to the actual situations of NHRIs. Since 2006, the SCA has published General Observations Archived 2022-08-10 at the Wayback Machine to elaborate on the contents of the Paris Principles.

There are three forms of review by the Sub-Committee: First accreditation, periodic re-accreditation, or special review. All accredited NHRIs are expected to go through periodic re-accreditation. Failure to apply for re-accreditation may result in suspension of accreditation status. Applicants for first or periodic accreditation must submit a "statement of compliance with the Paris Principles".

GANHRI Statute

GANHRI (and previously the International Coordinating Committee) has had a statute Archived 2022-03-21 at the Wayback Machine since 2008. The GANHRI statute sets its purpose as follows: " GANHRI is the global association of NHRIs which promotes and strengthens NHRIs to operate in line with the Paris Principles and provides leadership in the promotion and protection of human rights." (Article 5) A large portion of the Statute (Articles 10-23) deals with the accreditation of NHRIs by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation. The Statute also provides for the 4 regional NHRI groupings (Article 31), as well as for General Assemblies, votings and duties of members.

Regional groupings of NHRIs

Working groups

Related Research Articles

International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, agreements between sovereign states intended to have binding legal effect between the parties that have agreed to them; and customary international law. Other international human rights instruments, while not legally binding, contribute to the implementation, understanding and development of international human rights law and have been recognized as a source of political obligation.

A national human rights institution (NHRI) is an independent state-based institution with the responsibility to broadly protect and promote human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been encouraged by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which has provided advisory and support services, and facilitated access for NHRIs to the United Nations (UN) treaty bodies and other committees. There are over one hundred such institutions, about two-thirds assessed by peer review as compliant with the United Nations standards set out in the Paris Principles. Compliance with the Principles is the basis for accreditation at the UN, which, uniquely for NHRIs, is not conducted directly by a UN body but by a sub-committee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) called the Sub-Committee on Accreditation. The secretariat to the review process is provided by the National Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section of the OHCHR.

The Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet.

The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), formerly the Danish Centre for Human Rights, is a national human rights institution (NHRI) operating in accordance with the UN Paris Principles.

The National Human Rights Council is a national institution for the protection and promotion of human rights in Morocco. It was established in 1990 as an Advisory Council on Human Rights. Its founding law was amended in 2001 to be in conformity with the Paris Principles, and again in 2011, giving the institution more powers, more autonomy and broad prerogatives to protect and promote human rights in Morocco and also to promote the principles and values of democracy. A new founding law passed in 2018, giving the institution even more powers and a broader mandate. The Council was thus designated as a national preventive mechanism against torture, as a national disability rights mechanism and a national child redress mechanism.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is a national human rights institution that was created during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, dedicated to the promotion, protection, and monitoring of human rights and the investigation of human rights abuses. As of May 2022, during the de facto Taliban government of Afghanistan, the status of the AIHRC is disputed between the Taliban, who declared the AIHRC to be dissolved, and the AIHRC itself, which sees the Taliban government as nationally and internationally illegitimate, without the power to dissolve the AIHRC.

The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights held in Paris on 7–9 October 1991. They were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission by Resolution 1992/54 of 1992, and by the UN General Assembly in its Resolution 48/134 of 1993. In addition to exchanging views on existing arrangements, the workshop participants drew up a comprehensive series of recommendations on the role, composition, status and also functions of national human rights institutions (NHRIs). These built on standards previously adopted by the 1978 Geneva Seminar on National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’, which produced the ‘Guidelines on the Structure and Functioning of National and Local Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights’. The 1993 Paris Principles regulate to the status and functioning of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights known as National Human Rights Institutions.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) is the national human rights institution for Scotland. It was established by the Scottish Commission for Human Rights Act and started its work in 2008. The Commission is independent of the Scottish and UK Government, and of Parliament.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) that emerged from the 2005 UN reform process. Commonly referred to as the UPR, it was established by General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 3 April 2006, the UPR periodically examines the human rights performance of all 193 UN Member States. It is intended to complement, not duplicate, the work of other human rights mechanisms, including the UN human rights treaty bodies. This is the first international human rights mechanism to address all countries and all human rights. The Working Group on the UPR, which is composed of the HRC's 47 Member States and chaired by the HRC President, conducts country reviews.

The Asia Pacific Forum (APF) is one of four regional networks of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs. The APF formerly accredited NHRIs for compliance with the United Nations' Paris Principles, but now acknowledges the accreditation decisions of an ICC sub-committee on which the APF has one of the four (regional) seats.

The Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI) is one of four regional groupings within the global network, the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). NANHRI promotes the establishment of national human rights institutions throughout Africa, and supports co-operation and training to strengthen and develop the monitoring, promotion, protection and advocacy work of African NHRIs.

The Network of National Institutions in the Americas is one of four regional groups of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) within the global network, the International Co-ordinating Committee of NHRIs. The Americas group, which largely consists of ombudsman agencies rather than multi-member human rights commissions, is currently chaired by the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico, which represents the region on the ICC Bureau.

The ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights is a thematic Working Group of the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC). The Working Group was established by the ICC Bureau in March 2009 and held its first meeting in Copenhagen in August 2009. The Working Group includes 2 members from each of the 4 ICC Regions. The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) currently holds the Chair of the Working Group.

The National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) is the national human rights institution of Jordan.

The National Commission on Human Rights is the national human rights institution (NHRI) of Indonesia. As with other NHRIs, its principal functions are the protection and promotion of human rights.

The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) is a membership international not-for-profit association (AISBL) under Belgian law. In 2013 it established its Permanent Secretariat in Brussels bringing together National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from across the wider European region. Formerly known as European Group of National Human Rights Institutions, ENNHRI has been actively working in the field of promotion and protection of human rights in wider Europe for 15 years. ENNHRI essentially assists in the establishment and accreditation of European NHRIs, coordinates the exchange of information and best practices among its members, facilitates capacity building and training, engages with international and regional mechanisms for protection and promotion of human right and intervenes on legal and policy developments in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Independent Commission for Human Rights</span> Palestinian governmental body

The Independent Commission for Human Rights is the national human rights institution of Palestine.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) established by the Ethiopian government. The EHRC is charged with promoting human rights and investigating human rights abuses in Ethiopia. The EHRC states organizational independence as one of its values. In October 2021, the EHRC's rating by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions for operation in accordance with the UN Paris Principles was upgraded from grade B to grade A.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey</span> Human rights watchdog

The Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye is the equality body and the national human rights institution of Turkey. It is a public legal entity vested with administrative and financial autonomy by the relevant legislation regulating it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali bin Samikh Al Marri</span> Qatar politician; Minister of Labour

Ali bin Saeed bin Samikh Al-Marri is a Qatari human rights figure and politician born on November 30, 1972. He was appointed Minister of Labour of the State of Qatar on October 19, 2021, and was re-appointed Minister of Labor by an Amiri order in March 2023. Before taking up the ministerial portfolio, he had chaired the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) for State of Qatar since 2009. He also served as Acting President and Secretary-General of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and as President of the Arab Network of National Human Rights Institutions. In 2012 he was elected chairman of the Permanent Arab Committee on Human Rights of the Arab League and Chairman of the Asia Pacific Forum for the session 2013 to 2015. He was re-elected as Chairman of the NHRC of the State of Qatar in 2019. In June 2023, Al-Marri was elected as president of the United Nation's annual International Labour Conference.

References

  1. "NHRI Main". Ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 2022-03-12. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  2. "NHRI conference – SHRC". Archived from the original on 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  3. "12th International Conference". nhri.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2017-04-21.