OHCHRThe Office

of the UnitedNations High

Commissioner for Human Rights

Promotingand Protecting Rights

Around the World

Human rights in action

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This pamphlet is intended to introduce you to the work of my office in meeting the greatestchallenge facing human rights today: translating international human rights standards intonational laws and practices. The protection and promotion of human rights have only a limit-ed life in the legal phrasings of treaties; they must be given meaning in individual lives. WhenI accepted this position, I tried to put the challenge as starkly as I could: “Ensuring that humanrights are attainable by those who need them most — the victims of human rights violations —is what gives the United Nations meaning.”

After the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the United Nationsset about drafting international human rights instruments. As the six core treaties began to bewidely ratified and entered into force, “treaty bodies” were created to review how states weredoing at meeting their commitments. The treaty bodies, staffed by independent experts,worked to engage Governments in constructive dialogue on human rights and to enable theprogressive application of international norms. The UN Commission on Human Rights alsoestablished rapid response mechanisms — the Special Rapporteurs and other “special proce-dures” — to investigate major human rights violations and recommend what to do about them.

My office was created after the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in 1993.This represented a further step in recognizing the centrality of human rights to securing a bet-ter global future. It was meant to be a proactive, practically oriented office; I intend to make itmore so. The highest priority of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is therealisation, in practical terms, of human rights at the country level. This is accomplishedthrough technical co-operation projects, field presences and other activities aimed at creatingor strengthening national systems for the protection and promotion of human rights in coop-eration with Governments, national and regional partners and with UN country teams.

My office cannot do much on its own. Most of our efforts, as will be seen in the followingpages, seek to inspire, organize, inform and extend the work of governments, above all — aswell as regional and non-governmental organisations and UN country teams — as we strivetoward the common goal of protecting the human rights of individuals across the globe. Thework is incomplete, of course, but I hope you will agree that we have made a good beginning.

The Office of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human Rights

OHCHR

Preface

Sergio Vieira de Mello, High Commissioner for Human Rights

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Human rights have littlevalue if they are not

implemented. States reco-vering from conflict or lack-

ing human rights expertise often need help inimplementing their human rights obligations bytranslating them into laws and practices. The Officeof the High Commissioner for Human Rightsdevotes much of its resources — through its Techni-cal Cooperation Programme — to supporting States’efforts in this regard. The Programme helps coun-tries to apply international human rights norms atthe national level. It provides practical assistancefor the building and strengthening of institutionswhich have a direct impact on the promotion andprotection of human rights and the rule of law.Priority areas for action are recommended by thebodies charged with monitoring States’ compliancewith international treaties (the “treaty bodies”) andthe mechanisms of the United Nations’ Commission

Promotion: the Role of Technical

Cooperation

What is technicalcooperation?

Thousands of internally displaced personslive in the “Nelson Mandela” neighbourhood in

Cartagena, Colombia. OHCHR, along with UNHCR,work on protection issues here, The area has also

been visited by several Special Rapporteurs onmandates as varied as violence against women and

children in armed conflict.

Field Action

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on Human Rights (particularly the “special procedures” described below).OHCHR works closely with partners, especially UN Country Teams, state andnational institutions and civil society organizations.

The Technical Cooperation Programme is fundedprimarily through the UN Voluntary Fund for

Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights.In 2002, a total of US$11 million was spent on tech-

nical cooperation activities, of which US$10 million came from what are called“voluntary contributions.” These funds exist outside the regular UN budget.In order to benefit from the Programme, a Government must submit a requestfor support to OHCHR, which then carries out an assessment of the country'shuman rights needs. This needs assessment is normally conducted through amission to the State; it involves consultations with the Government and otherpartners, including Parliament, the courts, civil society and UN Country Teams(UNCTs). Once the assessment has been completed, a project is formulatedthat identifies areas in need of improvement and outlines a comprehensivestrategy for action. The project is reviewed closely during implementation and,once completed, there is an independent evaluation to measure the successof the programme and, where necessary, develop a plan for further action.OHCHR will increasingly rely on external partners to implement these activi-ties, especially UNCTs. OHCHR will ensure direct implementation of theseactivities only when other partners are unable to do so.

Each project is requested by and tailored to theneeds of the beneficiary country. Assistance

may be provided in the following areas.

National Parliaments: OHCHR supportsParliaments in discharging their human rights

functions, addressing a variety of issues, including the development ofnational human rights action plans, the role of parliamentary human rightscommittees and the technical processes of signing up to internationalhuman rights treaties.

How does technical cooperation work in practice?

What kind of technicalcooperation activities are

undertaken by OHCHR?

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Colombia

OHCHR’s office in Bogotá was established in 1996 toobserve and monitor the Colombian situation and to

advise the Colombian authorities on how to promote andprotect human rights in the context of internal armedconflict. OHCHR activities have included: observing,monitoring and providing analytical reports to the HighCommissioner with a view to ensuring that the internationalcommunity is aware of the human rights situation inColombia; advising the Colombian authorities on theformulation and implementation of policies to promote andprotect human rights; providing technical assistance toselected State and non-governmental institutions tostrengthen national capacity in human rights protection; andpromoting human rights through publications andawareness-raising campaigns. This strategy allows the officeto highlight human rights topics and raise the level ofdiscussion within Colombian society, especially amongpolicy-makers.

FIELD PRESEN

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In Choco, a departmentbordering Panama,

OHCHR was asked togive conclusions and

recommendationsconcerning the killing of120 black civilians whotook refuge in a church.

The plight of the blackIDPs of Chocos touches

upon many of the issuesaddressed by OHCHR,

such as racism, extremepoverty, the right to

development and theprotection of civilians in

armed conflict.

A destroyed classroom after a guerrilla fight in Selvas del Chocos.

Internally displaced personsin Choco.

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Legislation: OHCHR assists Governments in thereform of legislation that has a clear impact onthe situation of human rights, thereby ensuringthat laws are brought into conformity with inter-national human rights standards. Drafts providedby a Government are reviewed and recommenda-tions made.

Constitutions: OHCHR provides assistance forthe incorporation of international human rightsnorms in national constitutions. It can facilitate a

national consensus on the elements to be incorporated in those constitu-tions. It may assist with advisory services, the organization of workshops,the provision of human rights information and documentation, or publicinformation campaigns to ensure the involvement of all sectors of society.Issues addressed in OHCHR's constitutional activities include legislativedrafting and constitutional law; the drafting of bills of rights; the provisionof justiciable remedies under the law; options for the allocation and sep-aration of governmental powers; the independence of the judiciary; andthe role of the judiciary in overseeing the police and prison systems.

National institutions: OHCHR assists in thecreation of independent national human rightsinstitutions, which play an important role in thepromotion and protection of human rights at thenational level. OHCHR’s work in this area is guid-ed by the Paris Principles, adopted by the GeneralAssembly in 1993, which represent the bench-mark against which national institutions aremeasured. The Paris Principles provide importantguidance on such issues as legislation; composi-tion and independence; competencies and res-ponsibilities; handling of complaints; and meth-ods of operation, including how national human

Staff from a SierraLeone regional human

rights office assisting ateam of forensic experts

to map mass graves inthe village of Mende

Kelema. Villagers gavetestimonies to the

experts, the first team tovisit the country,

who then traced thegravesites using GPS

(global positioningsystem).

Field ActionStaff of the OHCHR

Mission in Serbia andMontenegro meetingvictims of police ill-

treatment in Ugao village,Sandzak region, Serbia,April 2002. Identifying

and exposing serioushuman rights violationsplays an important part

of the office’s fieldoperations. Countries

moving from conflict mustdeal with difficult

questions of impunity oraccountability for acts of

the past, particularlyamong the armed forces

and the police.

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rights institutions should interact with Governmentand civil society.OHCHR works with some 50 countries on thisissue in cooperation with the United NationsDevelopment Program and a wide array of part-ners. It supports the sharing of best practicesamong national institutions and their involvementin UN and other international and regional fora;promotes the establishment of regional networksof national institutions; and encourages treatybodies and special procedures to turn to nation-al institutions as sources of expertise and countryknowledge in order to ensure follow-up to theirrecommendations. OHCHR has also issued apractical manual for those involved in the estab-lishment and administration of national institu-tions and has organized seminars to guide gov-ernment officials in the structure and functioningof such bodies.

Administration of justice: OHCHR provides ori-entation and training courses for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, police offi-cers and prison personnel. Such courses allow participants to becomemore familiar with the human rights standards that apply to the adminis-tration of justice, as well as humane and effective techniques for the per-formance of law enforcement, penal and judicial functions. These coursesalso equip participants with the knowledge necessary to incorporatehuman rights into their own countries’ manuals and training activities andto review existing regulations and practices to ensure conformity withhuman rights standards.

Human rights education: Human rights education enhances knowledgeabout human rights and the mechanisms for their protection. It also pro-motes values, beliefs and attitudes that encourage individuals to uphold

In the Lacluta Viqueque sub-district of Timor Leste, nine men,

perpetrators of past human rightsviolations, have addressed the

Reception, Truth andReconciliation Commission in order

to be re-integrated into theircommunity. The Regional

Commissioner and elders enterinto a dialogue with the

perpetrators and with their victims.After discussion and a ritual, the

nine men, who must disclose theiractions and denounce any furtherviolence, are reconciled with their

people and ordered to carry outcommunity work. The HumanRights Section of UNMISET is

working with the Commission.

Field Action

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The Cambodia office was established in 1993 with amandate that combines technical assistance,

monitoring and protection. Activities focus onstrengthening government institutions, non-governmentalorganisations and civil society. OHCHR has helped theGovernment to establish institutions and a legalframework consistent with international human rightsstandards. It has helped to strengthen judicial reformefforts and the justice system to ensure human rightsare promoted and protected under the rule of law; toensure fair and professional law enforcement, consistentwith human rights standards; and to enhance thecapacity of the Government to meet its internationalhuman rights treaty reporting obligations. OHCHR worksto develop the capacity of Cambodian NGOs and civilsociety organisations to carry out human rightsprotection and promotion activities. Current attention isfocused on strengthening NGO capacity to promote andprotect economic, social and cultural rights and thehuman rights ofvulnerable groups. 9

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Cambodia

FIELD PRESEN

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Non formal education for streetchildren. Street children and

children from slums attendclasses run by local non

governmental organizations at amakeshift school on the premises

of a Buddhist temple in PhnomPenh. Due to pervasive poverty

and the relatively high cost ofeducation, many Cambodian children are unable to

complete school. Programmes of this kind areoften the only opportunity for learning for these

children. OHCHR-Cambodia assisted the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary General for HumanRights in Cambodia in conducting an assessment of

the right to education and makingrecommendations to strengthen its implementation.

Economic, social and cultural rights. Thisworkshop, held by OHCHR-Cambodia in

January 2002, brought togetherCambodian human rights and

development NGOs to be trained onmonitoring and documenting violations of

economic, social and cultural rights anddevelop strategies to advance them.Education, health, housing and land

rights were specifically discussed. Theworkshop was such a success that the

NGOs set up their own MonitoringCommittee, conducted surveys in severalprovinces, and prepared a parallel report

on the implementation of theInternational Covenant on Economic

Social and Cultural Rights.

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their own rights and those of others. Educationmakes an essential contribution to the preventionof human rights abuses and conflict and helpscreate a society in which all persons are valuedand respected.

OHCHR’s work in this area focuses on the following:• Developing human rights training and educa-

tional materials, such as manuals for teachersin primary and secondary schools, judges,prosecutors and lawyers, prison officials andhuman rights monitors;

• Facilitating information-sharing and networkingamong human rights education actors throughactivities such as the development of OHCHR’sDatabase and Resource Collection on HumanRights Education; the organization of events to

It is essential for the good functioning of the rule of law thatthe armed forces be bound by the Constitution and other lawsof the land, that they answer to a democratic Government andthat they are trained in and committed to human rights andhumanitarian law. While traditional military training oftenincludes attention to the laws of war, including the four GenevaConventions, specific training in the area of human rights isalso necessary. OHCHR’s approach to military training is basedon two main precepts: First, international human rightsstandards do apply in situations of armed conflict, in additionto humanitarian law. Second, the duties of modern professionalsoldiers increasingly include civil policing duties, themaintenance of order and public safety under states ofemergency, and assignment to international peace-keepingoperations. The effective, professional and humaneperformance of these duties requires a knowledge of, andsensitization to, international human rights standards, as wellas the skills to apply them in the daily work of the military.

Human Rights and the Military

Sia Mondeh was ten years oldwhen she was abducted by an

alleged former RUF combatant.Her case was reported to staff

from the Kenema office ofUNAMSIL (Sierra Leone) while

they were on patrol. Aninvestigation was opened andthe girl was found in Puhejun

village, Tongo field. She, as wellas the surrounding community,

confirmed that she was beingtreated as a slave. The humanrights officers, with the help ofthe police and NGOs, managedto get the girl out of the family

where she was being held. Shewas brought to Kenema where

her family was traced in Kaima,Sando Chiefdom, and was

recently reunited with themafter six years of separation.

Field Action

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initiate and strengthen activities with a humanrights education focus; and the provision ofsupport to activities organized by partners;

• Developing country technical cooperation proj-ects that include human rights education andtraining components;

• Supporting local efforts for human rights edu-cation through the Assisting CommunitiesTogether project, which provides financialassistance to grass-roots initiatives (see box);

• Disseminating the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, now available in more than320 languages.

Treaty obligations: OHCHR organizes trainingactivities for government officials responsible forpreparing reports to the international human rights

Housing: following two fires atsquatter settlements in Phnom

Penh in November 2001,3,300 families were relocated to

Anlung Krognam area, some15 kilometres from Phnom Penh.

The resettlement site was anundeveloped flood plain, withinadequate sanitation, water

supply, access to education andhealth facilities, food and income opportunities. OHCHR-Cambodia, in

cooperation with UN Habitat and Cambodian NGOs, has been working toimprove the situation of the relocated families. In June 2002, the

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights inCambodia visited the relocation site and met with the concerned

communities. He then raised the issue of their poor conditions with theGovernment, and obtained commitments that forced evictions would not

reoccur, that land-sharing and upgrading of existing settlements wouldbe used as an alternative to large-scale relocations, and that properconsultation with the affected communities would take place if ever

relocation is necessary.

Field ActionIn mid 2002, OHCHR

and UNDP launched itsfirst joint project in

Bosnia and Herzegovinaaimed at assessingdevelopment at the

municipal level througha rights-based

approach. In theabsence of consolidated

and public reports on the human rightssituation at the grass roots level, theRights-based Municipal Assessments

Project will play a crucial role in futuredevelopment programming across the

country. Sixteen National RMAP AssessmentOfficers were trained in Sarajevo October

2002 and deployed to six municipalities forthree months. Over the next 2.5 year,

teams will assess 48 municipalitiesthroughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Sierra Leone

Following one of the most tragic armed conflicts incontemporary Africa, OHCHR is providing strong

support to the Human Rights Section of the UnitedNations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in dealingwith past human rights violations and contributing tobuilding a new and peaceful Sierra Leone. The year2002 was a watershed in Sierra Leone. The war wasdeclared over and general elections took place. Civilauthorities were re-established across the country.Economic activities resumed and numerous refugeesand internally displaced persons returned to theirhomes. During the conflict, OHCHR backed the HumanRights Section in monitoring violations of human rightsand international humanitarian law, including atrocitiescommitted against women and children. UNAMSIL andthe International Committee of the Red Cross were theonly international actors allowed to monitor the situationof detainees in the prisons under the state ofemergency. To give the national recovery a solidfoundation on international human rights principles, theSierra Leone Human Rights Manifesto was signed by theHigh Commissioner, the Government, the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-General, the NationalCommission for Democracy and Human Rights and theNational Forum for Human Rights, an umbrella group ofnon-governmental organisations. The Human RightsSection is backing OHCHR in supporting theestablishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.OHCHR has been advancing sensitization programsrelated to the Special Court established to undertakeprosecutions for war crimes and crimes againsthumanity committed during the conflict, includingsummary executions, amputations, sexual violence

against women and crimes against children. OHCHRcontinues to guide the Human Rights Section indeveloping local capacities for the protection andpromotion of human rights, both within the State (forexample, strengthening the administration of justice) andnational human rightsinstitutions and withincivil society (byhelping, for example,new women’sorganizationsstruggling againstharmful traditionalpractices and genderdiscrimination).

FIELD PRESEN

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A demonstration was organized inDaru in June 2002 at the courtbarray. The demonstration tookplace just after a sensitization

workshop which included theRegent Paramount chief DanielDombai Kamba, section chiefs,

police, teachers, youth groups, ex-combatants, religious leaders,

elders, and others. The workshopwas organized by a UNAMSIL

regional human rights office andtwo local NGOs and focused on

basic human rights, women’s rights,the TRC and the Special Court.

Section chiefs, who came from asfar as 18 miles away, promised to

carry the human rights message totheir communities.

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treaty bodies. Participants are provided withmethodological tools, such as OHCHR’s “Manualon Human Rights Reporting”, and can benefit frominteraction with experts from the treaty bodies aswell as with specialized OHCHR staff. When possi-ble, trainees may observe meetings of treaty bod-ies. Participants also engage in practical exercisesthat allow them to test skills acquired during thecourse.

Civil society plays an important role in promoting andprotecting human rights. OHCHR, in partnership with UNDP,supports grassroots activities of NGOs by providing them withmicro-grants of up to $5,000. These funds assist activitiesthat require a relatively small amount of support to beimplemented but that can nevertheless have an importantpositive impact. The ACT project has, for example, supportedactivities that seek to raise awareness of human rights, suchas the creation of information centres on human rights,special television programmes and cultural events. Bysupporting these and other initiatives, the ACT project bothstrengthens partnerships between UN and local human rightsconstituencies and facilitates the local human rights workwhich is such a vital part of efforts to bring lastingimprovements in people's daily lives.

For more information, please refer to the OHCHR brochure“Assisting Communities Together”.

Assisting Communities Together (ACT)

During a field mission, theSpecial Rapporteur and OHCHRFederal Republic of YugoslaviaStaff meeting with the Deputy

Prime Minister of SouthernSerbia in Bujanovac, March2001. OHCHR can play an

important role during and in theimmediate aftermath of conflict.The office works closely with theUN rights mechanisms and with

key political actors to ensure that human rights are effectivelyintegrated into peace plans and follow-up action.

Field Action

Members of the Haileslassie Bekre family

who were, in 1999,deported from Addis Ababa

to Eritrea after theiridentities were mistaken.

Four years later, when beingrepatriated to their country,

they were detained in thebuffer zone separatingEthiopia and Eritrea, a

"no man's land" known as Zela Ambessa. Efforts by the UNMEE Human Rights Office enabled

the siblings to finally return home.

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Human rights monitoring gauges the extent to which human rights arebeing enjoyed and exercised. Its initial purpose is to identify and clar-

ify — in an independent, impartial and objective manner - specific humanrights violations, as well as patterns of violations. This process requires a

meticulous verification of the facts. Monitoringallows us to examine, study, document and cometo understand a case, a series of cases, a partic-ular situation or a pattern of human rights viola-tions.The purpose of monitoring is not just to shareinformation, but to use that knowledge to ensurebetter protection and promotion of human rights.Understanding the causes — as illuminated byresearch into patterns of violations — helps laythe basis for action. On one level, this may entailthe pursuit of remedies for specific violations. Onanother, this knowledge may be used to devisestrategies to address the causes — through tech-nical cooperation, for example. In other words,

human rights monitoring allows the international community to identifyproblems and to advance concrete recommendations to solve them.Human rights monitoring is carried out by independent internationalhuman rights experts mandated by the Commission on Human Rights (seebelow), as well as by OHCHR field presences when this has been agreed

What do Brigitte Balipou,President of the Children's Court

in Bangui, General SylvestreYangogo Boganda and Private

Léon of the gendarmerie have incommon? They have all

participated in a human rightsand democracy training course,along with other judge, lawyer,

police and gendarme colleagues.Since 2000, these two-weektraining courses have been

organized by the Human RightsSection of the BONUCA peace-building mission to strengthennational capacities in human

rights in the Central AfricanRepublic.

Protection:the Role of Monitoring

Field Action

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with the respective Governments. In addition, monitoring of an investigativenature is conducted by independent commissions of inquiry or by OHCHRwhen requested to do so by such bodies as the Security Council or theSecretary-General.

The UN has a number of monitoring mecha-nisms to examine specific themes or country

situations from a human rights perspective. TheCommission on Human Rights assigns experts(special rapporteurs, special representatives,

independent experts) or working groups to examine, monitor and publiclyreport on human rights situations in specific countries or territories or,more broadly, on themes related to human rights violations worldwide (tor-ture, for example, or the independence of judges and lawyers). There arecurrently 37 mandates, of which 26 are thematic and 11 are country (orterritory) specific. They are collectively known as “special procedures”.The mandate holder’s work involves analysis of information from varioussources, interaction with Governments, fact-finding missions and the draft-ing of annual reports to the Commission and the General Assembly. The

activities of the country and thematic mecha-nisms are based on communications receivedfrom various sources (such as the victims ortheir relatives, and local or international non-governmental organizations) alleging humanrights violations. Communications may con-cern individual cases or contain details of sit-uations where violations of human rights maybe taking place on a larger scale.Where information attests to the imminence ofa serious human rights violation (for example,fear that a detained person may be subjectedto torture or may die as a result of an untreat-ed disease), some mechanisms allow for the

The Commission on HumanRights and its “Special

Procedures”

An international lawyer fromOHCHRB’s judicial assistanceprogramme assists a nationallawyer and a detained person.

Following the crisis of 1993,the Burundi judicial system

collapsed and becamedysfunctional until 1996 when

OHCHR brought internationallawyers into the country. The

programme has helped torestore confidence in the

administration of justice andrevive its activities.

Field Action

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submission of an urgent appeal to Governments to request clarification;call for the effective protection of the alleged victim and observance ofhuman rights standards; urge the authorities to undertake full, independ-ent and impartial investigations and to adopt all necessary measures toprevent further violations; and request to be kept informed about the situ-ation. Some urgent appeals may be submitted jointly by more than onemechanism. Urgent appeals frequently result in a positive outcome.The special procedure mechanisms are the backbone of the system ofinternational human rights protection and are critical for monitoring obser-vance of human rights standards and addressing many of the most seri-ous human rights violations. They are useful for assessing the needs of aspecific country in the field of human rights, thus functioning as a diag-nostic tool for the Government's follow-up action.

In addition to the work of the special procedures,fact-finding missions and investigations have

also been undertaken by ad hoc commissions ofinquiry and committees of experts, special mis-sions of the Secretary-General and field missionsof the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Those missions have been composed of members of special proceduresmechanisms (special rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission

With organisational assistancefrom the Human Rights Section of

UNMISET, this building is beingrehabilitated as the Headquarters

of the Reception, Truth andReconciliation Commission ofTimor Leste. A former prison,

used to detain political prisonersduring the occupation by

Indonesia from 1975-99, it willalso house an association of former political prisoners and, eventually,

the building will become a centre for NGOs and a human rights archive.

Other types of fact-findingand investigative monitoring

missions

Field ActionGovernment representatives, as well as civil society were invited to the inauguration of the firstregional human rights office of

UNAMSIL, in Kenema, Sierra Leone.The UNAMSIL regional human rights

offices carry out human rightsmonitoring and reporting, trainingand capacity building, communityliaison, advocacy and support to

the Truth and ReconciliationCommission and the Special Court.

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OHCHR (originally as the Centre for Human Rights) inBosnia and Herzegovina has reported on the human

rights situation there since 1993. Monitoring activitiesgrew in 1998 to include a focus on major human rightsissues in the country, including gender discrimination,the protection of minorities and rule of law, and socialand economic rights. Main objectives and strategiesinclude: ensuring that issues of gender-based violenceas they relate to the international police mandate areaddressed within the UN Mission in Bosnia andHerzegovina; pursuing the concept of gendermainstreaming and greater gender analysis in thepolicies implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina;ensuring that social and economic rights are addressedin working national institutions and internationalagencies; helping NGOs on rule of law issues andreporting and assessment of human rights; identifyingvulnerable groups and helping define the violations oftheir rights and appropriate remedies; and ensuringthat the legal framework on immigration and asylumprovides for effective protection of human rights.

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Bosnia andHerzegovina

FIELD PRESEN

CE

Bosnia and Herzegovina is acountry of destination and transit

for persons who have beentrafficked. OHCHR has been the

lead agency in combatingtrafficking since 1998, by

encouraging other agencies withrelevant mandates to mobilize their

resources, in a co-ordinated andcollaborative manner. OHCHR has

ensured that the situation oftrafficked persons, particularlywomen and children, has been

included in new legislation, that theNational Plan of Action on

Trafficking is implemented inpartnership with NGOs, and that

the OHCHR Human RightsGuidelines and

Principles on Trafficking areintegrated into all efforts.

Seven years after the signing ofthe Dayton Peace Agreement,some 388,000 persons remaininternally displaced withinBosnia and Herzegovina and anestimated 200,000 refugees areoutside the country. While delayin property repossession andreconstruction of war damagedhomes have hindered the returnprocess, other factors alsopresent further obstacles.

OHCHR emphasises the importance of human rights protection forthose who elect to return or locally integrate to ensure solutions aresustainable. In November 2002, the then Special Rapporteur for BiHand FRY visited the home of a Bosnian Croat refugee family who hasrecently returned to their pre-war home in Derventa municipality, andwho face many difficulties in reestablishing their lives in the country.

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Occupied Palestinian Territories:

Gaza and theWest Bank

At the request of the Palestinian National Authority,OHCHR began technical cooperation in 1996. The

initial work dealt with introducing human rightsstandards into legislative processes and training thesecurity services. The main focus of OHCHR’s work isinstitution building in the area of rule of law in bothGaza and the West Bank. This work is done withPalestinian Authority institutions and with civil societygroups and non-governmental organisations, in particularthe Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens’Rights and the women’s organisation Mashraqiyyat.

FIELD PRESEN

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OHCHR in cooperation with thePalestinian Bar Associationorganized a seminar on theRole of Lawyers in ProtectingHuman Rights in October 2002in Ramallah city. Althoughthere are currently numerouscheckpoints set up in the WestBank and in Gaza, 26 lawyers(including 6 women) managedto get to Ramallah fromdifferent districts of the Westbank and Jerusalem. Thecourse was a practicalintroduction to basic principlesof international human rightslaw and standards related tothe role of lawyers, prosecutorsand the judiciary and theirapplication in the areas underthe jurisdiction of thePalestinian Authority. Strongdemand has led to theorganization of other trainingcourses for the Palestinianlawyers.

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on Human Rights), independent experts and UN staff. UN missions haveincluded criminal investigators, military analysts, forensic experts, securityofficers, information management experts and administrative personnel.Fact-finding and investigative monitoring missions can be initiated by avariety of actors, such as:

• Security Council (1992 Commission of Experts on the FormerYugoslavia, 1994 Commission of Experts on Rwanda)

• Commission on Human Rights, ECOSOC (1997 Joint InvestigativeMission of CHR Special Procedures for the DRC; 1999 InternationalCommission of Inquiry on East Timor; 2001 Human Rights InquiryCommission to the occupied Palestinian territories)

• Secretary-General (1993 Panel of Inquiry, Liberia; 1997 Secretary-General Investigative Team for the DRC)

• General Assembly (1998 UN Investigation Team for Afghanistan)• Government’s initiative (2000 International Commission of Inquiry

on Togo)• High Commissioner for Human Rights (FRY, Kosovo, 1999)• Special Representatives of the Secretary-General (2002 forensic

mission to Afghanistan)

Bokeo people and the King. About900 indigenous people from theBokeo district in the province ofRatanakiri in Cambodia becameinvolved in a land dispute with a

military general in 1997.Cambodia’s indigenous people

largely depend on their naturalenvironment for survival. Due totheir comparatively low literacy

rate, poor command of the Khmerlanguage, and poor knowledge of

the law, indigenous people areparticularly vulnerable to abuse.The 900 villagers, who had lived

on the disputed land forgenerations, were fraudulently

induced to sell their land to thegeneral. They filed a complaint tothe provincial court asking for the

return of their land. Local NGOs,OHCHR-Cambodia and the Special

Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Human Rights in

Cambodia intervened to advocatefor a just solution of their case.

After years of dispute, andfollowing a request by the Special

Representative, His Majesty theKing granted an audience to thevillagers and announced that the

land would be returned tothe people.

Field Action

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OHCHR concentrates its re-sources at the country level

because that is where interna-tional norms can be translated

into reality and reflected in national legislationand practice; where the promotion of humanrights, through information and education, canforestall human rights violations; and where linkscan be forged among the international, regionaland national systems for human rights and civilsociety.Some field presences have focused on promo-tional and technical cooperation activities. Othershave responded to human rights violations inarmed conflicts, with strong protection roles.Others have both promotion and protection roles.OHCHR also plays an important part in field

OHCHR Staff Member joins twoLiberian members of the

Independent ElectionCommission to monitor the July

1997 elections in Liberia.OHCHR contributed to UN

election observation in Liberiaby sending four staff members,each of whom was posted to a

rural area where their tasksincluded observing and

reporting on voting and votecounting at polling stations and

ballot-counting venues.

Field Action

Field Presences:Promotion and protection

where theymatter most

OHCHR at the country level

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operations run by the UN Department of Peace-keeping Operations and the Department ofPolitical Affairs. Under the authority of the SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-General in chargeof a mission, the human rights component of apeace operation undertakes core promotion andprotection functions aimed at addressing thecauses of human rights violations while assistingin the development of strong national humanrights protection systems.Technical cooperation programmes are a dynam-ic part of OHCHR’s work. A large number ofOHCHR field presences are managed by pro-gramme officers responsible for the implementa-tion of specific technical cooperation projects in

human rights, working within United Nations Country Teams. In the imple-mentation of its projects, OHCHR pursues ever closer cooperation withother UN actors, especially with UNDP and the country teams, to “main-stream” — or integrate — human rights throughout the UN system, ensur-ing efficient use of resources and maximum impact. Mainstreaming cre-ates additional demands on OHCHR to provide guidance and training.In 1992, there was only one human rights field presence, in what was thenYugoslavia. Currently, OHCHR is present in some 40 countries, fielding over200 national and international personnel.

OHCHR Colombia, along withUNICEF, works to eliminate

child soldiers, which is one ofthe priorities of the UN

System. A special programaims at rehabilitating

children who have desertedor have been taken prisoner.

Although the Governmentsigned a convention against

the recruitment of soldiersunder 18 years of age, the

guerrillas continue to engageboys and girls as young as

13-15 years old.

HURIST is a joint project between OHCHR and UNDP. It seeks to support the implementation ofUNDP’s policy on human rights as presented in the policy document “Integrating Human Rightswith Sustainable Human Development”. HURIST supports UNDP country offices that havereceived requests from Governments for cooperation in the field of human rights. It aims toencourage human rights action by UN Country Teams, to enhance national capacity for thepromotion and protection of human rights and to facilitate a human rights approach todevelopment programming.

The Human Rights Strengthening Programme (HURIST)

Field Action

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Regional and sub-regional arrangements andstrategies play an important role in promoting

and protecting human rights. OHCHR hasdeployed representatives to improve its technicalcooperation activities regionally by enhancingcooperation and promoting the exchange anddissemination of experience and best practices.

OHCHR works closely with governmental agencies, parliaments, civil soci-ety, international organizations (including other UN agencies, internationalfinancial institutions and regional organisations) to focus on cross-region-al substantive issues — such as trafficking in women in Southeast Asia orin Europe — and to ensure that OHCHR’s advisory services are readilyaccessible in all regions.Regional human rights arrangements have been established within threeexisting intergovernmental organisations: The African Union, the Organization

of American States and the Council of Europe.OHCHR has regional advisers collaborating with theUnited Nations Economic and Social Commissionsin Bangkok, Santiago de Chile, Addis Ababa andBeirut. OHCHR also supports other regional humanrights endeavors such as those by the League ofArab States. OHCHR has regional offices inSouthern and Central Africa (Pretoria and Yaoundé)and plans to deploy representatives in Dakar (forWest Africa) and in the Pacific and Caribbean sub-regions.

In the field, OHCHR offices such as in theSerbia and Montenegro work to promotethe human rights of minorities and othervulnerable and marginalized groups such

as the Roma.

Field Action

OHCHR at the regional and

sub-regional level

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More Information

The High Commissioner for Human Rights bears the princi-pal responsibility for United Nations human rights activi-

ties. The mission of the Office of the High Commissionerfor Human Rights (OHCHR) is to protect and promote

human rights for all. OHCHR bases itself on theprinciple that human rights are universal, indi-

visible, interdependent and interrelated. Allrights — civil, cultural, economic, political

and social — should be given equalemphasis and promoted and protectedwithout discrimination.For more information on OHCHR’s work,please refer to our web site(www.ohchr.org). You will find thereintroductory information on the history

and role of OHCHR and a wealth of moredetailed information about our activities.

You will also find a link to OHCHR publications,most of which are available in all the official languages of the UN: Arabic,Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. OHCHR publications are dis-tributed free of charge.

ContactOHCHR-UNOG8-14 Avenue de la Paix1211 Geneva 10, SwitzerlandTelephone: (+41-22) 917-9000E-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch

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hchr

.org

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OHCHR-UNOG8-14 Avenue de la Paix1211 Geneva 10 SwitzerlandTelephone: (+41-22) 917-9000E-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch

Photo creditsAll photos by OHCHR staff except:Cover and page 2: L. Boscardi, © UNHCRPage 4: O. L. PulhiacPage 6: M. Saldarriaga, W. F. MartínezPage 21: all rights reservedPage 18: © UNDPI

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© OHCHR 2003

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