Treaty Bodies’ Individual Communication Procedures: Providing Redress and Reparation to Victims of Human Rights Violations

Treaty Bodies’ Individual Communication Procedures: Providing Redress and Reparation to Victims of Human Rights Violations addresses the handling of individual communications, tackles efficiency questions related to this procedure and outlines a series of key recommendations to improve the system, including the creation of a registry to provide substantive legal support to UN treaty bodies.

This report examines an essential aspect of the work of UN treaty bodies which, unlike state reporting, has received insufficient attention despite representing an import¬ant mechanism to enforce victims’ rights and ensure that national laws are in line with international standards.

The publication identifies four challenges that currently prevent individual communication procedures from providing relief to victims of human rights violations – accessibility and visibility, stakeholder’s participation, universal use and structural difficulties – and provides specific recommendations to address these challenges.

For each challenge, it discusses the current shortcomings of the system, including for instance the issue of reprisals against those filing complaints; the need to modernize the Petitions and Urgent Action Section of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; or the issue of coordination and harmonization among the various treaty bodies and complaint procedures.

AUTHORS

Portrait of Claire Callejon

Claire Callejon

Research Consultant

Her areas of expertise include international human rights law, the United Nations Human Rights machinery and refugee law.

Picture of Kamelia Kemileva

Kamelia Kemileva

Co-Director, Global Cities Hub

Kamelia Kemileva is the Co-Director of the Global Cities Hub and a leading human rights expert.

Picture of Felix Kirchmeier

Felix Kirchmeier

Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform

Felix Kirchmeier is the Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Cover Page of the Publication News

New Publication Provides Guidance to Improve the UN Human Rights Individual Complaints Mechanism

27 May 2019

Our new publication addresses the handling of individual communications, tackles efficiency questions related to this procedure and outlines a series of key recommendations to improve the system, including the creation of a registry to provide substantive legal support to United Nations treaty bodies.

Read more >

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

disops News

Impact of digital disinformation unpacked in new research brief series

9 April 2025

Our new series of Research Briefs examine the impact of digital disinformation and potential solutions for its regulation

Read more

GHRP EU News News

Bridging Geneva and Europe: advancing human rights in the digital age

2 June 2025

The Geneva Human Rights Platform has taken its work on strengthening the international human rights system to the heart of European policymaking.

Read more

Enforced Disappearances Event

'Short-term' Enforced Disappearances

23 September 2025, 13:00-14:00

This side event will bring together stakeholders to discuss the growing concerning recurrence to short-term enforced disappearances worldwide, and the challenges they pose for victims and accountability.

Read more

Special Rapporteur Sign Event

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in an Era of Escalating Armed Conflict: Where Can International Human Rights Law Help?

25 September 2025, 18:30-20:00

This evening dialogue will present the publication: International Human Rights Law: A Treatise, Cambridge University Press (2025).

Read more

Town Hall Meeting Training

Localizing International Human Rights

8-10 October 2025

This training course, specifically designed for staff of city and regional governments, will explore the means and mechanisms through which local and regional governments can interact with and integrate the recommendations of international human rights bodies in their concrete work at the local level.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

George Floyd protest in Washington D.C. Project

Promoting and Protecting the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and Civic Space Worldwide

Started in June 2020

This project aims at providing support to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Clément Voulé by addressing emerging issues affecting civic space and eveloping tools and materials allowing various stakeholders to promote and defend civic space.

Read more

Project

The Lake Room Initiative (Space for Dialogue)

Started in February 2024

Read more

Cover of the 2023 Geneva Academy Annual Report Publication

Annual Report 2024

published on July 2025

Read more