There are a number of international organizations and mechanisms outside the OSCE that are also involved in trying to resolve individual complaints of human rights violations. Some of these have been created by international human rights treaties that establish binding legal obligations on the part of host governments. Some of these treaties are incorporated by reference in OSCE human dimension commitments. Other mechanisms may be less formal and may not be legally binding. In general, when an OSCE field operation receives an individual complaint, it should first consider what OSCE mechanisms or actions, if any, might be appropriate to deal with the complaint, rather than referring it immediately to another international organization. However, field operations should be reasonably knowledgeable about other mechanisms and organizations, as, in some cases, they will be better positioned to deal with certain types of individual complaints. Other organizations may also provide people with legal remedies that go well beyond the OSCE’s political commitments or may provide alternatives for individuals who are not satisfied with the OSCE’s reaction in a given case. 12.1 UNITED NATIONS MECHANISMS 55 12.1.1 TREATY BODIES Several United Nations human rights instruments establish mechanisms for considering individual cases of human rights violations. If a country has subscribed to the individualcomplaints clause of, or optional protocol to, such treaties, individuals in the country may petition the relevant “treaty bodies”, i.e., committees of experts, to consider their case. It is usually a requirement that the complainant will have exhausted all available domestic remedies before invoking these international legal procedures. In some cases, however, this may not be required, e.g., if local remedies are not available, are unreasonably prolonged, or are unlikely to bring effective relief to the victim. The UN treaty bodies authorized to deal with individual complaints are: The UN Human Rights Committee The Human Rights Committee was established by the ICCPR. If a country has ratified the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, individuals in that country may petition the Human Rights Committee if they believe their rights under the ICCPR have been violated, provided that:  All available domestic remedies have been exhausted;  The communication is not anonymous;  The complaint is not the subject of another procedure of international investigation or settlement. 55 For further details on the human rights bodies and mechanisms described, see the website of the UN High Commis- sioner for Human Rights at http://www.unhchr.ch. Each of the UN’s specialized agencies has its own website. 103 12