II. IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS: THE TREATY BODIES The treaty bodies are the committees of independent experts that review the reports by the State parties on their application of the provisions of the core human rights treaties. Chapter II sets out to explain their work and why it is relevant to the lives of people around the world. A. What are the human rights treaty bodies? The international human rights treaties described in chapter I create legal obligations on State parties to promote and protect human rights at the national level. When a country accepts a treaty through ratification, accession or succession, it assumes a legal obligation to implement the rights set out in it. But this is only the first step, because recognizing rights on paper does not guarantee that they will be enjoyed in practice. When the first treaty was adopted, it was recognized that State parties would require encouragement and assistance in meeting their international obligations to put in place the necessary measures to ensure the enjoyment of the rights provided in the treaty by everyone under their jurisdiction. Each treaty therefore creates an international committee of independent experts to monitor, by various means, the implementation of its provisions. The application of the human rights treaties listed in chapter I is monitored by the following committees: 1. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the first treaty body to be established, has reviewed the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination since 1969. It has 18 members. 2. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was created in 1985 to carry out the functions of the Economic and Social Council under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It has 18 members. 3. The Human Rights Committee was created in 1976 to review the application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It has 18 members. 4. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has reviewed the application of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by its State parties since 1981. It has 23 members. 19