55 ANNEX I Guidelines on the independence and impartiality of members of the human rights treaty bodies (“the Addis Ababa guidelines”) I. PREAMBLE Recognizing the importance of the human rights treaties in ensuring the independence and impartiality of the treaty body members, and stressing the common will of the Chairs at their twenty-fourth meeting, convened in Addis Ababa in June 2012, to clarify and reinforce the treaty body provisions in this regard, Recalling that the Secretary-General has affirmed that the United Nations human rights treaty body system is one of the greatest achievements in the history of the global struggle for human rights and that these bodies stand at the heart of the international human rights protection system, Noting that the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the strengthening of the United Nations human rights treaty body system (A/66/860), which is the outcome of extensive consultations with all stakeholders, underlined the powers of the treaty bodies to decide on their own working methods and rules of procedure and to guarantee their independence as defined in the respective treaties, Noting with appreciation that the General Assembly has also recognized the important, valuable and unique role and contribution of each of the human rights treaty bodies to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Recalling the right and statutory competence of each treaty body to adopt its own rules of procedure, 1. T he Chairs of the United Nations treaty bodies, at their twenty-fourth meeting, following their decision at the twenty-third meeting in 2011 and after consulting their respective committees, discussed and endorsed guidelines on the independence and impartiality of treaty body members (“the Addis Ababa guidelines”), which they strongly recommend for prompt adoption by the respective treaty bodies, inter alia through inclusion, in an appropriate manner, in their rules of procedure.