Seeking Remedies for Torture Victims: A Handbook on the Individual Complaints Procedures of the UN Tready Bodies of a complaint can be considered, practical guidance on how to submit a complaint, and the process by which the respective treaty body examines a complaint. Part 2.2 addresses the issue of interim measures. In certain situations, a person may not be able to wait for a treaty body to make a decision on whether he or she has suffered from a human rights violation; there may be a situation of urgency where interim protection must be guaranteed to ensure that irreparable harm is not done to a person while he/she awaits the final decision of the relevant committee. The process by which interim measures are requested, and the situations in which they are granted, are addressed in part 2.2. Part 2.3 focuses on other procedures available in the UN, such as reporting procedures, the inquiry procedure available under CAT, the new procedures available under the Optional Protocol to CAT, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Part 2.4 focuses on the follow-up procedures of the HRC and the CAT Committee. Part III focuses on the jurisprudence, that is the law developed from cases and other sources, of the HRC under the ICCPR on the issue of torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment. Part IV performs the same function with regard to the jurisprudence of the CAT Committee. Part V discusses the CEDAW Convention and the procedures for filing individual complaints under its Optional Protocol. Existing patterns of discrimination against women affect women’s ability to enjoy their rights, not least their right to be free from torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Moreover, discriminatory laws and policies may affect women’s abilities to seek redress before national courts for such violations. As explained in this part of the Handbook, individual complaints arising in both of these contexts are admissible before the CEDAW Committee. There are three Texboxes, two Tables and 12 Appendices in this Hanbook. Textbox i contains a flow-chart showing the various stages of consideration of a complaint filed before the Human Rights Committee. Textbox ii contains a model complaint of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under Articles 7 and 10 of the ICCPR. The purpose of this model complaint is to demonstrate how a complaint should be structured, the types of arguments that should be raised and the types of evidence that should be submitted, in order to maximise one’s chance of success. Textbox iii contains information on the mandate and working methods of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. The two Tables contain lists of countries that have ratified the relevant Optional Protocols (ICCPR and CEDAW) and made declarations under Article 22 of the CAT (authorising individual complaints) and the relevant dates of such ratifications. These tables are usefully 20