may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin. 2. No derogation from articles 6, 7, 8 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18 may be made under this provision. 3. Any state party to the present Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation shall immediately inform the other states parties to the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the UN, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates such derogation. More detailed procedural stipulations concerning emergency situations have been made by the UN Human Rights Committee36 and also by meetings of internationally recognized expert jurists.37 5. Safeguards for Human Rights Violations International human rights treaties offer a variety of means of protecting rights and providing remedies for violations.38 These include: • Reporting requirements for member states (in the case of the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child); • International monitoring committees of experts (in the case of the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child); • Reference by another state (in the case of the ICCPR, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms); • The right of individual petition to an international court for a person who claims that their rights have been violated (the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and the Optional Protocols to the ICCPR and CEDAW). It must be pointed out, however, that before recourse is made to an international body, a person complaining of a human rights violation must usually first exhaust the available domestic remedies.39 This principle emphasizes two things: the importance of national institutions in providing redress; and that international courts and other institutions are the 36  Human Rights Committee, “General Comment 29: States of Emergency (Article 4)”, UN Doc. CCPR/C/21/ Rev.1/Add.11 (2001), <http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/898586b1dc7b4043c1256a450044f331/71eba4be3974b 4f7c1256ae200517361/$FILE/G0144470.pdf>. 37  Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation of Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, <http://wwwserver.law.wits.ac.za/humanrts/instree/siracusaprinciples.html>; also see the Paris Minimum Standards of Human Rights Norms in a State of Emergency, International Law Association, 1984, reprinted in American Journal of International Law, Vol. 79, 1985, p. 1072. 38  See D. Shelton, Remedies in International Human Rights Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 2nd edition. 39  For example, Art. 35.1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 38 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel