• appointing a country-specific rapporteur, independent expert, envoy or delegation to consider the situation. There are special rapporteurs, for example, for the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, Myanmar, the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and Sudan, as well as independent experts on Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, and Somalia;91 • asking the UN Secretary-General to appoint a special representative to the state in question; • calling upon the UN Security Council to take action as part of its Chapter VII mandate with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security. The Security Council has imposed economic sanctions and other specifically targeted sanctions (such as an arms embargo) or even authorized military action in response to some human rights violations. The various mandates (rapporteurs, experts, working groups) have several main functions:92 • • • • • fact-finding and documentation; providing advice and expert opinion; providing recommendations to governments; publicity; and conciliation. Regional human rights instruments The OSCE Human Dimension The term “human dimension” is used in OSCE terminology to describe the set of norms and activities related to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The human dimension is regarded within the OSCE as one of three dimensions of its concept of comprehensive security, together with the politico-military and the economic and environmental dimensions. The term also indicates that the OSCE norms in this field cover a wider area than traditional human rights law. The OSCE has created a large set of human rights commitments that are generally reflective of traditional human rights norms and concepts as enshrined in other international human rights treaties and declarations. Building on these, however, the OSCE has also developed a number of standards that are highly innovative both in terms of style and substance. This manual will highlight some relevant OSCE human dimension commitments The OSCE process is essentially a political process that does not create legally binding norms or principles. Unlike many of the other human rights documents referred to in this manual, OSCE commitments are politically, rather than legally, binding. This is an important distinction since it limits the legal enforceability of OSCE standards. In other words, OSCE commitments cannot be enforced in a court of law. However, this should not be mistaken as indicating that the commitments lack binding force. The distinction is between legal and political and not between binding and non-binding. This means that OSCE commitments are more than a simple declaration of will or good intentions; rather they are a political promise 91 See http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/countries.htm. 92 For an overview see op. cit., note 85, UN OHCHR, Fact Sheet No. 27. 48 Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights