CHAPTER 3: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF NHRIS Resolution 5/1 authorises the active engagement of NHRIs in the UPR mechanism by: 11 Submitting information for inclusion in the summary prepared by OHCHR of information provided by other relevant stakeholders; 11 Attending the UPR review in the Working Group; 11 Making general comments before adoption of the Working Group report in plenary; 11 Being involved in the follow-up to the recommendations (although the primary responsibility for this lies with the State). 3.7 Protecting and Promoting the Rights of Specific Groups While all human rights are interdependent and indivisible, NHRIs have special responsibilities to support human rights protection for specific groups and empower them to claim their rights. The rights of these groups are often contested and controversial. NHRIs are often the only ones that can and do speak out and come forward in defence of specific groups, and sometimes in the face of trenchant public critique. These include: 11 Women 11 Children 11 Persons 11 Elderly As an example of the last point, in Germany the NHRI conducted seminars on concluding observations for various ministries.17 According to the OHCHR’s 2009 report, Survey on National Human Rights Institutions, NHRI participation in the Council’s UPR process was high, but interaction with the treaty bodies remained moderate. Participation in the Human Rights Council and interaction with its special procedures mandate holders was low, and interaction with other international mechanisms, conferences, workshops was minimal. Although the survey responses indicated that interaction with the regional human rights system was higher, examples of the types of such interaction referred to general regional interaction (e.g. through regional NHRI networks, OHCHR training etc), rather than formal interactions with the mechanisms of the regional human rights bodies. According to the OHCHR, “These participation rates show a limited familiarity with the international and regional systems. In fact, just over 50% of respondents had participated in training on the international human rights system. OHCHR and UNDP should therefore continue to focus on providing training to NHRIs on the international system. However, it should explore methods of doing so that are less resource-intensive for NHRIs and reach the broadest number of staff.”18 with disabilities persons 11 Migrant workers 11 Minorities 11 Indigenous peoples 11 Persons with HIV/AIDS 11 Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons 11 Refugees 11 Human and displaced persons rights defenders A detailed analytical framework for each of these categories is beyond the scope of this Chapter, but three main categories are analysed here; namely, women’s human rights, persons with disabilities, and refugees, IDPs and stateless persons: guidance notes prepared by the OHCHR exist for each of these groups. However, before reviewing these in detail, here is an overview of the basic equality analysis underpinning many of these rights. 3.7.1 Protecting Specific Groups: An equality-focused approach This section will look specifically at NHRIs’ obligations with regard to equality-based approaches as a strategy to advance the work of NHRIs in protecting and promoting the rights of specific groups. Human Rights Committee 93rd Sess. Presentation by the Committee Rapporteur on Follow Up. 23 July 2008. CCPR/C/93R.1, 15 July 2008 (International Service for Human Rights) 17 Available at www.nhri.net 18 43