As explained in more detail in chapter II, the Committee may also take
urgent action if it receives urgent requests that a disappeared person should
be sought and found. It may conduct inquiry procedures into a State party
if it receives reliable information about serious violations of the Convention
and may bring these to the urgent attention of the General Assembly if they
are widespread or systematic.
Finally, article 27 foresees that the State parties will assess the functioning of
the Committee and may decide to transfer its functions to another monitoring
body.
J. Reading the treaties as a whole
To understand a State’s obligations under these treaties fully, it is necessary
to read all the human rights treaties to which a State has become a party
together. Although separate and free-standing, the treaties also complement
each other, with a number of principles binding them together. Each lays
down, explicitly or implicitly, the basic principles of non-discrimination and
equality, effective protection against violations, special protection for the
particularly vulnerable, and an understanding of the human being as an active and informed participant in the public life of the State where he or she is
located and in decisions affecting him or her, rather than a passive object of
the authorities’ decisions. All the treaties based on these common principles
are interdependent, interrelated and mutually reinforcing, so that no right can
be fully enjoyed in isolation, but depends on the enjoyment of all the other
rights. This interdependence is one reason why the human rights treaty bodies are crafting a more coordinated approach to their activities, in particular
by encouraging State parties to see implementation of the provisions of all
these treaties as a single objective.
These treaties do not purport to be a definitive catalogue of a State’s human
rights obligations. Many States, beyond their participation in the United Nations human rights treaty system, are also a party to regional human rights instruments, which may further expand the protection offered to persons within
their jurisdiction. In addition, other treaties, including the Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees and the conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO), such as ILO Conventions No. 138 concerning Minimum
Age for Admission to Employment and No. 182 concerning the Prohibition
and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour,
or ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in
Independent Countries, are instruments with obvious and important human
rights dimensions. All these international legal obligations should be considered together when evaluating a State’s responsibility to protect human
rights.
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