implementation. To do this, they have a number of tools at their disposal. Three of the most central tools are: • Standard setting, whereby new human rights treaties or other less binding texts are negotiated and agreed on by States. This is how the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol came to exist. • The system of Special Procedures, whereby the Human Rights Council, through the use of independent experts, monitors thematic and country-specific human rights situations through desk-based research and country visits. The independent experts will submit regular reports to the Human Rights Council, which can then decide to act on them or not. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture is part of this system. • The Universal Periodic Review, whereby all UN member States are subjected to a review of their national human rights situation by the other member States. Here, States can make comments, ask questions and issue recommendations to the State under review during an oral session at the UN in Geneva. IRCT’s practical guide to the UPR is available at www.irct.org. The common feature of all of these tools is that States are central actors and decision makers both at the international level and for the national implementation of standards and recommendations. Except for the legally binding treaties, most output from these mechanisms will be of a political nature, and it thus gains legitimacy from the political weight of the source — individual States, groups of States or all UN member States. Expert bodies The UN treaty bodies are established by individual human rights treaties with a mandate to monitor and promote States’ implementation of their obligations under the respective treaty. The Committee against Torture (CAT) and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) are among these, and IRCT guides to these mechanisms are available at www.irct.org. Each body is composed of independent experts and carries out its functions through a variety of means. The three most common are: • The State reporting procedure, whereby each State that has ratified the relevant treaty will have its implementation record reviewed by the treaty body at regular intervals through a mixed written and oral procedure. • Issuance of General Comments, whereby the treaty body will outline its interpretation of one or more provisions of the treaty it is mandated to monitor. This takes place through deliberations between the treaty body experts often over several years. • Deciding on individual communication, whereby the treaty body will take a court-like function and issue its views on individual complaints submitted to it from persons claiming to be victims of violations of the relevant treaty by States that have ratified it. In the treaty bodies, the decision-making power is shared between the independent experts and the States. The independent experts are in charge of monitoring and making recommendations. States are responsible for the national implementation efforts. Compared to the political bodies, Engaging with UN Human Rights Mechanisms: An Introduction 7