The influence of politics on the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies

Abstract

This chapter presents a practitioner’s view on the influence of political dynamics on the work of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies (UNTBs). These human rights monitoring mechanisms have gone through a process of expansion and transformation since the establishment of the first UN human rights treaty body in 1970. With ten UN treaty bodies, monitoring a range of human rights, through different mechanisms, the possibility for tensions between the treaty bodies and member States is always there. Most contentious seem to be individual communications where States are found in violation of a specific treaty norm. Other contentious issues concern so-called inherent powers of the UN treaty bodies, which some States contend have no basis in the respective treaties. This chapter analyzes the merits of the criticism raised about the politicization of the UN human rights mechanisms, namely the UNTBs, and the Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures.