Treaty body chairs meeting, item 5(a)

 The other agenda item scheduled today in the treaty body chairs meeting that I wish to comment on is item 5(a). 

Item 5 Human Rights panel [on cooperation with the Inter American system and reprisals]

·      Post seminar materials. I hope the materials exchanged at the panel discussion are posted on the treaty body website after the seminar is over.

·      Emphasis on implementation. There is no pre-announced topic agenda but it is hoped that implementation will be discussed in detail, as a key priority for both institutions.

·      Common jurisprudence database? Perhaps the UN treaty body system and the Inter American system could consider moving to a common jurisprudence database

·      Reference to other treaties. Perhaps each system could also consider the application of or reference to other treaties that could be mentioned or used for illustrative purposes where there is no monitoring body – e.g., Genocide, small arms, corruption, etc.

·      Make more effective use of general remedy statements in individual case decisions. There is a practice of many treaty bodies when issuing decisions on individual cases, of including a paragraph addressing the problem as a whole. In this general relief statement the state party is encouraged to establish a new framework or pass new laws that would prevent the violation from recurring. Is there any way of cataloguing/sharing this type of information more widely among treaty bodies, and for the benefit of civil society, media and other stakeholders?  It should be recognized that the intended beneficiaries of this type of relief statement go well beyond the individual claimant whose case has just been decided. How can each treaty system do a more effective job of disseminating information about this particular type of implementation of human rights standards?

·      Workloads, backlogs. What are some long term ways to strengthen a system to address increasing workloads and avoid a backlog?

·      Best practices shared. What are some shared experiences of the two systems – best practices, working methods, civil society access?

·      Cybersecurity. What are the threats, trends, and best practices that each system is encountering. Do any human rights institutions have a CTO (chief technology officer) type of expert on cybersecurity issues? It would seem that this is something that should be emphasized going forward in all human rights institutions.

·      Social media. Should there be an effort to use common or related hash tags and other social media connections in order to promote the visibility and information about these two respective systems?