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Respected Delegates,
We welcome you to the United Nations Human Rights Council at AWMUN 2019 and
congratulate you on having decided and being selected to be a part of a conference at such a glorious
institution. Before you move forward with your research and even reading this document, it is important
for us to communicate that this guide serves as a partial, modest overview of the agenda presented to
you. By no means should it be the core of your research, but should familiarize you with a few concepts
that could perhaps be important points of contention in the course of the council‘s session.
We encourage an approach which in your understanding facilitates the council‘s and your
nation‘s interests & recommend structuring participation to serve a purpose, through funnelling research
and translating it into arguments that provide information, but also a viewpoint explained through logic
and reason. Having said that, the decision of what kind‘ of delegate you want to be, rests solely on you.
We believe that the single most crucial trait to exhibit in a simulation such as this is courtesy and besides
the formality and protocols that come with assuming the role of a diplomat, we would appreciate mutual
respect and patience extended towards one and other by all members of the UNHRC.
*Please note that nothing mentioned in this background guide may be used as an established fact
in committee without the presentation of a credible source and substance mentioned henceforth
may act only as a source for your basic understanding of the agenda.
Please feel free to contact me in case of any queries; we look forward to spending two wonderful days
with you!

Regards,
Sumedh Rishi S.M. Azharul Islam
Chair of UNHRC Co-Chair of UNHRC
sumedhrishi22@gmail.com az.rakib.93@gmail.com

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROOF / EVIDENCE IN COUNCIL 4

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6

ABOUT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL 7

INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC 8

CASE STUDY OF TANZANIA 13

QARMAs 17

BIBLIOGRAPHY 18

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 PROOF / EVIDENCE IN COUNCIL

Evidence or proof is acceptable from sources:

1. News Sources
a. REUTERS – Any Reuters article which clearly makes mention of the
factor is in contradiction of the fact being stated by a delegate in
council. (http://www.reuters.com)
b. State-operated News Agencies – These reports can be used in the
support of or against the State that owns the News Agency. These
reports, if credible or substantial enough, can be used in support of or
against any Country as such but in that situation, they can be denied
by any other country in the council. Some examples are,
i. RIA Novosti (Russia) http://en.rian.ru/
ii. IRNA (Iran) http://www.irna.ir/ENIndex.htm
iii. BBC (United Kingdom) http://www.bbc.co.uk/
c. Xinhua News Agency and CCTV (P.R. China) http://cctvnews.cntv.cn/
2. Government Reports
These reports can be used in a similar way as the State Operated
News Agencies reports and can, in all circumstances, be denied by another
country. However, a nuance is that a report that is being denied by a certain
country can still be accepted by the Executive Board as credible information.
a. Government Websites like the State Department of the United States
of America http://www.state.gov/index.htm or the Ministry of Defence of
the Russian Federation http://www.eng.mil.ru/en/index.htm
b. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of various nations like India
(http://www.mea.gov.in/ ) People‘s Republic of China
(http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/ ),
France(http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/),
c. Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Reports
http://www.un.org/en/members/
(Click on any country to get the website of the Office of its
Permanent Representative.

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 d. Multilateral Organizations like the NATO
(http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/index.htm), ASEAN
(http://www.aseansec.org/), OPEC
(http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/), etc.
3. UN Reports
All UN Reports are considered are information or evidence for the
Executive Board
a. UN Bodies: Like the SC (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/), GA
(http://www.un.org/en/ga/), HRC
(http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/HRCIndex.aspx) etc.
b. UN Affiliated bodies like the International Atomic Energy Agency
(http://www.iaea.org/),World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/),
International Monetary Fund (http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
),etc.

Under no circumstances will sources like

a. Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/),
b. Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/),
c. Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/)
d. newspapers like the Guardian, etc will be accepted.

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

UNHRC : United Nations Human Rights Council

ASEAN : The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
NHRI : National Human Rights Institution
ECHR : The European Convention on Human Rights
ESC : European Social Charter
OHCHR : Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
OIC : Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
UNMIK : United Nations Mission in Kosovo
NAP : National Action Plan
NHRAP : National Human Rights Action Plan
LSRP : Legal Sector Reform Programme
NSGRP : National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty
NCW : National Consultative Workshop
MoCLA : The Ministry of Constitutional and Legal Affairs
POPSGG : President‘s Office, Public Service and Good Governance
HIV : Human Immunodeficiency Virus
CHRAGG : Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance

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 ABOUT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United

Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human
rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and
make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights
issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN
Office at Geneva. The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which
are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the
former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Creation
The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March
2006 by resolution 60/251. Its first session took place from 19 to 30 June 2006. One
year later, the Council adopted its "Institution-building package" to guide its work and
set up its procedures and mechanisms. Among them were the Universal Periodic
Review mechanism which serves to assess the human rights situations in all United
Nations Member States, the Advisory Committee which serves as the Council‘s
―think tank‖ providing it with expertise and advice on thematic human rights issues
and the Complaint Procedure which allows individuals and organizations to bring
human rights violations to the attention of the Council.
The Human Rights Council also works with the UN Special Procedures
established by the former Commission on Human Rights and now assumed by the
Council. These are made up of special rapporteurs, special representatives,
independent experts and working groups that monitor, examine, advise and publicly
report on thematic issues or human rights situations in specific countries.

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 INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC

Regional inter-governmental structures provide ways of addressing Human

Rights issues within the "community." Instead of international bodies dealing with their
Human Rights issues, the members of the community (States) who are bound by a
common history, culture and other ties can resolve these issues in their "own way,"
that is, in an effective, efficient and appropriate manner using the international Human
Rights standards.
There is typically broad support for the idea of having a regional mechanism in
place to uphold the promotion and safeguarding of fundamental Human Rights in a
way that is appropriate to the distinctive conditions of a given region. They are an
important complement to international and National Human Rights systems.
In essence, a regional mechanism is a forum for reviewing a human rights
situation and, when needed, putting pressure on its regional members to observe the
human rights standards that the region itself has determined as important. Regional
mechanisms may comprise an establishing charter, an executive body or commission,
and a form of judicial body or court.
Intergovernmental Human Rights mechanisms are likely valuable in addressing
cross-border issues such as trafficking in human beings and exploitation of migrant
labour, but also National issues that require external pressure to prod governments
into action or provide redress for violations resulting from governments' action or
omission.
Regional Human Rights mechanism can play an important role in order to
resolve the crisis related with Human Rights issues all across the globe. There are
different types of regional Human Rights mechanism all across the globe. There is no
united and big regional Human Rights mechanism in Asia. ASEAN Intergovernmental
Commission on Human Rights only includes 10 member states and it is not effective
to a huge extent if compared to other regional mechanisms such as Council of Europe,
European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights and African
Court on Human and People‘s Rights. Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines also collaborated on Human Rights issues in 2007. Hence, the member

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states of Asia should come up with a more concrete regional framework in order to
deal with pressing Human Rights across the continent.

National Human Rights Institution

NHRIs are bodies that have been established by a State—either by legislation
or constitutional provision—with a specific mandate to promote and protect Human
Rights. National Human Rights systems complement regional and international
systems.
The Paris Principles set out the minimum standards that an NHRI must meet in
order to be effective in its role. They came out of the first NHRIs conference held in
Paris in October 1991 and were adopted by the UN General Assembly in December
1993. NHRIs must have:
1. A clearly defined and broad-based mandate, based on universal Human
Rights standards;
2. Independence guaranteed by legislation or the constitution;
3. Autonomy from the government;
4. Pluralism, including membership that broadly reflects the society the
institution serves;
5. Adequate powers of investigation; and
6. Sufficient resources.

Complaints function to hear complaints about Human Rights breaches is a feature

of some NHRIs. However, this is not a requirement under the Paris Principles. NHRIs
may take various forms, but their functions generally include:
1. Reviewing National laws, policies and programmes to ensure that they are
consistent with Human Rights standards;
2. Monitoring a States‘ compliance with its own laws and with International
Human Rights standards and recommending changes when necessary;
3. Education: raising community awareness and understanding of Human Rights
issues; and
4. Complaints Handling: receiving, investigating and/or mediating complaints of
discrimination or Human Rights abuses.

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 First established in the 1970s, there are now approximately 90 NHRIs in
operation around the world. However, only around two-thirds of these are accredited
as compliant with the Paris Principles.
The UN Human Rights system recognises the positive roles that NHRIs can
play in the promotion and protection of Human Rights. As well as acknowledging the
importance of regional and sub-regional mechanisms, the 1993 Vienna Declaration
and Programme of Action encourages the establishment and strengthening of NHRIs.

Achievements of a regional mechanism

Decisions were taken in order to punish the military officers who were involved
in a violation of Human Rights in America through the Inter-American Commission and
the Court. Colombia also got peace for this court. European Commission and Court
improved the lives of detainees in countries like Belgium and Germany. It also made
a breakthrough in the United Kingdom with the establishment of freedom of the press
in England and normalization of homosexual sex between males in Northern Ireland.
African Commission on Human and Peoples‘ Rights was the first ever body to discuss
the rights of Ogoni people in Nigeria and East African Court of Justice established the
system of someone else filing complaints on behalf of the rape victim which is not even
allowed in many developed parts of the world. Council of Europe brought about
positive changes for countries such as Montenegro. ECHR also set the benchmark
very high for maintaining the Human Rights condition in Europe. African Commission
on Human and Peoples‘ Rights allowed students to be aware of the condition of
Human Rights as it was incorporated with the institutions. Women‘s rights were also
one of the primary concerns of the commission. Factsheets were also released from
the European Court‘s Press Unit in order to make people aware of the crucial cases
that were going on.
There was also enforcement of laws by the Inter-American Commission in order
to stop the activities of the governments which did not value the rights of the respective
citizens. The commission published reports on Peru, Guatemala and Honduras which
addressed the Human Rights issues effectively. African Commission on Human and
People‘s Rights works to find out whether the countries are following the guidelines
given in the UN Charter. The implementation rate of this Commission is questionable.
The Arab Human Rights Committee published remarks for the attention of the

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respective authorities in order to take concrete actions in resolving the Human Rights
disputes.

Challenges faced by regional mechanisms

Inter-American Commission and Court have a lot of challenges in the field of
human resource and finance in order to make it a more effective entity in the American
continent. It has one of the least numbers of lawyers in order to deal with most cases
which are still pending in the court. There is less number of member states of the
American continent who have ratified the Convention. The African Commission for
Human and Peoples‘ Rights do not have the accessibility required in order to reach all
the stakeholders. The competence of the court is also questioned by the member
states. The political process also needs to be strengthened. There is a discrepancy
between the treatment of ECHR and ESC in Europe. The crucial issue at hand is the
rising number of concerns related to Human Rights. People in Europe also do not trust
the judiciary system. There should also be a revision of certain rules like the Arab
Charter on Human Rights in order to deal with the procedural challenges. Arab Court
of Human Rights is not open to individuals for filing complaints. There are very less
number of verdicts from the Inter-American Court which are implemented with strict
measures. African Commission has member states that are not active in the process
of working for the effective role of the Commission. ASEAN Charter should be updated
in order to make it enforceable.

Role of OHCHR
OHCHR has taken a number of initiatives in order to address the regional
mechanisms. There is sufficient sharing of information and assistance provided to the
regional mechanisms. UN has worked relentlessly with the regional mechanisms of
Human Rights. National Institutions and Regional Mechanism and Civil Society
Section is a part of OHCHR which is primarily working with the regional Human Rights
mechanism. There are also different forms of help given in order to improve and build
the capacity of the regional Human Rights mechanism. The international benchmark
concerned with Human Rights also cooperates with the regional Human Rights
mechanisms. League of the Arab States and the African Union received a lot of help
from OHCHR. OIC also received help from OHCHR. The best judging criteria were
shared in 2016 when experts came from Africa, America and Europe. The judges from

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ECHR also joined the session of July 1st 2016. OHCHR is also making the international
community aware of the achievements of the regional Human Rights mechanisms in
order to take the lessons learned for feasible solutions to the current global problems.
National Human Rights Institutions and civil society should also collaborate for better
results for the regional Human Rights mechanisms. The Human Rights Section of
UNMIK is trying its best to figure out the 1658 persons who were displaced during the
Kosovo conflict. The Human Rights section is also active in Haiti, Afghanistan, Guinea-
Bissau, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

National steps are taken to ensure Human Rights

Governments have the primary role for the protection of Human Rights.
Sweden took the proposal of forming an institution in order to ensure Human Rights.
The primary purpose will be to respect Human Rights issues with no breach of
sovereignty. The Danish Institute for Human Rights works for Human Rights issues in
the home and across borders. Human Rights Institution was also created in Finland
which had many parts. Norwegian National Human Rights Institutions works as an
independent observer of Human Rights issues. National Action Plan for the Protection
and Promotion of Human Rights in Nigeria was passed in order to deal with atrocities
that lead to Human Rights violations. There is a NAP Steering Committee and NAP
Coordinating Committee in order to protect civil and political rights; economic, social
and cultural rights; the right to sustainable development, peace and a protected
environment and the rights of women, children and young persons.
South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission has the primary task to
deal with any form of Human Rights violations. It is also tasked to restore the pride of
the affected victims. It prepared a report on the apartheid policy of South Africa which
led to mass Human Rights violations.

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 CASE STUDY OF TANZANIA

The United Republic of Tanzania‘s National Human Rights Action Plan

(NHRAP) reflects the state‘s motive for the protection and promotion of Human Rights.
The NHRAP is based on the recommendations of the 1993 Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action. Its goals are to protect the Human Rights provided by the
Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. Commission for Human Rights and
Good Governance was also there to evaluate the dedicated efforts of the NHRAP. The
NHRAP works on a broad range of issues in order to deal with all forms of Human
Rights abuses. This covers 23 Human Rights issues and 4 thematic issues in order to
have a comprehensive approach. There are also certain plans developed for a period
of five years in order to review the implementation process. There is also a well-
equipped system of assessing the fact of whether the set goals are met or not. There
is also the involvement of civil society for maintaining neutrality. There is a requirement
of a homogenous policy as well as an integration of the stakeholders in the process of
development in order to give fruitful results.
There were inclusions of certain National and international laws in order to deal
with the Human Rights context in Tanzania. Commission for Human Rights and Good
Governance also plays a very active role in addressing the Human Rights issues with
an overall view of the governance in the region. Legal Sector Reform Programme
(LSRP) also brought about required changes in the law instruments. National Strategy
for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) also had plans to incorporate Human
Rights issues. National Development Vision 2025 for the Mainland Tanzania and
Vision 2020 for Zanzibar were also strategies which incorporated the Human Rights
issues. National Consultative Workshop (NCW) to know about the steps taken to
resolve Human Rights issues in Tanzania. The Ministry of Constitutional and Legal
Affairs (MoCLA) and President‘s Office, Public Service and Good Governance –
POPSGG also played an effective role in the coordination process. There were also
surveys from the Coordination Committee in order to justify the reports on the ground.
There was also Universal Periodic Review in order to come with concrete follow-ups.
There was also a framework for the protection of Human Rights based on The

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Constitutional Bill of Rights and Institutional Framework for the Protection of Human
Rights. NHRAP also had a key role to play in the aspect of development plans.

Issues Addressed
NHRAP addressed four main issues: civil and political rights; economic, social
and cultural rights; groups with special needs and institutional strengthening and
emerging issue. There are several key challenges faced in the issue of Human Rights
in Tanzania. Right to life is one of the key challenges because of many factors. First
of all, there are some cases where the convicts are not arrested. People are also killed
through traditional thoughts. The red-eyed women are also killed without any form of
understanding of the context. There is also mob violence and fatal road accidents.
There also challenges concerned with access to justice, fair trial and equality before
the law. The most basic problem is the lack of a sufficient number of courts. Then, the
concern comes to the rural areas where there are not enough justice facilities. There
is also a lack of resources and a lack of coordination between the concerned agencies.
There are also delays in giving verdicts. There is no sufficient training given to the
officials who are involved in the judiciary sector. The use of English has also been a
concern. There is no alternative mechanism in order to resolve the case with lesser
efforts. There are traditional laws being followed which demote the rights of women
and there is also a lack of awareness about the laws from the viewpoint of general
people.

Challenges Faced
Freedom of opinion, expression and information has a number of challenges.
There is no such law which can ensure the right of the people towards accessing the
required information. The right to freedom of expression, speech, and media can also not
be established due to the existence of no clear laws or regulations. There is very little
transparency on what is done with the public funds. There is potential for abuse in the
world of media due to bias reporting. There is also fewer women involved in the world
of media. Freedom of assembly is also not an exception to the challenges faced. There
is less scope of dialogue between the government and the other agencies. There is
no peaceful method to respond to protests. There is political instability due to the
intolerance among the parties.

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 The right to liberty and security of persons also pose numerous challenges and
budget is definitely one of them. The law enforcement agencies do not receive the
required training in order to improve the services. There is a shortage of the number
of police officers to serve everyone in the nation. There is also a lack of resources in
the sector for law enforcement agencies to conduct their tasks effectively and
efficiently.
The right to own property and to access land starts with the challenge of the
unfair level of compensation in case of the acquired land. The process of registering
a land is time-consuming and lengthy. Women are deprived of their rights to own the
family land. The youth also has lesser access to the land. The village authority is not
allowed to intervene when the land is sold to the outsiders.
There is little transparency and accountability in this sector. There is also no
consultation with the public when the land owned by citizens is adopted by the
government. There is also a huge problem with pastoral land. There is also no
comprehensive plan on how to use land. Right to education is not focused on quality.
The underprivileged groups do not get access to good schools. There is less
remuneration for teachers and poor physical infrastructure. There is a very low
incentive for teachers to work in rural areas. There are also huge qualitative factors
which differentiate the schools which operate in the public and private sector. The girls
are also deprived of education. There is also a lesser provision of education to the
adult and the quality of teachers has also deteriorated. The command of English is not
enough o compete with the global world. There is also no or less awareness about the
significance of education. The quality of vocational education is not up to the set
standards.
Right to an adequate standard of living and right to food also poses a number
of challenges like the level of poverty, lack of a social protection scheme, lack of proper
farming methods, insufficient training of beneficiaries, inadequate extension officers,
price cartels, incapable management and the innovation in the agricultural sector is
undermined. Right to clean and safe water and sanitation has issues such as over
expenditure on waterborne diseases, poor sanitation facilities, lack of capacity, an
insufficient supply of clean and safe water and environmental degradation. Right to
work has many problems: unemployment, underemployment, bad working conditions,

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poor remuneration, child labour, labour productivity is low and discrimination against
the disadvantaged groups.
Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health has
problems like budget allocation, medical facilities are not good enough for everyone,
insufficient health professionals, lack of capacity to address health problems, low pay
to nurses, insufficient maternal and child healthcare, unethical conduct and unsafe
abortions. Right to live in the safe and clean environment has many challenges like
loss of wildlife habitat, deforestation, deterioration of aquatic systems, environmental
pollution, poor sanitation facilities and management, unsystematic urbanization, rapid
population growth, clearing of forests, dependence on forests and insufficient financial
resources. Right to social security has a number of problems like procession of
terminal benefits, economically productive groups are no covered, limited pension and
lack of public awareness about the social security programs. Groups with special
needs also have a range of issues involving women, children, children in conflict with
the law, persons with disabilities, elderly persons, persons living with HIV, rights of
prisoners, rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons.
There are also a number of issues from the strengthening institutions, emerging
issues and mechanisms for implementation of treaty obligations. CHRAGG faces the
problem of inadequate sources of funds and the level of expertise is also lacking in
this sector. The government and other agencies took time to implement the
recommendations given. Failure to reach the majority of people whose rights have
been violated is also a major issue. There is also low public awareness about the role
of CHRAGG. There is also very less knowledge about the role played by CHRAGG in
the viewpoint of state institutions. The public and stakeholders‘ expectations cannot
be met. There is no capable monitoring agency. The appointment procedures of
Commissioners are also an issue. Human Rights and business also face a lot of
malpractice as there are no adequate enforcement mechanisms to ensure trade and
businesses respect Human Rights.

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 QARMAs

1. How to tackle the resource constraints faced by smaller countries?

2. What should be the level of Autonomy and Independence that should be granted
to these regional organisations?
3. What steps can be taken to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of these
institutions?
4. Are all forms of human rights issues being addressed? If yes, what are the ones
that need to be prioritized according to the current circumstances? If not, which
are the ones that are to be brought under the ambit?
5. What can possibly be the balance point between the International Human Rights
and Regional Human Rights Norms?
6. In case of a disagreement between a Regional Human Rights norm and an
International Human Rights norm, which one should prevail?
7. What all measures should be taken to increase the enforceability of Human
Rights Norms?

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/AboutCouncil.aspx
https://bangkok.ohchr.org/programme/other-regional-systems.aspx
https://www.asiapacificforum.net/support/international-regional-advocacy/regional-
mechanisms/
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/AdvisoryCom/Session19/A
_HRC_AC _19_CRP_1.docx
https://www.government.se/4ab459/contentassets/08bcf332d33e40908f918f0c
d29a13ae/a-strategy-for-national-efforts-with-human-rights
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/NHRA/nigeria.pdf
http://www.humanrights.is/en/human-rights-education-project/human-rights-
concepts-ideas-and-fora/human-rights-actors/the-role-of-states
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/NHRA/Tanzania_en.doc

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