Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Council, the Coordination Committee of UN Special Procedures* today reaffirmed the commitment of all mandate holders to remain "unbowed and undeterred" in fulfilling the mandates entrusted to them by the Council. The Committee calls on the Human Rights Council, States and civil society organisations to renew their support to the Special Procedures system and defend mandate holders against escalating personal attacks, smear campaigns and misinformation. "These attacks are not merely directed at individual experts; they constitute an assault on the international human rights system itself and on the victims and communities it exists to protect," the Committee said.
The Coordination Committee issued the following statement:
"Since the creation of the very first special procedure in 1967, the Special Procedures system has been one of the most agile, responsive, efficient and effective mechanisms within the international human rights framework. In an era marked by unilateralism, escalating conflict, authoritarianism and attacks on fundamental freedoms, Special Procedures have consistently spoken truth to power, fulfilled their critical early-warning role, clarified and advanced the interpretation of international human rights standards, and amplified the voices of victims and survivors on the global stage.
Special Procedures help States to discharge their human rights obligations. It is the reason States created the Special Procedures system at the outset. Their role, as an integral and distinctive part of the UN human rights ecosystem, is even more crucial in the current geopolitical context, and increasingly challenging to fulfil due to the ongoing financial crisis of the UN.
As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Council, we reiterate that it is unacceptable that independent experts have become a target of coordinated efforts, aimed at undermining not only confidence in the Special Procedures system, but also the credibility of the UN and its human rights architecture as a whole.
We are particularly concerned about the slanderous spread of false allegations of corruption and political bias against mandate holders, including calls for sanctions against several of them.
The attacks against mandate holders have also taken the form of accusations of lack of transparency and accountability. We wish to emphasise that the Special Procedures system adheres to the highest standards of transparency about its sources of funding within the UN system, as clearly set out here. All information about Regular Budget allocations, voluntary contributions received by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or external resources received by mandate holders directly are available in the report of activities of OHCHR. Regarding accountability, we stress that there is a multilayered system of checks and balances over the work of Special Procedures.
The Committee calls on Member States of the Human Rights Council, CSOs and the UN System, to reaffirm their commitment to the independence of Special Procedures mandate holders and unequivocally reject campaigns of intimidation, harassment and disinformation directed against them.
Special Procedures experts will continue to carry out their responsibilities with independence, impartiality and rigor, guided by international human rights law and the voices of victims and survivors. We remain unbowed and undeterred by attempts to silence, intimidate or discredit us."
