UN Special Rapporteur

WHY IN NEWS?

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to an application made by a United Nations Special Rapporteur to intervene in a batch of petitions filed by the Rohingya community against the government’s move to conduct their mass deportation from India.

ABOUT UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR

• A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme.
• This position is honorary and the expert is not United Nations staff nor paid for his/her work. The Special Rapporteurs are part of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.
• The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective.
• The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social.
• The term "rapporteur" is a French-derived word for an investigator who reports to a deliberative body.
• Appointed by the Human Rights Council of the UN, these mandate-holders act independently of governments and as such play an important role in monitoring sovereign nations and democratically elected governments and policies.
• They do not receive any financial compensation for their work from the United Nations, though they receive personnel and logistical support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and are often backed by charities and corporations.
• Special Rapporteurs often conduct fact-finding missions to countries to investigate allegations of human rights violations. They can only visit countries that have agreed to invite them.
• Aside from fact-finding missions, Rapporteurs regularly assess and verify complaints from alleged victims of human rights violations.
• Once a complaint is verified as legitimate, an urgent letter or appeal is sent to the government that has allegedly committed the violation.
• If no complaint has been made, Rapporteurs may intervene on behalf of individuals and groups of people of their own accord.

Prelims Question

Q. With reference to UN Special Rapporteur, which of the following statements is/are correct?
1. He/she is appointed by the Security Council of the UN
2. The emoluments of the Special Rapporteur are determined by the General Assembly
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to the Prelims Question