Civil Society in Action for Human Rights - Reading list Quiz

Hoehne, Oliver. 2007. "Special Procedures and the new Human Rights Council – A need for strategic positioning," Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 4, No.

1. Examine the following statements about special procedures. Which one is right? *This question is required.

• Special Procedures offer a way for the UN to change things directly in the field.
• Special Procedures as a human rights mechanism is receiving increasing attention from governments in the recent years.
• It is the human rights experts rather than government representatives at the Human Rights Council who are mainly responsible for the politicization of the Commission.

Hoehne, Oliver. 2007. "Special Procedures and the new Human Rights Council – A need for strategic positioning," Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 4, No. 1

2. Examine the following descriptions of the relations between Human Rights Council and Special Procedures. Which one is right? *This question is required.

• The Human Rights Council added considerable weight to the topic of human rights at the UN, this presents an opportunity for the Special Procedures
• The Human Rights Council had a negative impact on Special Procedures mandate holders, who are not able to present their conclusion more immediately and their findings followed up more quickly.
• The Secretariat of the Human Rights Council is called the Special Procedures.

Hoehne, Oliver. 2007. "Special Procedures and the new Human Rights Council – A need for strategic positioning," Essex Human Rights Review Vol. 4, No. 1

3. Which option represents one of the main challenges currently faced by Special Procedures? *This question is required.

• Too much visibility and high public profile, resulting in controversy and contention.
• The expansion of mandates seems to be maintained with full force.
• Lack of support from high-level UN officials.

A Simple Guide to the UN Treaty Bodies

4. Which of the following statements about UN treaty bodies is right? *This question is required.

• A 'treaty' is an international legal instrument, but does not impose binding legal obligations upon a State who is a party to that treaty.
• If a State has ratified a treaty body, it means it is considered bound to fulfil all provisions within.
• The treaty bodies are international committees of independent experts who monitor State parties' implementation of each of the core human rights treaties and their optional protocols.

A Simple Guide to the UN Treaty Bodies

5. Which one of the following accounts for the main role of country rapporteurs? *This question is required.

• Comprehensively examine the State report and then draft the list of issues and questions to submit to the state party.
• Play a facilitating role in questioning the State delegation when it presents the report to the treaty body.
• Finalizing the concluding observations and recommendations to the State party.

A Simple Guide to the UN Treaty Bodies

6. Which one of the following is the most effective way for NGOs to engage with the treaty bodies? *This question is required.

• Make written submissions based on their own research, findings and views to the relevant treaty body through the secretariat.
• Attend the plenary sessions of the treaty bodies and participate in the formal dialogue between the treaty body and the concerned State.
• Raise specific questions during the main session and constructive dialogue to the State.

OHCHR, Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society

7. Which one of the following statements is right? *This question is required.

• Human Rights Council is a subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• The Commission on Human Rights was replaced by Human Rights Council in 2006.
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the secretariat for the Human Rights Council, not the Commission on Human Rights.

OHCHR, Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society

8. Which following option is one of several ways for an NGO without consultative status with ECOSOC to interact with the Human Rights Council? *This question is required.

• Submit written statements to the Human Rights Council.
• View public meetings of the Human Rights Council on its webcast.
• Participate as observers in Human Rights Council sessions.

OHCHR, Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme: A Handbook for Civil Society

9. Among the following statements about Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which one is right? *This question is required.

• The Working Group meets in three two-week sessions each year and reviews 48 states at each session – a total of 192 States each year.
• A group of two rapporteurs drawn from among the Council's Member States, facilitates the review of each State.
• The UPR is composed of several stages, including the preparation of the documents that reviews are based on, the review itself, and follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations stemming from reviews.

McMahon, Edward. 2012. "The Universal Periodic Review: A Work in Progress An Evaluation of the First Cycle of the New UPR Mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council", published by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

10. Which following option belongs to the positive legacy left by Commission on Human Rights? *This question is required.

• The development of Special Procedures and country reporting.
• High credibility and professionalism as an UN human rights mechanism.
• A rigorous membership selection process.

McMahon, Edward. 2012. "The Universal Periodic Review: A Work in Progress An Evaluation of the First Cycle of the New UPR Mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council", published by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

11. During the first cycle of UPR mechanism, there was an overall high acceptance (73%) of recommendations made to the countries. Which one of the following statements best explains this phenomenon? *This question is required.

• Because there were a lot of human rights issues which got the chance to be addressed during the first UPR cycle.
• Because countries are concerned about the perception of not accepting a large number of recommendations, while the recommending states have an interest in making their recommendations acceptable to the State under Review.
• Because Member States wanted to show their enthusiasm and support for the newly established human rights mechanism.

McMahon, Edward. 2012. "The Universal Periodic Review: A Work in Progress An Evaluation of the First Cycle of the New UPR Mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council", published by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

12. Which following option describes the positive impact of UPR? *This question is required.

• UPR has led to broad and deep support among Member States in creating a stronger human rights mechanism.
• Unlike Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly, UPR functions in a completely uniform fashion without countries forming into different regional groups.
• The UPR has triggered self-evaluations by states, with the prospect of a future review before the Council, leading many states to engage in a process of internal review and inter-ministerial discussion.

Piccone, Ted. 2012."Why are Human Rights Procedures so Special?", in A Global Agenda: Issues before the United Nations 2011-2012, United Nations Association of United States of America

13. Which following option constitutes one of the challenges faced by Special Procedures today? *This question is required.

• Chronic lack of cooperation from some governments.
• Lack of high-calibre human rights experts.
• Misplaced resources and inflexible implementation.

Piccone, Ted. 2012."Why are Human Rights Procedures so Special?", in A Global Agenda: Issues before the United Nations 2011-2012, United Nations Association of United States of America

14. What is 'the crown jewel' of the UN human rights system? *This question is required.

• Universal Periodical Review
• Special Procedures
• Human Rights Council

Piccone, Ted. 2012."Why are Human Rights Procedures so Special?", in A Global Agenda: Issues before the United Nations 2011-2012, United Nations Association of United States of America

15. Overall, what is the author's view on the Special Procedure? *This question is required.

• The effectiveness of the mechanism is questionable, largely due to the weak or nonexistent cooperation with special rapporteurs.
• While the mechanism is now facing a series of challenges, it still makes considerable contribution to advancing human rights in the UN system by amplifying the voices of human rights defenders, mobilizing advocacy and publicizing testimonies.
• The mechanism has made significant contribution to addressing human rights issues at the frontline. It is an unshakable and welcomed part of the UN human rights mechanism.

Hannum, Hurst, "Implementing Human Rights: An overview of NGO Strategies and Available Procedures" (excerpt).

16. When working on an individual human rights case, where should a NGO place its primary loyalty? *This question is required.

• To the overall good of the human rights situation.
• To the individual victim whose rights have been violated.
• To promote and protect human rights is a State duty, hence the NGO should place its loyalty with the government.

Hannum, Hurst, "Implementing Human Rights: An overview of NGO Strategies and Available Procedures" (excerpt)

17. Under what circumstances must a human rights complaint exhaust all domestic remedies before invoking international procedures? *This question is required.

• Under all circumstances. No international measures can be invoked before all domestic remedies are fully exhausted.
• Only if a majority of the United Nations Human Rights Council Member States decides so in a secret ballot that they need a human rights complaint to exhaust all domestic remedies before invoking international procedures.
• A petitioner needs only to go through all domestic proceedings if the remedies of that system are real, effective and adequate.

Hannum, Hurst, "Implementing Human Rights: An overview of NGO Strategies and Available Procedures" (excerpt).

18. Submitting an appeal to international human rights procedures should rarely be the first option considered by NGOs advocating human rights. Why is that? *This question is required.

• International human rights procedures tend to not take adequate action on appeals from NGOs working with human rights issues.
• International human rights procedures suffer from severe delay. While processing an appeal, further human rights violations may occur.
• In order for an NGO to submit an appeal to any international human rights procedures the organization must do so directly to the relevant office. This involves costly travels and requires significant resources from the NGO.

Cingranelli, David L. and Richards David L. 2007. "Measuring the Impact of Human Rights Organizations"

19. In order to measure the impact of human rights organizations on target governments it is necessary to first develop objective measures of government respect for human rights. How can this be done? *This question is required.

• Through asking NGOs and government leaders whether NGOs has been effective in improving the human rights situation in a country.
• Through the collection of centralized, frequently updated sources of information about the human rights practice of a large number of countries.
• Through study of quantitative research that has been conducted in a comparative and systematic fashion linking activities of NGOs to improvements in human rights practices of governments.

Cingranelli, David L. and Richards David L. 2007. "Measuring the Impact of Human Rights Organizations"

20. What category of human rights can be measured using the Political Terror Scale? *This question is required.

• Physical Integrity Rights
• Political Rights
• Civil Liberties

Cingranelli, David L. and Richards David L. 2007. "Measuring the Impact of Human Rights Organizations"

21. Why is it important to make a distinction between human rights practices and human rights conditions when measuring the impact of human rights organizations on target governments? *This question is required.

• It is not possible to measure human rights conditions in an unbiased way.
• Conditions refer to the degree to which citizens can exercise their rights and practices to the actions of government, affecting the overall degree to which citizens can exercise their rights.
• Practices refer to the degree to which citizens can exercise their rights and conditions to the actions of government, affecting the overall degree to which citizens can exercise their rights.

Yeboah, Nana. 2008. "The Establishment of the Human Rights Council", Chapter 5, Managing Change at the United Nations, Center for UN Reform Education.

22. Which of the following statements is correct? *This question is required.

• A State under UN Security Council sanction for abusing human rights abuse may become a member of the Human Rights Council.
• There are other criteria for membership in the Human Rights Council than quotas for each regional group and the need to be elected by simple majority of the General Assembly.
• A State that wants to become a member of the Human Rights Council must be able to show a clean human rights record.

Yeboah, Nana. 2008. "The Establishment of the Human Rights Council", Chapter 5, Managing Change at the United Nations, Center for UN Reform Education.

23. Which of the following is a UN recognized regional group? *This question is required.

• Australia & New Zealand Group
• Scandinavian Group
• African Group

Yeboah, Nana. 2008. "The Establishment of the Human Rights Council", Chapter 5, Managing Change at the United Nations, Center for UN Reform Education.

24. "Those elected to the Human Rights Council should undertake to abide by the highest human rights standards". What does this imply? *This question is required.

• That independent human rights lawyers each year examine the human rights record of all Human Rights Council Member States, in order to establish whether they live up to these standards or not.
• That Member States should adhere to this appeal made by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
• That States against which the UN Security Council has adopted measures under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, are excluded from Human Rights Council membership.