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The
main body responsible for human rights in the Secretariat is the
Human Rights Unit (HRU). The HRU is a free-standing unit that
reports directly to the Secretary-General. It has 4 staff members
and is headed by Rabab Fatima. The HRU has a small budget and
resources and was previously a unit of the Legal and Constitutional
Affairs Division. Its move to becoming a free-standing unit is
part of a move to revitalize the unit and give human rights related
work in the Secretariat greater prominence. Overall, the HRU's
work is in the promotion of human rights as it has no enforcement
or investigative role. Current activities include:
- Integrating
human rights work into all areas of the Secretariat's work.
- Developing
programmes related to the promotion and protection of human
rights. Their efforts have been in the area of developing strategies
to combat trafficking in women and children; and the compilation
of case laws related to the unconstitutional overthrow of governments,
developing consensus on standards applicable to the concept
of rule of law among Commonwealth members; pan-Commonwealth
workshops on refugees to develop best practice guidelines on
treatment; strengthening and monitoring national human rights
institutions; and increasing the number of ratifications of
the Convention Against Torture by Commonwealth members; assisting
member states, especially small states in ratifying major human
rights conventions and drafting national laws; liasing with
the human rights mechanisms and representing the Commonwealth
in various forums; supporting educational courses in Human Rights
etc..
- Publishing
information on human rights developments, jurisprudence and
so on for the information and use of member countries. Examples
include the Commonwealth Law Digest which provides information
on decisions related to interpreting international human rights
standards in national courts for the reference of those in other
countries who are interpreting similar provisions. The HRU also
has a newsletter called the HRU Update which includes information
on a wide range of human rights developments, projects, workshops
and so on. The HRU has also prepared a Human Rights Training
Manual for Police Trainers in Commonwealth West Africa. Furthermore
it also keeps publishing and disseminating 'best practice' guidelines
on a range of rights issues.
- Working
on human rights issues with governmental and non-governmental
organizations (Commonwealth and other) and interacting with
the UN human rights system, following the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding with the UN Commissioner for Human Rights).
- Providing
advice to the Secretary-General as needed, including on issues
related to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG).
CMAG has the power to suspend members for breaching the Harare
Declaration, and so the involvement of the HRU potentially gives
it a role in the enforcing of human rights, as well as in increasing
the importance of human rights issues in CMAG's deliberations.
The
HRU is an important target for the advocacy of human rights within
the Commonwealth.
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