IHRC at UN

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has consultative status with the United Nations (UN) since 2007.

IHRC’s work with the UN is related to human rights, it works with Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council which encompasses Special Rapporteurs of various thematic and country mandates, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which reviews the human rights record of UN member states and various treaty bodies like the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Committee against Torture (CAT and the UN Human Rights Council.  IHRC focuses on countries as well as issues like racism, discrimination, islamophobia, shrinking space for civil society, the Uighurs, the Rohingya, arbitrary detention of Sheikh Zakzaky of Nigeria and ex-president of Comoros, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi and recently attacks on NGOs rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.

IHRC has submitted reports to the special rapporteurs, UPR and the treaty bodies.  The reports have often been based on research done by the research department at IHRC.  IHRC also does advocacy work by organizing side events during the UN human rights council sessions or meeting with Special Rapporteurs and other UN officials to see what can be done or to alleviate a situation or for the UN Human Rights Council to be made aware of a situation or to express concern.

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Bahrain: Open Letter to UN Special Rapporteur on situation of HR defenders

A week after the arrest of Dr Abduljalil Al-Singace, the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Haq Movement in Bahrain, and in view of the subsequent crackdown of protests against the arrest in the country, the Islamic Human Rights Commission has appealed to Mrs. Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, to take up the case. The full text of the open letter is given below.