National human rights institutions

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National human rights institutions (NHRIs) are administrative bodies set up to
protect or monitor human rights in a given country. The growth of such bodies has been
encouraged by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) which has provided advisory and support services, and facilitated access for
NHRIs to the UN treaty bodies and other committees.[1] There are over 100 such
institutions, about two-thirds assessed by peer review as compliant with the United
Nations standards set out in the Paris Principles. Compliance with the Principles is the
basis for accreditation at the UN, which, uniquely for NHRIs, is not conducted directly
by a UN body but by a sub-committee of the International Coordinating Committee of
National Human Rights Institutions (ICC). The secretariat to the review process (for
initial accreditation, and reaccreditation every five years) is provided by the National
Institutions and Regional Mechanisms Section of the OHCHR.[2]
NHRIs can be grouped together in two broad categories: human rights commissions and
ombudsmen. While most ombudsman agencies have their powers vested in a single
person, human rights commissions are multi-member committees, often representative
of various social groups and political tendencies. They are sometimes set up to deal with
specific issues such as discrimination, although some are bodies with very broad
responsibilities. Specialised national institutions exist in many countries to protect the
rights of a particular vulnerable group such as ethnic and linguistic minorities,
indigenous peoples, children, refugees persons with disabilities or women.
However, in general terms national human rights institution have an explicit and
specific human rights mandate and a broader mandate, which could include research,
documentation and training and education in human rights issues, than the classical
ombudsman model which tends to work on handling complaints about administrative
deficiencies. While all human rights violations are maladministration, only a small
proportion of the workload of an ombudsman deals with violations of human rights
standards.[3]
In most countries, a constitution, a human rights act or institution-specific legislation
will provide for the establishment of a national human rights institution. The degree of
independence of these institutions depends upon national law, and best practice requires
a constitutional or statutory basis rather than (for example) a presidential decree.
Nations human rights institutions are also referred to by the Vienna Declaration and
Programme of Action[4] and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities[5]

Contents
[hide]

1 Functions of NHRIs

2 Regional groupings of NHRIs

3 Sub-national human rights institutions

4 Notes

5 See also

6 Further reading

7 External links

Functions of NHRIs[edit]
Special commissions have been established in many countries to ensure that laws and
regulations concerning the protection of human rights are effectively applied.
Commissions tend to be composed of members from diverse backgrounds, often with a
particular interest, expertise or experience in the field of human rights.
Human rights commissions are concerned primarily with the protection of those within
the jurisdiction of the state against discrimination or mistreatment, and with the
protection of civil liberties and other human rights. Some commissions concern
themselves with alleged violations of any rights recognized in the constitution and/or in
international human rights instruments.
One of the most important functions vested in many human rights commissions is to
receive and investigate complaints from individuals (and occasionally, from groups)
alleging human rights abuses committed in violation of existing national law. While
there are considerable differences in the procedures followed by various human rights
commissions in the investigation and resolution of complaints, many rely on
conciliation or arbitration. It is not unusual for a human rights commission to be granted
authority to impose a legally binding outcome on parties to a complaint. If no special
tribunal has been established, the commission may be able to transfer unresolved
complaints to the normal courts for a final determination.
NHRIs are usually able to deal with any human rights issue directly involving a public
authority. In relation to non-state entities, some national human rights institutions have
at least one of the following functions:

addressing grievances or disputes involving certain kinds of company (for

instance state-owned enterprises, private companies providing public services, or
companies that operate at the federal level)

addressing only certain types of human rights issue (for instance nondiscrimination or labour rights)

addressing complaints or disputes raising any human rights issue and involving
any company.[6]

The degree to which the recommendations or rulings produced by a human rights

institution can be enforced varies based on the human rights climate surrounding the
institution.
Another important function of a human rights commission is systematically to review a
government's human rights policy in order to detect shortcomings in human rights
observance and to suggest ways of improving. This often includes human rights
proofing of draft legislation, or policies.
Human rights commissions may also monitor the state's compliance with its own and
with international human rights laws and if necessary, recommend changes. The
realization of human rights cannot be achieved solely through legislation and
administrative arrangements; therefore, commissions are often entrusted with the
important responsibility of improving community awareness of human rights.
According to the Paris Principles, the 'National human rights institutions' are obliged to
make "preparation of reports on the national situation with regard to human rights in
general, and on more specific matters;" and this is mostly done in annual status reports.[7]
Promoting and educating about human rights may involve informing the public about
the commission's own functions and purposes; provoking discussion about various
important questions in the field of human rights; organizing seminars; holding
counselling services and meetings; as well as producing and disseminating human rights
publications.
Not all of the following NHRIs are accredited through the ICC.
Afghanistan
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission
Albania
People's Advocate
Algeria
National Human Rights Commission of Algeria
Angola
Justice and Rights Ombudsman (Provedor de Justia e de direitos)
Antigua and Barbuda
Office of the Ombudsman
Argentina
Public Defender (Defensora del Pueblo de la Nacin Argentina) (Ombudsman)
Armenia
Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia
Australia
Australian Human Rights Commission
Austria
Austrian Ombudsman Board
Azerbaijan
Human Rights Commissioner
Barbados
Ombudsman
Bangladesh

National Human Rights Commission

Belgium
Centre for equal opportunities and opposition to racism
Belize
Office of the Ombudsman
Bnin
Bnin Human Rights Commission
Bermuda
Bermuda Ombudsman
Bolivia
Public Defender (Defensor del Pueblo)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina (pre-2003 cases)
Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina (current cases)
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Parliamentary Ombudsman
Burkina Faso
National Human Rights Commission of Burkina Faso
Cameroon
National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms
Canada
Canadian Human Rights Commission
Chad
Chad National Human Rights Commission
Colombia
Ombudsman's Office of Colombia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
National Human Rights Observatory (DR Congo)
Republic of the Congo
National Human Rights Commission (Republic of the Congo)
Costa Rica
Defender of the Inhabitants (Defensoria de los Habitantes)
Croatia
Office of the Croatian Ombudsman
Cyprus
National Institute for the Protection of Human Rights
Czech Republic
Public Defender of Rights (Czech Republic)
Denmark
Danish Institute for Human Rights
Ecuador
Defensora del Pueblo del Ecuador
Egypt
National Council for Human Rights
El Salvador
Human Rights Procurator (Procuradura de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos)
Ethiopia
Ethiopian Human Rights Commission
Fiji
Fiji Human Rights Commission

Finland
Parliamentary Ombudsman
France
Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme
Gabon
National Human Rights Commission
Georgia
Office of Public Defender of Georgia
Germany
German Institute for Human Rights (Deutsches Institut fr Menschenrechte)
Ghana
Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice CHRAJ
Great Britain (UK)
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) - see also Scotland
Greece
National Human Rights Commission
Guatemala
Procurator for Human Rights (Procurador de los Derechos Humanos)
Guyana
Office of the Ombudsman
Haiti
Office de la Protection du Citoyen
Honduras
National Human Rights Commissioner (Comisionado Nacional de Derechos
Humanos)
Hong Kong
Equal Opportunities Commission (Hong Kong)
Hungary
Parliamentary Commissioner on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities
(Hungary)
India
National Human Rights Commission (India)
Indonesia
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)
Iran
Islamic Human Rights Commission
Ireland
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
Italy
Commissione per i Diritti Umani
Jamaica
Office of the Public Defender (Jamaica)
Jordan
National Centre for Human Rights (Jordan)
Kazakhstan
Commissioner for Human Rights
Kenya
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Korea, Republic of
National Human Rights Commission of Korea

Kosovo (Under United Nations Administration via UN Resolution 1244)

Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Ombudsman of the Kyrgyz Republic
Latvia
Rights' Defender
Lithuania
The Seimas Ombudsmen
Luxembourg
Consultative Commission of Human Rights (Luxembourg)
Macedonia
Human Rights Ombudsman of Macedonia
Madagascar
National Human Rights Commission (Madagascar)
Malawi
Malawi Human Rights Commission
Malaysia
Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
Maldives
Human Rights Commission of the Maldives
Mali
Commission nationale consultative des droits de lhomme (Mali)
Mauritania
Commissariat aux Droits de lHomme, a la Lutte contre la Pauvret et lInsertion
(Mauritania)
Mauritius
National Human Rights Commission (Mauritius)
Mexico
National Human Rights Commission (Mexico)
Moldova
Centre for Human Rights of Moldova
Mongolia
National Human Rights Commission (Mongolia)
Montenegro
Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Montenegro
Morocco
National Human Rights Council
Myanmar (Burma)
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
Namibia
Office of the Ombudsman (Namibia)
Nepal
National Human Rights Commission (Nepal)
Netherlands
Equal Treatment Commission (Netherlands)
New Zealand
Human Rights Commission (HRC)
Nicaragua
Human Rights Procurator (Procuradura para la Defensa de los Derechos
Humanos)

Niger
Nigerien National Commission on Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties
Nigeria
National Human Rights Commission (Nigeria)
Northern Ireland (UK)
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC)
Norway
Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (Short-form name: SMR)
Israel
Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizen's Rights
Panama
Defensora del Pueblo de la Repblica de Panam
Paraguay
Defensora del Pueblo de la Repblica del Paraguay
Peru
Public Defender (Defensora del Pueblo)
Philippines
Commission on Human Rights (Philippines)
Poland
Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (ombudsman)
Portugal
Provedor de Justia
Puerto Rico
Oficina del Procurador del Ciudadano
Qatar
National Committee for Human Rights (Qatar)
Romania
Ombudsman (Avocatul Poporului)
Russia
Commissioner on Human Rights in the Russian Federation
Rwanda
National Commission for Human Rights (Rwanda)
Saint Lucia
Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner (St Lucia)
Scotland (UK)
Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) - see also Great Britain
Senegal
Senegalese Committee for Human Rights
Serbia
Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Serbia
Sierra Leone
Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovak National Centre for Human Rights
Slovenia
Human Rights Ombudsman (Slovenia)
South Africa
South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)
Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural,
Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission)

Commission for Gender Equality (CGE)

Public Protector
Spain
Defensor del Pueblo (Ombudsman)
Sri Lanka
National Human Rights Commission (Sri Lanka)
Sudan
Southern Sudan Human Rights Commission
Sweden
Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO)
Children's Ombudsman (Sweden) (BO)
Discrimination Ombudsman (Sweden) (DO)
Switzerland
Federal Commission against Racism (Switzerland)
Tanzania
Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (Tanzania)
Thailand
National Human Rights Commission (Thailand)
Timor Leste
Office of the Provedor for Human Rights and Justice (Timor Leste)
Togo
National Human Rights Commission (Togo)
Trinidad and Tobago
Office of the Ombudsman of Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Higher Committee on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Tunisia)
Uganda
Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)
Ukraine
Commissioner for Human Rights
United Kingdom
see Great Britain; Northern Ireland; Scotland
United States
United States Commission on Civil Rights
Uzbekistan
Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human
Rights (Ombudsman)
Venezuela
Defensora del Pueblo (Venezuela)
Zambia
Permanent Human Rights Commission (Zambia)

Regional groupings of NHRIs[edit]

International Ombudsman Institute

Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI)

Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF)

European Group of National Human Rights Institutions

Network of National Institutions in the Americas

Sub-national human rights institutions[edit]

Australia
Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
Equal Opportunity Commission (South Australia)
Equal Opportunity Commission (Western Australia)
Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland
Office of Anti-Discrimination Commissioner (Tasmania)
Human Rights Commission (Australian Capital Territory)
Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission
Canada
Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission
British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
Ontario Human Rights Commission
United Kingdom
The three UK bodies (Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Scotland) are listed above
as they are each recognised as NHRIs.
Spain
Catalonia: Sndic de Greuges (Ombudsman)
South Korea
Provincial and Metropolis level
Provincial Human Rights Promotion Commission (South Chungcheong
Province)
Provincial Human Rights Promotion Commission (Gangwon Province)
Seoul Human Rights Commission
Human Rights Ombudsman (Gwangju)
Citizen Council for Human Rights Promotion is advisory council for the
Ombudsman
Ulsan Human Rights Commission
Education
Human Rights Commission for Students, Gyeonggi Provincial Office of
Education
Human Rights Advocate for Students (Gyeonggi Province)
Human Rights Commission for Students, Seoul Metropolitan Office of
Education
Human Rights Advocate for Students (Seoul)

United States Commission on Civil

Rights
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Jump to: navigation, search

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is historically a bipartisan, independent
commission of the U.S. federal government, created in 1957, that is charged with the
responsibility for investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations concerning
civil rights issues that face the nation.

Contents
[hide]

1 Commissioners

2 History
o 2.1 List of Chairpersons, 1958-present

3 Commission structure

4 Civil Rights Watch Dog

5 References

6 Further reading

7 External links

Commissioners[edit]
The Commission is composed of eight Commissioners. Four are appointed by the
President of the United States, two by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and two
by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
During the Presidency of George W. Bush, Democrats criticized the panel for becoming
dominated by conservatives after two Republican commissioners reregistered as
independents and President Bush appointed additional Republican members.
As of July 2014, the members of the Commission are:

Martin R. Castro, Chair (D) President and CEO of Castro Synergies, LLC
(appointed by President Obama, January 2011).

Gail Heriot (I) University of San Diego law professor; alternate delegate to the
2000 Republican Convention (appointed by Senate, February 2007.
Reappointed, December 2013).

Peter N. Kirsanow (R) Cleveland attorney and former member of the National
Labor Relations Board (appointed by President Bush, December 2006). Term

Expired in November 2013. Reappointed to USCCR by John Boehner,Speaker

of the US House of Representatives in 2013.

David Kladney (D) Lawyer in private solo practice in Reno, NV.

Roberta Achtenberg (D) Corporate Advisor in Public Policy and California

State University Trustee (appointed by President Obama, January 2011).

Michael Yaki (D) San Francisco attorney and former member of the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors (re-appointed by Congress in April 2011).

Karen Narasaki (I) - consultant and former President and Executive Director of
the Asian American Justice Center (appointed by President Obama, July 2014).[1]

Patricia Timmons-Goodson - former Associate Justice of the North Carolina

Supreme Court (appointed by President Obama, July 2014).[1]

History[edit]
The Commission was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which was signed into
law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to a recommendation by an ad hoc
Presidents Committee on Civil Rights. In calling for a permanent commission, that
committee stated:
"In a democratic society, the systematic, critical review of social needs and public
policy is a fundamental necessity. This is especially true of a field like civil rights,
where the problems are enduring, and range widely [and where] ... a temporary,
sporadic approach can never finally solve these problems.
"Nowhere in the federal government in there an agency charged with the continuous
appraisal of the status of civil rights, and the efficiency of the machinery with which we
hope to improve that status.... A permanent Commission could perform an invaluable
function by collecting data.... Ultimately, this would make possible a periodic audit of
the extent to which our civil rights are secure.... [The Commission should also] serve[]
as a clearing house and focus of coordination for the many private, state, and local
agencies working in the civil rights field, [and thus] would be invaluable to them and to
the federal government.
"A permanent Commission on Civil Rights should point all of its work toward regular
reports which would include recommendations for action in ensuing periods. It should
lay plans for dealing with broad civil rights problems .... It should also investigate and
make recommendations with respect to special civil rights problems."[2]
As then-Senator and Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson put it, the Commissions task
is to "gather facts instead of charges." "[I]t can sift out the truth from the fancies; and it
can return with recommendations which will be of assistance to reasonable men."

Since the 1957 Act, the Commission has been re-authorized and re-configured by the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Acts of 1983 and 1991 and the Civil Rights
Commission Amendments Act of 1994.
Soon after the passage of the 1957 Act, the then-six-member, bipartisan Commission,
consisting of John A. Hannah, President of Michigan State University; Robert Storey,
Dean of the Southern Methodist University Law School; Father Theodore Hesburgh,
President of the University of Notre Dame; John Stewart Battle, former governor of
Virginia; Ernest Wilkins, a Department of Labor attorney; and Doyle E. Carlton, former
governor of Florida, set about to assemble a record.
Their first project was to assess the administration of voter registration and elections in
Montgomery, Alabama. But they immediately ran into resistance. Circuit Judge George
C. Wallace, who was elected as governor in support of white supremacy, ordered voter
registration records to be impounded. "They are not going to get the records," he said.
"And if any agent of the Civil Rights Commission comes down to get them, they will be
locked up. ... I repeat, I will jail any Civil Rights Commission agent who attempts to get
the records." The hearing went forward with no shortage of evidence. Witness after
witness testified to inappropriate interference with his or her right to vote. The
Commissioners spent the night at Maxwell Air Base, because all the citys hotels were
segregated.
From there, the Commission went on to hold hearings on the implementation of Brown
v. Board of Education in Nashville, Tennessee and on housing discrimination in Atlanta,
Chicago and New York. The facts gathered in these and other hearings along with the
Commissions recommendations were presented not just to Congress and the President
but the American people generally, and they become part of the foundation upon which
the Civil Rights Act of 1960, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of
1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 were built.[3]
A revolution in public opinion occurred during the late 1950s and early 1960s on issues
of civil rights. The activities and reports of the Commission on Civil Rights contributed
to that change. In 1956, the year before the 1957 Act, less than half of white Americans
agreed with the statement, "White students and Negro students should go to the same
schools." By 1963, the year before the 1964 Act, that figure had jumped to 62%. In
1956, a healthy majority of white Americans60%opposed "separate sections for
Negroes on streetcars and buses."[citation needed] By 1963, the number had grown to 79%
opposedan overwhelming majority. Even in the South, minds were being changed. In
1956, 27% of Southern whites opposed separate sections on public transportation for
blacks and whites. By 1963, the number had become a majority of 52%.
The change in views about the desirability of a federal law was even more dramatic. As
late as July 1963, 49 percent of the total population favored a federal law that would
give "all persons, Negro as well as white, the right to be served in public places such as
hotels, restaurants, and similar establishments," and 42 percent were opposed. By
September of the same year, a majority of 54 percent was in favor, and 38 percent
opposed. In February 1964, support had climbed to 61 percent and opposition had
declined to 31 percent.
In 1977 the Commission produced the report Sex Bias in the U.S. Code.

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr., as the first
black chairman of the Commission. A Howard University graduate, he was a
conservative who opposed affirmative action and many of the Commission's activities.
Pendleton reduced its staff and programs.[4] He served until his death in 1988.
In 1983, Reagan named to the commission Esther Buckley (1948-2013), a Hispanic
science teacher at Martin High School in Laredo, Texas, who served on two occasions
as chairman of the Webb County Republican Party. Buckley left the commission in
1992.[5][6]
On September 5, 2007, then Commissioner Gail Heriot testified about the agency's
value on the 50th anniversary since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Heriot
told the Senate Committee on the Judiciary:
"If the value of a federal agency could be calculated on a per dollar basis, it would not
surprise me to find the Commission on Civil Rights to be among the best investments
Congress ever made. My back-of-the-envelope calculation is that the Commission now
accounts for less than 1/2000th of 1 percent of the federal budget; back in the late 1950s
its size would have been roughly similar. And yet its impact has been dramatic."[7]
In more recent years, Congress relied on a commission report to enact the Americans
with Disabilities Act in 1990. In 2008, President George W. Bush announced that he
would oppose the proposed Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act shortly
after the commission issued a report recommending rejection of the bill.

List of Chairpersons, 1958-present[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

John A. Hannah, 1958-1964

Theodore Hesburgh, 1969-1972[8]

Arthur S. Flemming, 1974-1981[9]

Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr., 1981-1988[10]

William B. Allen, 1988-1989[11]

Arthur Fletcher, 1990-1993[12]

Mary Frances Berry, 1993-2004

Gerald A. Reynolds, 2004-2011

Martin R. Castro, 2011present

Commission structure[edit]

The eight commissioners serve six-year staggered terms. Four are appointed by the
President, two by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and two by the Speaker of
the House of Representatives. No more than four Commissioners can be of the same
political party. In addition, neither the two Senate appointees nor the two House
appointees may be of the same political party. With the concurrence of a majority of the
Commissions members, the President designates a Chair and a Vice Chair. The Staff
Director is also appointed by the President with the concurrence of a majority of the
Commissioners.
The Commission has appointed 51 State Advisory Committees (SACs) to function as
the "eyes and ears" of the Commission in their respective locations. The Commissions
enabling legislation authorizes the creation of these SACs and directs the Commission
to establish at least one advisory committee in every state and the District of Columbia.
Each state committee has a charter that enables it to operate and identifies its members.
Each charter is valid for a term of two years, and the committee terminates if the charter
is not renewed by the Commission. Each committee has a minimum of eleven members.
The SACs are supported by regional offices whose primary function is to assist them in
their planning, fact-finding, and reporting activities. Like the Commission, the SACs
produce written reports that are based on fact-finding hearings and other public
meetings.

Civil Rights Watch Dog[edit]

The Commission is often referred to as a "Civil Rights Watch Dog" that ensures the
federal government is enforcing civil rights laws fairly and evenhandedly. Interestingly,
this is a role the Commission has undertaken only in the last few decades. The original
Commission was not configured to be an effective watch dog, since all its members
were appointed by the President (subject to Senate confirmation) and were subject to
dismissal by the President at any time. Moreover, there were no civil rights laws for the
federal government to enforce and thus little for the Commission to oversee.
President Ronald Reagan attempted to exercise the power to dismiss by firing Carter
appointee Mary Frances Berry. Berry, however, convinced Congress to re-charter the
Commission in a way that would protect members from dismissal without cause. It was
out of this re-chartering effort that the "watch dog" model for the Commission emerged.
Along with Berry, Ford appointee Rabbi Murray Saltzman was fired by President
Reagan for referring to Reagan's policy regarding the Commission to that of a "lap dog"
rather than a "watch dog."
Under the re-charter, the Commission was given eight members rather than the original
six. Only half would be appointed by the President, and a President would ordinarily
have to be elected to two terms before he could appoint more than two. First-term
Presidents would thus ordinarily have to wait a year or two before they would have any
representation at all, and it would take time before all the appointees of previous
Presidents would rotate off. The remaining four members would be appointed by
Congressional leaders of both houses and both parties. All of this was thought to be
crucial to maintaining the Commission's independence from the President, which in turn
was thought necessary to the Commission's role as a civil rights watch dog. Since then,
the Commission has sometimes been a thorn in the side of sitting Presidents.