A project of:

Centre for Human Rights and the Geneva Academy in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
CHR logo Geneva academy UN human rights  

working with

Global Campus of Human Rights Harvard Law School Advocates University of Bristol Law School The Danish Institute for Human Rights
CHR logo UN human rights UN human rights UN human rights

The ‘first stop shop’ for research on the impact of the treaty system worldwide

As was discussed earlier, the Pretoria UN human rights treaty system impact study is a comprehensive and long term research project aimed at making the United Nations treaty system as a whole more visible – not only what happens in Geneva, where the treaty bodies are based, but also the rest of the iceberg, reflecting the difference that it makes on the ground.

The database is intended to be a first stop to guide researchers to locate the relevant documentation that allows them to follow the path of impact from the source (the treaty system in Geneva) to the intended point of impact on the ground (did it affect the conduct of those actors in the country in question who can affect change?). Or,  to find that the patch of impact was blocked somewhere along the way, and to ask why. It provides a starting point for research, as opposed to the final word.

The ‘Impact database 2020 +’ consists of a set of tables in the form of spreadsheets  that cover the impact of the treaties and their monitoring bodies in each one the United Nations (UN) members states. The database will be built up (and be updated) over the years, but when fully operational, it will cover the 193 UN member states, reflecting the impact of the 10 treaties in each of these countries, meaning there will be 1 930 tables, containing links to documents on the UN and local level reflecting direct, material impact. The tables will follow the following pattern:

Example of table covering a fictitious country

With five columns covering the treaty system in Geneva, and eight potential targets of impact on the ground, there will be 40 boxes on each table. Given the fact that there will be 1 930 tables with 40 boxes each, there will be approximately 77 000 boxes in the entire database. Each box in turn will identify an example of impact (e.g. the name of a law adopted to give effect to a treaty; provide a reference to the source showing the evidence that the document was accepted in response to the treaty system (e.g. the relevant part of a white paper making this point); and some commentary.  Or, tellingly, many boxes will be empty, showing that no evidence of direct impact could be found.

Imagine, for example, that someone wants to establish to what extent the treaty system has had an impact on female genital mutilation (FGM), or on the death penalty, in a particular country, or region, or worldwide. By using the database, it will be possible first to locate the documents providing evidence on all the instances where there is documented evidence of a pathway of impact by the treaty system. Did change come, for example, through the concluding observations, or were the views more effective; and on the domestic level, did the treaty system have more of an impact on the laws, or did judicial decisions effect the change? And, if change did not come, where did it fail?

Establishing such a database is clearly a large undertaking. Over the past 60 years, millions of documents – some in hard and some in soft copy – adopted at the UN or on the local level worldwide came into existence which contain evidence about impact. No researcher working on their own has the capacity to get the locate all such instances of impact, allowing them to identify the aspects in which they are interested as a starting point for further research. The database will bridge this gap.

The database will draw on a number of sources. The first is the documents contained in the various databases of the UN in Geneva. To access this information, we are developing an algorithm that will search and classify the information available in Geneva, and put each piece of information showing impact in the corresponding box on the right table.

In the second place, the database will reflect the documents that are to be found only on the domestic level - in the case records in court buildings, draft bills in parliaments, and minutes of meetings in governmental offices etc. To access these documents, we are working with students from different countries who are collecting the relevant information in their home countries, and who will likewise put a reference to each document that they locate in the appropriate box in the spreadsheet.

Thirdly, we already have the domestic level documentation for 20 countries. This we collected when working on the two books covering those countries, mentioned above. Those documents are currently being uploaded to the appropriate boxes in the database.

Fourthly, a number of specialised databases are already available online, containing the country-level information required to populate “Impact database 2020+’ in respect of particular human rights issues. One such database for example deals with police use of force, another with peaceful assemblies, and a further one with the death penalty. We will be working with as many of these databases as possible to exchange information.

To help populate the database in a crowd-sourcing manner, all members of the public will be encouraged to send information – victims of human rights violations, lawyers, NGOs, academics and others – that will also be uploaded.

Starting with only a few countries and a couple of treaties, the information from these sources  will be combined in ‘Impact database 2020+’ which will grow over the years and be kept up to date, allowing the big picture to emerge over time.

We believe that doing this will allow a much fuller understanding of the treaty system to emerge – not just what happens in Geneva, but also important aspects of the vast and largely unknown dynamics through which the system as a whole makes a difference, or fails to do so, is all communities in the world. It will now be easier, based on evidence as opposed to anecdotes, to learn lessons from mistakes and successes.

The treaty system has an important normative function, and gives contents to human rights standards. That is in itself an important role. But the further question is to what extent they have consequences on the ground. Human rights without consequences are at best what be called ‘weak rights’, or empty aspirations. The system as a whole, including the normative function, is undermined. Those inside the system become despondent, and those outside turn to alternative ways to address their problems. For the international human rights system to be a system of ‘strong rights’, we need to be able to show it is not only a good idea -  it has real life consequences, and those consequences must be maximised.

The treaty system is the backbone of the human rights order. All countries in the world are part of it, and have assumed legally binding obligations under the treaties. A total of 172 international experts from all parts of the world serve in the treaty bodies. It has a well-established and nuanced jurisprudence. The best way to ensure the human rights project thrives, and even survives in the long run, is to strengthen the treaty system. The goal of the  ‘Impact database 2020 +’ is precisely to bring new life into the treaty system, by makings it full reach visible. The database is needed  to allow the weak points of the system to be identified and  improved, synergies between its various parts and with domestic systems to be developed, what works in one part of the system be emulated in other part, and to celebrate the often untold success stories of the human rights treaty system.

 

Guidelines to contributors

Download guide for contributors

 Virtual Launch

Watch virtual launch on YouTube

 

List of countries and researchers

Country  
Afghanistan  
Albania  
Algeria  
Andorra  
Angola  
Antigua and Barbuda  
Argentina Global Campus
Armenia  

Australia

Covered in the 2021 book
Austria  
Azerbaijan  
   
Bahamas  
Bahrain  
Bangladesh  
Barbados  
Belarus  
Belgium Geneva Academy; Maxime Nijs (CAT), Zachary Thomas (ICCPR)
Belize  
Benin  
Bhutan  
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)  
Bosnia and Herzegovina  
Botswana  
Brazil Covered in the 2021 book
Brunei Darussalam  
Bulgaria  
Burkina Faso  
Burundi  
   
Cabo Verde  
Cambodia  
Cameroon  
Canada Covered in the 2021 book, and by Emily Williams
Central African Republic  
Chad  
Chile  
China  
Colombia Covered in the 2021 book
Comoros  
Congo  
Costa Rica  
Côte D'Ivoire  
Croatia  
Cuba  
Cyprus  
Czech Republic Covered in the 2021 book
   
Democratic People's Republic of Korea  
Democratic Republic of the Congo  
Denmark  
Djibouti  
Dominica  
Dominican Republic  
   
Ecuador  
Egypt Covered in the 2021 book
El Salvador  
Equatorial Guinea  
Eritrea  
Estonia Covered in the 2021 book
Eswatini  
Ethiopia  
   
Fiji  
Finland Covered in the 2021 book
France  
   
Gabon  
Gambia (Republic of The)  
Georgia  
Germany Gina Spieler, student at Harvard Law School
Ghana  
Greece  
Grenada  
Guatemala  
Guinea  
Guinea Bissau  
Guyana  
   
Haiti  
Honduras  
Hungary  
   
Iceland  
India Covered in the 2021 book, and Kajal Parwani, Geneva Academy 
Indonesia  
Iran (Islamic Republic of)

 

Iraq  
Ireland University of Bristol, and by Emily Williams
Israel  
Italy  
   
Jamaica Covered in the 2021 book
Japan

Covered in the 2021 book

Jordan  
   
Kazakhstan  
Kenya
Melissa Mungai, University of Pretoria
Kiribati  
Kuwait  
Kyrgyzstan Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights
   
Lao People’s Democratic Republic  
Latvia  
Lebanon  
Lesotho  
Liberia  
Libya  
Liechtenstein  
Lithuania  
Luxembourg  
   
Madagascar  
Malawi  
Malaysia  
Maldives  
Mali  
Malta  
Marshall Islands  
Mauritania  
Mauritius  
Mexico

Covered in the 2021 book

Micronesia (Federated States of)  
Monaco  
Mongolia  
Montenegro  
Morocco  
Mozambique  
Myanmar  
   
Namibia  
Nauru  
Nepal  Covered in the 2021 book
Netherlands  
New Zealand  
Nicaragua  
Niger  
Nigeria  
North Macedonia  
Norway  
   
Oman  
   
Pakistan Seher Aftab and Fer Ghanna, students at Harvard Law School
Palau  
Panama  
Papua New Guinea  
Paraguay  
Peru  
Philippines

Covered in the 2021 book

Poland  
Portugal  
   
Qatar  
   
Republic of Korea  
Republic of Moldova  
Romania
Russian Federation Covered in the 2021 book
Rwanda  
   
Saint Kitts and Nevis  
Saint Lucia  
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  
Samoa  
San Marino  
Sao Tome and Principe  
Saudi Arabia  
Senegal

Covered in the 2021 book

Serbia  
Seychelles  
Sierra Leone  
Singapore  
Slovakia  
Slovenia  
Solomon Islands  
Somalia  
South Africa

Covered in the 2021 book

South Sudan  
Spain Covered in the 2021 book
Sri Lanka  
Sudan  
Suriname  
Sweden  
Switzerland  
Syrian Arab Republic  
   
Tajikistan  
Thailand  
Timor-Leste  
Togo  
Tonga  
Trinidad and Tobago  
Tunisia  
Turkey  Covered in the 2021 book
Turkmenistan  
Tuvalu  
   
Uganda  Brian Kibirango, Univeristy of Pretoria
Ukraine  
United Arab Emirates  
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland University of Bristol
United Republic of Tanzania  
United States of America  
Uruguay  
Uzbekistan  
   
Vanuatu  
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of  
Viet Nam  
   
Yemen  
   
Zambia Covered in the 2021 book
Zimbabwe Sanele Sibanda, University of Pretoria