Chapter 2 • The Major Universal Human Rights Instruments and the Mechanisms for Their Implementation 5.1 Special procedures I: Thematic and country mandates73 Over the past few decades the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council have established a number of extra-conventional mechanisms or special procedures, which are created neither by the Charter of the United Nations nor by a treaty. These extra-conventional mechanisms, which also monitor the enforcement of human rights standards, have been entrusted to working groups of experts acting in their individual capacity or individuals designated as special rapporteurs, special representatives or independent experts. The mandate and tenure of the working groups, special rapporteurs, independent experts or special representatives of the Secretary-General depend on the decision of the Commission on Human Rights or of the Economic and Social Council. In general, however, their mandate is to examine, monitor and publicly report either on the human rights situation in a specific country or territory – the so-called country mandates – or on specific types of human rights violations worldwide – the thematic mechanisms or mandates. These mechanisms are of paramount importance for monitoring universal human rights standards and address many of the most serious human rights violations in the world, such as extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced or involuntary disappearances, arbitrary detention, internally displaced persons, the independence of judges and lawyers, violence against women, the sale of children, the right to development, adequate housing, education, and human rights defenders. The central objective of all these special procedures is to improve the implementation of international human rights standards at the national level. However, each special procedure has its own specific mandate, which has sometimes also evolved according to specific circumstances and needs. These mechanisms base their activities on allegations of human rights violations received from various sources, such as the victims or their relatives and local or international NGOs. Information of this kind may be submitted in various forms, such as letters and faxes, and may concern individual cases, as well as details of situations of alleged human rights violations. These special mechanisms submit well-founded cases of human rights violations to the Governments concerned for clarification. The results are subsequently reflected in the public reports submitted by the mechanisms to the Commission on Human Rights and other competent United Nations organs. Moreover, whenever the information received attests to the imminence of a serious human rights violation, such as an extrajudicial execution or involuntary disappearance, the thematic or country-specific mechanisms may address an urgent message to the Governments concerned requesting clarifications on the case and appealing to the Government to take the necessary steps to guarantee the rights of the alleged victim. They may also 73 The information in this section has been drawn partly from Human Rights: A Basic Handbook for UN Staff, United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights/United Nations Staff College Project, pp. 49-53. 68 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers