Human Rights and ‘Early Warning’ in the United Nations

Abstract

This article examines the role of the United Nations in the early warning of human rights crises. It suggests that though slow in acting, the political bodies of the United Nations have provided the Secretariat, as well as independent human rights mechanisms within the human rights system, with a mandate for early warning in the area of human rights. For a variety of reasons, however, this process is at present only partially functioning. The article explores these reasons and makes a number of recommendations as to how to strengthen the early warning capacity of the United Nations in the area of human rights.