International Mechanism Taskforces & Work Groups and Listservs

USHRN's ISSUE AREA FOCUSED WORKING GROUPS - 12 volunteer led groups that work for human rights implementation in the U.S. 

  • In 2016, given that the next international mechanism reviews of the U.S. will not take place again until late 2017 (at the earliest), we are moving to the next critical phase of the work—implementation.
  • To facilitate this work, we are merging the working groups on similar issue areas from all the Taskforces and Reviews - ICCPR, CERD, CAT, and UPR - to help them coordinate on implementation and to facilitate sharing of information and resources among a broader network of activists.
  • The 12 new groups are as follows:    
    1. Equality & Non-Discrimination      
    2. Criminal Justice                                            
    3. Housing                                                                    
    4. Health
    5. Education                                                                        
    6. Environment                                                                         
    7. Workers’ Rights                                                                         
    8. Water & Sanitation                                                                       
    9. National Security                        
    10. Immigration, Migrants, & Trafficking                                                                
    11. Domestic Implementation                                                 
    12. Political Participation & State Repression/Violence       

Join an Issue Area Focused Working Group Today here!

USHRN MECHANISM TASKFORCES coordinate civil society groups’ engagement with the international human rights mechanisms by:

  • Raising awareness about human rights standards and reviews of the U.S. Government human rights record;
  • Engaging in outreach to a broad range of grassroots constituencies to increase their awareness of, and their participation in, the international mechanism review processes;
  • Coordinating submission of non-governmental (shadow) reports to inform the reviews of the U.S. Government human rights record;
  • Facilitating participation of civil society groups in the actual reviews.

In 2014 the U.S. Government was reviewed for its human rights record related to the ratified International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT).  In May 2015 the UN Human Rights Council reviewed the U.S. Government under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which assesses the U.S. Government record on all human rights including economic, social and cultural rights.

Go to the following links to learn more about our international mechanisms task forces:
ICCPR Taskforce

CERD Taskforce

CAT Taskforce

UPR Taskforce       

Go to the following links to learn more about the USHRN international mechanisms work:
ICCPR Review

ICERD Review

CAT Review

UPR Review

Join our listservs to get periodic updates on our international mechanisms work (you must join to post):

ICCPR Listserv

ICERD Listserv

CAT Listserv

UPR Listserv

International Mechanisms Listserv (The International Mechanisms list is for general information sharing and postings not permitted on the treaty-specific listservs.)

Please be sure to review the code of conduct on the listserv signup pages before signing on.

CAT: catlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

CERD: cerdlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

ICCPR: iccprlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

UPR: uprlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

Int’l Mechanisms: intlmechlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

USHRN also administers a Durban listserv.  Go here to join the listserv.

          Durban:durbanlist [at] ushrnetwork.org

Member Structure