A/HRC/12/22 page 17 IV. OBLIGATIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITY RELATING TO ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS 47. Human rights treaty bodies are uniquely placed to monitor the implementation by States of counter-terrorism measures and their compliance with international human rights law, in particular the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Human Rights Committee. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has examined both the impact of counter-terrorism measures in the context of economic, social and cultural rights45 as well as the impact of terrorism on them.46 The Human Rights Committee has also looked at the impact of individual sanctions on the economic, social and cultural rights of those organizations and institutions on the United Nations Sanctions Committee list or those benefiting from their services.47 Challenges for such human rights monitoring include the fact that many States parties do not report to the treaty bodies on time and some do not report at all. This may result in a lack of scrutiny of counter-terrorism measures with potential adverse consequences on economic, social and cultural rights. 48. Special procedures mandate holders examine the human rights implications of counter-terrorism measures. Through their country missions, thematic research, reports and communications, mandate holders can contribute to the protection of economic, social and cultural rights in this context.48 49. At the national level, the preventive role and monitoring function of the national human rights mechanisms of the judiciary, national human rights institutions, civil rights groups and human rights organizations should be emphasized, as well as the role of the legislature in drafting and enacting relevant legislation and in deciding on budget allocations to economic, social and cultural rights, while taking security concerns fully into account. Other universal and regional human rights mechanisms for monitoring economic, social and cultural rights in the context of countering terrorism are also important. These include the newly established Universal Periodic Review mechanism of the Human Rights Council, which brings to light the impact of counter-terrorism measures on economic, social and cultural rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Peer Review Mechanism, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights. 45 E/C.12/1/Add.105, para. 14 46 E/C.12/1/Add.71, para. 8. 47 Communication No. 1472/2006, Sayadi and Vinck v. Belgium, CCPR/C/94/D/1472/2006, Views adopted on 22 October 2008. 48 See for example A/HRC/6/17, E/C.12/1/Add.105, paras. 14 and 35, E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3 and E/CN.4/2004/80.

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