A/HRC/38/25 47. The parliamentary human rights committees of Bahrain, Indonesia and Pakistan participate in the work of the respective national mechanisms for reporting and follow-up. The parliamentary human rights committees of Indonesia, Nepal and Pakistan also play a role in the implementation of those countries’ national human rights action plans. 48. As a part of its legislative function, the Consultative Council of Bahrain takes the recommendations of the international human rights mechanisms into account, and also participates in the national mechanism for human rights reporting and follow-up. The Consultative Council also contributes to the Government’s universal periodic review recommendations, and participates in the review, although not as part of the delegation. 49. Four out of the five respondents from the Asia-Pacific region indicated that their respective parliamentary human rights committees met with visiting special procedure mandate holders. According to the responses, direct involvement of committees in government delegations to the treaty bodies or the universal periodic review is not common practice, except in the case of the Standing Committees for Human Rights of the Parliament of Pakistan. 50. Responses from the African Group countries show a majority of parliamentary human rights committees with a strong role with regard to international human rights mechanisms. The parliamentary human rights committees of Cameroon, the Sudan and Togo contribute to their respective Governments’ recommendations in the context of the universal periodic review. 51. Participation in universal periodic review government delegations does not seem to be widespread among African Group respondents, only occurring in the cases of the Sudan and Togo. The President and the Rapporteur of the parliament’s Human Rights Commission were part of the government delegation attending the most recent review. The Commission also participates in preparatory, national-level meetings on the universal periodic review. 52. At the national level, the parliamentary human rights committees of the African countries that responded seem to have a more defined role. Five out of six committees follow up on recommendations received by the State, five participate in the national mechanism for reporting and follow-up and four are involved in the implementation and monitoring of a national human rights action plan. 53. The parliamentary human rights committee of Togo may conduct field visits to monitor the human rights situation in the country. The Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Senate of Kenya receives annual reports from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (the national human rights institution). 54. In his 2017 report on strengthening United Nations action in the field of human rights (see A/72/351, paras. 35–37), the Secretary-General of the United Nations stated that, at the national level, parliaments played a crucial role in the promotion and protection of human rights as legislators and as overseers. They laid the foundation for the rule of law and the respect for and protection of human rights at the national level. Parliaments could ensure transparency and accountability for States’ human rights obligations and in following up and ensuring the implementation of recommendations by regional and international human rights mechanisms. While human rights were a cross-cutting issue that should be taken into account by all parliamentary committees, the establishment of a parliamentary committee with an exclusive human rights mandate sent a strong political message and should be encouraged. He stressed that parliaments were uniquely positioned to contribute to closing the implementation gap, to prevent violations of human rights and to ensure better protection, especially of vulnerable groups, by ensuring the implementation of human rights recommendations. Lastly, he encouraged a more proactive engagement of parliamentarians in the work of international human rights mechanisms, including through the development of a set of principles and guidelines that would assist and guide them. 55. The questionnaire sent in November 2017 included a question on the development, by the United Nations, of international principles on parliaments and human rights, taking into account the Paris Principles or the Basic Principles on the independence of the Judiciary. The responses to the questionnaire show support for the development of such 10