Last updated December 2024 

Information is subject to change. Please check the Human Rights Council website for updates.

The Human Rights Council complaint procedure covers patterns of gross and reliably attested violations of any human right occurring in any part of the world. Any individual, group, or nongovernmental organization (NGO) claiming to be a victim of human rights violations or having direct and reliable knowledge of violations can submit a report regarding any of the 193 UN Member States. 

Complaint Process

The Working Group on Communications deems the complaint admissible. The Working Group on Situations meets twice a year to review those admissible complaints. The Working Group on Situations reports patterns it finds of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights to the Human Rights Council along with recommendations for action. The Human Rights Council can, then, recommend technical cooperation, capacity- building assistance or advisory services to the State in which the violation occurred. At any of these stages, the various bodies can discontinue consideration of the issue or keep the situation under review for further consideration.  

Content of Complaints

The complaint needs to be legible, signed, and written in one of the UN official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, or Spanish). It must be less than 15 pages in length, but 8 pages is recommended. The complaint should include basic information about the complainant (name, nationality, date of birth, email address, etc.) as well as specify the UN Member State against which it is directed.  In chronological order, the complaint must describe the circumstances of the human rights violation in as much detail as possible. The complainant must also explain how the facts constitute a pattern of gross human rights violations. 

Beyond describing the violation, the complaint should demonstrate that the complainant exhausted all domestic resources. For instance, the human rights violation was brought to the attention of the highest authorities available on the topic. Copies as well as translations of any relevant documents in a UN official language of all attempts to address the problem domestically should be included with the complaint. Alternatively, the complaint may explain why domestic resources would have been ineffective or unreasonably slow to address the issue. 

The complaint cannot be politically motivated nor use insulting language. It also cannot be exclusively based on mass media reports. If a complaint includes any of these elements, it will not be deemed admissible. Importantly, a complaint will also not be considered if the same issue is already being addressed by another UN mechanism or a similar regional complaint procedure. 

Submission Information

Complaints can either be submitted through an online submission form or downloaded and mailed to

Complaint Procedure Unit – Human Rights Council Branch 
OHCHR – Palais Wilson 
United Nations Office at Geneva 
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Chapter V of the UN Handbook for Civil Society contains more detailed information about the complaint procedure and the requirements for submissions.