A human rights treaty is an international agreement that imposes enforceable obligations to protect and promote human rights and freedoms on States that have formally accepted the treaty (usually through ratification or accession). Such States are called States parties to the treaty.
The full texts of the treaties are available on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The basic concept of complaint mechanisms under human rights treaties is that any person can file a complaint against a State party about an alleged violation of treaty rights with a group of experts monitoring compliance with the treaty. These treaty bodies, as they are often called, are committees composed of independent experts selected by the States parties to the relevant treaty. They monitor the implementation by States parties of the rights enshrined in the treaties and decide on complaints filed against these States. Despite some procedural differences between these nine mechanisms, their organization and functioning are similar in many ways.
Let us describe the characteristic features of a complaint submitted in accordance with any of these nine treaties as a whole. Next, we describe the aspects of individual contracts that differ from the general norm.