REPLY FROM : Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

REFERENCE: G/SO 237/211 CHE(GEN)

                                                                                      Geneva, 11 November 2015

Dear Mr. Rousseau,

We hereby acknowledge receipt of your communication dated 8 June 2015. After careful consideration of the contents of your communication, we sincerely regret having to inform you that the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is not in position to assist you in the matter you raise. We must therefore unfortunately return your correspondence.

We wish to inform you that individuals can present complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies.  The procedure before these human rights bodies requires ascertaining whether certain preliminary criteria are satisfied before proceeding with the examination of a communication/complaint, including:

1. The complaint should provide sufficient details as to the facts of your case, and/or as to how your rights under the relevant treaty have been violated, including a chronological description of the facts.

2.  Domestic judicial/administrative remedies do not appear to have been exhausted, and it has not been substantiated that the application of domestic remedies would be unreasonably prolonged or that the remedies would be otherwise unavailable or ineffective. The complainant should provide a copy of the decisions by the domestic courts.

You may understand that, while we appreciate your reasons for writing to us, the existing procedures require that it is ascertained whether certain preliminary criteria are satisfied before proceeding with the examination of a petition.

           For information about the procedures of the examination of individual petitions on human rights violation, please consult our website: www.ohchr.org, direct link: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/petitions/individual.htm. We are attaching Fact Sheet 7 and 17.

Your Sincerely,