Advocacy

UNITED NATIONS

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Call for input ■ Situation of Armed Conflicts

The CESCR is seeking input to inform its work on elaborating a draft general comment on the Application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Situations of Armed Conflicts.

>> Submit by 15 May 2026. See details here.

Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus

Call for input ■ Human Rights in Belarus

The SR on the situation of human rights in Belarus is seeking input specifically on the situation on women, including in places of deprivation of liberty. The input receive will inform his report for the 81st session of the General Assembly.

>> Submit by 18 May 2026. See details here.

Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture

Country visit ■ France

The SPT will visit France on 17-23 May 2026.

>> NGOs are invited to contact the SPT ahead of the visits. See the calendar of visits here.

Human Rights Committee

Call for input ■ Right to Freedom of Association

The Committee is seeking input on its Draft General Comment No. 38 on Article 22 on the right to freedom of association.

>> Submit by 30 June 2026. See details here.

COMMITTEE ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES

31st session ■ 14 – 24 September 2026

The CED will examine Armenia‘s report and adopt List of priority themes (LOTs) in respect of Italy.

>> Submit by 30 June 2026 for LOTs and by 30 July 2026 for reports. See details here.

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

35th session ■ 12 – 27 August 2026

The CRPD will examine the reports of the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, and will adopt List of issues (LOIs) in respect of Latvia and Romania.

>> Submit by 12 July 2026 (tbc). See details here.

Universal Periodic Review

54th session ■ January – February 2027

The UPR Working Group will review State reports submitted by Iceland, Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

>> Submit by 17 July 2026. See details here.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

146th session ■ 19 October – 6 November 2026

The Committee will review Working Group will review Austria‘s report and will adopt List of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR) in respect of the Czech Republic and Romania. It will also examine Luxembourg under the Follow-up procedure.

>> Submit by 27 July 2026 for Follow-up reports, by 24 August 2026 for LOIPR and by 21 September 2026 for State reports. See details here.

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

80th session ■ 2 – 13 November 2026

The CESCR will examine Austria‘s report, will adopt List of issues in respect of Estonia and Slovakia, and examine Portugal under the Follow-up procedure.

>> Submit by 3 September 2026 for State reports, and by 2 October 2026 for State reports and Follow-up reports. See details here.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECtHR

Country visits ■ 2026

The Department will visit Germany on 18 June 2026.

>> NGOs may wish to contact the Department ahead of the visits to maximise impact. See the list of visits here.

COMMITTEE OF MINISTERS

1563rd DH meeting ■ 9-11 June 2026

The CMCE will review the implementation of the following ECtHR judgments relating to prisoners’ rights:

• Armenia | Inadequate medical care in detention (Shirkhanyan v. Armenia, no. 54547/16, 22 February 2022, group of cases).
• Belgium | Structural problem concerning prison overcrowding, material conditions of detention and lack of an effective preventive remedy (Vasilescu v. Belgium, no. 64682/12, 25 November 2014).
• France | Poor conditions of detention (overcrowding) and lack of an effective preventive remedy (J.M.B. and others v. France, no.  9671/15, 30 January 2020).
• Hungary | Life sentence without parole in combination with the lack of an adequate review mechanism, life sentence with parole only after having served between 25 years and 6 months and 48 years and one month of the sentence (László Magyar v. Hungary, no. 73593/10, 20 May 2014, group of cases).
• Portugal | Overcrowding and poor conditions of detention in prisons and lack of effective remedies (Petrescu v. Portugal, no. 23190/17, 3 December 2019, group of cases ; Cunha Casaca v. Portugal, no. 17761/22, 6 July 2023).
• Russia | Administrative practices in occupied territory of Ukraine resulting in grave human rights violations perpetrated by Russian or Russian-controlled forces, including extrajudicial killings, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, appalling conditions of detention, forced labour, unjustified displacement and transfer of civilians in detention and application of filtration measures (Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia [GC], no. 8019/16, 9 July 2025).
• Switzerland | Applicant’s detention in solitary confinement in prisons unable to offer him care appropriate to his mental illness (I.L. v. Switzerland (no. 2), no. 36609/16, 20 February 2024)
• Ukraine | Ill-treatment / torture by law enforcement officials and lack of effective investigation; lack of medical care in prison; systematic handcuffing of blind prisoner with his hands behind his back whenever he left his prison cell (Kaverzin v. Ukraine, no. 23893/03, 15 May 2012, group of cases).

>> Submit preferably by 28 April 2026 .See full list of cases here.

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Country visits ■ 2026/2027

The CPT will visit the following countries in 2026: Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Serbia, Sweden, United Kingdom.

It has also planned to visit the following countries in 2027: Albania, Andorra, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Türkiye.

>> NGOs may wish to contact the Committee ahead of the visits to maximise impact. See the list of visits for 2026 here and the list of countries to be visited in 2027 here.

EUROPEAN UNION

No advocacy opportunity identified