The UN human rights complaint process is a last resort. All local and national remedies must be exhausted before filing with the UN. We recommend contacting a local bar association or human rights advocacy group for help before contacting the UN. You may want to search for an NGO in your country using the database of organizations in Consultative Status with ECOSOC and other accreditations.

The website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has several resources for people who want to communicate human rights concerns to the United Nations.

Certain conventions on human rights have mechanisms for addressing individual complaints, others may not.

Decisions of the human rights bodies on individual cases are usually restricted documents unless the body decides to make them available. Case names and other information may be found in the reports on the session(s) at which the case was considered. This type of documentation is sometimes referred to as "jurisprudence" of the treaty bodies.