The escalating situation in Syria and the international community’s timid response dominated the opening of the Human Rights Council’s (the Council’s) March session in Geneva on 27 February. At the end of its first meeting, the Council decided by consensus to hold an further ‘urgent debate’ on the situation in Syria on 28 February, despite signs of dismay by the Russian Federation and Cuba.

The situation in Syria was one of the key preoccupations during the address of the President of the General Assembly (PGA), Mr Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who pointed to the concerns expressed by ‘an overwhelming number’ of States in the General Assembly in respect to the ongoing killings and human rights violations in the country. Several other high-level speakers echoed these concerns during the first meeting of this session of the Council, including the President of the Federal Council of Switzerland, the Vice-President of Colombia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Qatar, the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, and the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

A number of other notable themes were raised during the debate. The High Commissioner pointed to the greater involvement of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in monitoring the human rights situation on the ground. She particularly emphasised the role of human rights defenders in supplying field presences with the information needed to react quickly to developing situations. Unfortunately, as she went on to relate, many of these individuals continue to suffer reprisals and intimidation on the basis of their engagement with the UN, and she called for increased efforts to protect those who seek to expose human rights violations.

The High Commissioner drew the Council's attention to the report it is due to consider at this session on discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. She praised the Council's readiness to discuss all human rights issues, even those that may be controversial. The Council will hold a panel discussion on sexual orientation, gender identity, and human rights on 7 March.

Finally, the PGA referred to the recent adoption by the General Assembly of a controversial resolution on treaty body strengthening. It requests the PGA to launch an inter-governmental process to conduct negotiations on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the treaty body system. During his address to the Council the PGA welcomed this resolution, pointing to it as a useful example of dialogue between Geneva and New York. He expressed his belief that the implementation of the resolution ‘will serve as an important contribution to strengthening the international protection and promotion of human rights’. During a separate meeting with NGOs, the PGA sent a positive signal by expressing its principled support for the participation of civil society in UN processes and saying that ‘no dialogue is complete without the voice of civil society’.

The four-week session of the Council will continue with several days of ‘high-level segment’, during which a number of State dignitaries will address the body. During the actual session, a number of important thematic and country specific debates will be held, including panel discussions on freedom of expression and the Internet, and discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. See ISHR’s Council Alert for more details, and follow the session through ISHR’s email or twitter updates @ISHRglobal.

The Human Rights Council (the Council) will hold its 19th session from 27 February until 23 March. The detailed draft programme of work and the list of reports can be found here, while information for NGOs about how to participate is available here. During the organisational meeting for the 19th session, held on 13 February, the President of the Council, Ms Laura Dupuy Lasserre, presented the programme of work for the 19th session, highlighting the different panel discussions that will take place and allowing member states to briefly present their sponsored draft resolutions.

Key areas of interest at this session will include the Council’s continued follow-up to the events of the ‘Arab Spring’ and continuing developments in that area, with interactive dialogues with the Commissions of Inquiry into the situations in Syria and Libya. Also in response to those events, Romania will present a draft resolution on the role played by the rule of law in strengthening democracies. In addition, Sweden announced that it would co-sponsor a panel discussion on freedom of opinion and expression on the Internet, an issue that gained particular prominence due to the role played by social networking in the protests in countries such as Egypt. The panel will focus on how to protect and practically respect fundamental rights, and will include representatives of important stakeholders such as Google and Al Jazeera.

A panel discussion will be held on 7 March on the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity, co-sponsored by South Africa and Brazil. The discussion is to be based on issues raised in the study commissioned from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, as requested by Council resolution 17/19, on ‘discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity’. The report recommends, amongst other things, that laws criminalising homosexuality be repealed, that comprehensive anti-discrimination laws be put in place which include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and that asylum laws do not allow return of such persons to countries where their life or freedom would be at risk because of this. At the organisational meeting, South Africa stated that it hoped for an open dialogue to promote understanding on this issue, but that the opinions of all participants would be respected. However, comments during the adoption of the resolution, as well as comments from both Libya and Pakistan during the organisational meeting on their lack of support for resolution 17/19, suggest that it will be a difficult debate. Pakistan, on behalf of the OIC, 'objected strongly' to the panel, which it said had 'nothing to do with human rights'. Libya claimed that the discussion would have a negative impact on the 'survival of the human species, the economy, and the family as the basis of society', adding that if it had not been suspended from the Council at the time it would have voted against the resolution. The President responded firmly to these interventions, noting that the Council must 'deal with all questions of human rights, without exception' and underlining non-discrimination as a 'key principle of human rights'.

Following the organisational meeting, Pakistan has circulated a letter objecting to the panel, including by misrepresenting the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA). Among other things, Pakistan claims that in the VDPA the international community 'agreed that (...) national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind', which puts the original meaning of the VDPA on its head. The relevant paragraph of the VDPA affirmed that 'while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of States, regardless of their political, economic and cultural systems, to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.' It is to be hoped that despite these negative signals from a number of States, the panel itself will be held in a constructive spirit, befitting universal mandate of the Council to protect the human rights of all. 

The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the independent expert on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire. The dialogue will focus on assessing the progress that has been made to implement the recommendations made by the Commission of Inquiry which was sent to Côte d’Ivoire to investigate the serious allegations of abuses and violations of human rights following the civil unrest after the 2010 presidential elections. The Independent Expert, Doudou Diène, has been assisting the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in its implementation of those recommendations. The dialogue will also include a briefing on the cooperation between the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, the Ivorian authorities, and the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire.

The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders will present her annual report to the Council at this session. The report covers the situation of selected defenders at risk, including journalists and media workers; defenders working on land and environmental issues; and youth and students defenders.

The mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran is due for renewal at this session, with Sweden stating that it would be presenting a resolution to that effect. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, are also up for renewal at this session. Furthermore, four new mandate holders will be appointed during the 19^th session:

• Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation & guarantees of non-recurrence
• Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan
• Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic
• Independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order

Denmark on behalf of the European Union (EU) announced it would be sponsoring an initiative on the topic of freedom of religion and belief. Pakistan also stated that it would introduce a resolution under item 9, which is likely to be its resolution on combating intolerance and discrimination on the basis of religious belief. This resolution was first adopted at the 16th session of the Council in 2011, and replaced that State's divisive resolution on ‘combating defamation of religions’.

List of resolutions to be introduced at the 19^th session as announced by States during the organisational meeting:

Costa Rica, Slovenia, Maldives, Peru, Switzerland, Uruguay

• The link between and the impact of the environment on human rights

Cuba

• The right to food
• Composition of the staff of the High Commissioner’s office
• Social forum
• Procedural resolution to renew the mandate of Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights

Egypt on behalf of NAM

• Enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights

Finland, Germany

• The right to adequate housing in the context of natural disasters

Mexico

• Resolution on judicial personality and civil registry and its role in the protection of human rights
• Protection of human rights in combating terrorism

New Zealand and Mexico

• The participation in public life and political affairs of persons with disabilities.

Pakistan on behalf of the OIC

• Resolutions under item 7 and 9 (the specific projects are to be circulated later, but the Item 7 resolution will be on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Item 9 on combating intolerance and discrimination on the basis of an person's religious belief).

Portugal

• Omnibus resolution on economic, social, and cultural rights

Romania, Norway, Peru

• The influence of rule of law in strengthening democracy

Russian Federation

• The integrity of judicial systems, with focus on the right to free and impartial judicial hearing, the strengthening of the judiciary organs and the prevention of human rights violations

Sweden

• Extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran

Uruguay

• Umbrella resolution on the rights of the child

Below is a list of panel discussions to be held during the 19th session of the Human Rights Council, sorted by sponsors. More information is available on the HRC extranet (username: hrc extranet password: 1session).

Austria

• Rights of minorities

Brazil

• The protection of human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS

GRULAC and EU

• Rights of the child (full-day)

Mexico and New Zealand

• Human rights of persons with disabilities

South Africa, Brazil

• Human rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity

Sweden

• Panel on freedom of expression on the Internet

Thailand

• Enhancement of technical cooperation and capacity-building in the field of human rights

UK, Brazil

• Promoting human rights through sport and the Olympic ideal

The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr Maina Kiai, is seeking feedback via a questionnaire, towards his first thematic report.

Human Rights Council resolution 15/21 invites the Special Rapporteur to elaborate a framework through which to consider best practices to promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Mr Kiai's first thematic report is due by the end of February 2012, for submission to the Council in June 2012.

Responses to the questionnaire, preferably in bullet points, will then be annexed to the report for illustrative purposes. If requested, the identity of those who respond to the questionnaire can remain confidential (with only the country of origin disclosed). The questionnaire has also been shared with Member States, National Human Rights Institutions and regional human rights mechanisms.

The deadline for responding to the questionnaire is 20 January 2012. Responses may be addressed to Mr Kiai through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Email: [email protected] or Fax: +41 22 917 90 06. The questionnaire is available to download in English, French and Spanish.

Once completed, Mr Kiai's report will be available on the OHCHR website.

On 14 June 2011, the Human Rights Council (the Council), convened a panel discussion on strengthening international efforts to promote culture of tolerance and respect for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs. In her opening statement, Navanethem Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlighted the panel’s aim to explore ways to enhance international efforts and promote global dialogue between States and civil society to combat intolerance, negative stereotyping and discrimination against persons based on religion or beliefs. The convening of the expert panel was initiated by Council resolution 16/18, which aimed at combating intolerance, and discrimination against religious beliefs, and promoting collaboration among States to take measures to eliminate incidents of religious intolerance. The resolution marked a move beyond an unconstructive series of resolutions on ‘defamation of religions’ (sponsored by Pakistan) and this panel was viewed as an opportunity to cement that move.

The opening statements of the panellists addressed the role of education, the media, and legislative tools in combating religious intolerance. In particular, Mr Ahmer Bilal Soofi, President of the Research Society of International Law in Pakistan, encouraged States to promote inter-faith debates, especially among scholars and jurists, rather than only among government officials. The other panellists strongly supported these proposals and also emphasised the need to deliver training and education on religious sensitivities to police officers enabling them to more effectively monitor and prevent the rise of religious intolerance.

Furthermore, the panel encouraged the international community to consider creating new joint media outlets with journalists from different cultural and religious backgrounds, as an important long-term approach in dealing with stereotyping and religious intolerance in the media. Mr Adil Akhmetov[1] also highlighted the crucial role that information mechanisms play in these debates, and the need for reliable statistical data about anti-Muslim hate crimes in order to devise robust action plans to combat hate crimes.

Overall the discussion was constructive, and revealed the important issues that need to be addressed by policy makers, government officials, civil society actors, and religious leaders. Many States taking the floor affirmed resolution 16/18 as an important stepping-stone in tackling religious intolerance and negative stereotyping.

The majority of States congratulated the panellists for their suggestions on how to combat intolerance and discrimination against individuals on the basis of their religious beliefs, and recognised the crucial role of the UN system in helping to achieve these aims. The major area of focus during the discussion was education and promotion of inter-faith forums at local, national and international levels. In particular, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), Austria, Australia, and Azerbaijan presented their national and regional attempts to promote educational events, such as diversity or inter-faith weeks, in schools and universities. The representatives asserted that education is critical in promoting tolerance and awareness of religious differences, and is a necessary tool in creating a dialogue between various cultures.

Some States argued that the key is a continuing lack of dialogue between the Islamic and non-Islamic world. Cuba, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives, and Iran stressed that Muslims often face individual and institutional discrimination, mainly due to weak government support and a lack of protection against such discrimination. These States urged the Council to devise strategic national plans to tackle xenophobia and religious intolerance. The representative from the Maldives also asserted that the ‘Islamic world’ should build more awareness of what Islam truly stands for to strengthen a dialogue with the non-Islamic world.

Despite the generally constructive tone, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba continued to suggest strong recommendations in terms of limiting freedom of expression where religion is concerned, and criminalising incidents of religious hatred, continuing describe these incidents as ‘defamation of religions’.  This contrasted with the US, which advocated measures that ‘would promote more effective actions to increase religious tolerance, instead of prohibiting potentially offensive expression’. As in previous debates around the balance between freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief, significant divergences emerged between States, revealing the difficulty of finding common approaches towards combating religious intolerance.

In their concluding statements, the panelists highlighted the crucial role of civil society in elaborating practical methods to combat intolerance. Additionally, the creation of local task forces to promote tolerance and understanding, and to build a dialogue between different religions was recognised as an important new approach.

Overall, the discussions were well informed and constructive and did on the whole move beyond the issue of ‘defamation of religions’ to focus on intolerance and negative stereotyping of individuals. While more work may need to be done to consolidate the rejection of ‘defamation of religions’, the panel was certainly a step in the right direction. However, it still remains to be seen if that positive momentum in the Council can be carried over to future sessions, and related discussions in the General Assembly later this year.

[1] Ambassador and Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on combating intolerance and discrimination against Muslims.

On 16 June 2011, the Human Rights Council (the Council) held an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi. The special procedure on Burundi comes to an end with the establishment of the Independent National Commission of Human Rights (INCHR) in Burundi, in accordance with Council resolution 9/19 which established the mandate. Mr Fatsah Ouguergouz, the Independent Expert on human rights in Burundi, presented a statement on the institutional improvements in the country, such as the establishment of an ombudsman’s office, along with the INCHR. A transitional justice mechanism has now been established, and the Independent Expert urged the wide participation of civil society actors in its operation. He also highlighted the remaining issues faced by Burundi and noted that they need to be tackled by collaborative efforts involving the UN, its agencies, and civil society. States strongly supported the progress made in Burundi in promoting human rights, and the role that the Independent Expert had played in this. However, the majority of States also emphasised problems with corruption, lack of good governance, and a weak justice system, and urged Burundi to build a dialogue with civil society as an essential means of addressing these problems.

The Independent Expert emphasised the progress made in the social sphere, especially the provision of free compulsory education for children in primary schools and free medical care for women, children and vulnerable groups. Moreover, Ms Immaculee Nahayo, Minister of Solidarity, Human Rights and Gender of Burundi, speaking as the concerned country, pointed to the increase in employment opportunities, and protection for internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, both speakers also drew attention to ongoing problems and the urgent need to fight impunity, corruption and promote good governance in Burundi.

Similar concerns were shared by States, in particular Switzerland and Canada who asserted that prison conditions need to be urgently improved, and a solution found to land disputes for returning refugees. Additionally, Norway recommended strengthening court systems in order to fight impunity because the current institutional arrangements are relatively weak. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of States agreed that there is no need to extend the mandate of the Independent Expert as it was felt that the mechanisms established by Burundi, including the INCHR, the ombudsman, and the transitional justice mechanism, are sufficient. 

On the other hand, NGOs argued strongly in favor of extending the mandate of the Independent Expert and ensuring ongoing monitoring of human rights. In particular, Human Rights Watch identified the lack of protection for civil society activists and journalists working in Burundi. Moreover, Amnesty International also urged Burundi to establish a special tribunal to investigate torture cases and violence against human rights defenders.

In his concluding remarks, Mr Ouguergouz agreed on the urgent need to re-structure the judicial system and review the membership of the transitional justice mechanism to ensure it included civil society actors.

In the same session, Michel Forst, Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, presented his report to the council. Mr Forst outlined the following priority areas of his mandate: strengthening the place of human rights within the response to the humanitarian crisis, in particular economic and social rights; and advising on the implementation of reforms in the area of the rule of law to ensure that public institutions work to enable the full realisation of economic and social rights for the Haitian people.

Although the humanitarian situation in the country has improved since the catastrophic earthquake in January 2010, Mr Forst pointed out that the crisis in Haiti remains, as many men, women, and children continue to live in destitute conditions. Further, Mr Forst noted that certain human rights violations have escalated since the earthquake. According to UNICEF, 173,000 restavek[1] children are victims of human trafficking which Mr Forst said was “comparable to modern slavery”. Other issues persist such as the problem of street children, limited access to sanitary drinking water, forced evictions, lynchings, forcible return of potential migrants, and one of the most worrisome concerns of all, the recent cholera outbreak in the country which has infected over 300,000 people, leaving 5,400 dead.

Mr Forst noted progress made in Haiti with regards to rule of law, one of the main priorities of newly elected Haitian President Mr Michel Martelly. Haiti’s decision to establish the appointment of a President of the Court of Cassation[2] was a welcome sign according to Mr Forst because it sends “the long-awaited signal of the separation of the power of the executive and the judiciary”, a step that may potentially reduce corruption and enhance the human rights situation in the country.

A call was made by Mr Forst for efforts to be made to help strengthen Haiti’s national human rights institution which is represented by the Office de la Protection du Citoyen (OPC)[3]. Additional help is needed to supplement the work already done by OHCHR, UNDP and the International Organisation of the Francophonie in promoting capacity building and the development program for the OPC with the hope of Haiti eventually being able to implement the full protection of its citizens itself in the near future.

Finally, Mr Forst reiterated his concern about Haiti’s reconstruction, particularly that the role of human rights in the reconstruction process has not been visible enough and that we must change the message being sent to the Haitian people so that they understand that “the construction of buildings, roads and bridges are not an end in themselves, but a means to contribute to the progressive realisation of rights”.

The Haitian delegation reiterated the enormity of the catastrophic impact of last year’s earthquake and highlighted a number of public safety concerns that continue to trouble the country’s citizens such as domestic violence, particularly against women. Most States focused their comments on Haiti’s humanitarian challenges and they generally agreed that Haiti required further international assistance to help rebuild the country. While the discussion did not focus much on improving the human rights situation in Haiti, several recommendations were passed along by States. The US called on Haiti to improve accessibility services for the disabled as well as improve the protection of LGBTI peoples, and women and children. Chile recommended that the new Haitian government promote a human rights based approach where rule of law was respected and human rights institutions and organisations were actively engaged. The European Union called for the strengthening of civil society engagement in the rebuilding process.

Several NGOs expressed concern over the cholera outbreak and over what appears to be a dire security situation in the country. High crime in the country has put vulnerable people, particularly women and children, in danger. In his closing remarks, Mr Forst said that the main priority at the moment should be on rebuilding Haiti with the ultimate goal being a developed country that respects civil, political and cultural rights. Mr Forst called on civil society to keep a close eye on the situation in order to monitor the implementation of his recommendations. 

Now is the opportunity for human rights defenders to provide the United Nations with information on how States are using legislation, including criminal legislation, to regulate defenders' activities.

Human rights defenders and non-governmental organisations can submit feedback via a questionnaire, by 15 June 2012. Responses to the questionnaire will inform the annual report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms Margaret Sekaggya.

Member States, national human rights institutions and regional human rights mechanisms have also been asked to answer the questionnaire. The information provided will be used within the body of Ms Sekaggya’s report and will also be annexed to the report for illustrative purposes.

The report will be made public on Ms Sekaggya’s website before her presentation to the General Assembly in October 2012.

The questionnaire is currently available in English, French or Spanish. It is not yet known whether it will be made available in other UN languages. 

Responses to the questionnaire should be submitted to the Special Rapporteur at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, by email:  [email protected] or by fax: +41 22 917 90 06.   

To find out more click here.

The Human Rights Council (the Council) will hold its 20th session from 18 June to 6 July. For more information including the draft programme of work and the list of reports, use the link here. Note that the programme of work remains subject to change. Information concerning NGOs and how to participate within the Council can be found using the link here. The organisational meeting for the upcoming session, led by the Council President Ms Laura Dupuy Lasserre, was held on 4 June. During the meeting States discussed the programme of work for the Council’s 20th session and the various panel discussions being organised, as well as sharing initiatives for planned resolutions. 

At this session, 18 mandate holders will present their reports, in a series of clustered interactive dialogues. On 19 June the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression will present his latest report to the Council, while the next day Mr Maina Kiai, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association will present his first report to the Council. His report highlights best practices for promoting and protecting the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and association. This includes not only the right to participate in peaceful assemblies and be protected from undue interference whilst doing so, but also the rights of those monitoring peaceful assemblies. In addition, the Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations will present its first report to the Council, as will the Working Group on discrimination against women. For access to reports in langauges other than English, please see the full list of reports to be presented at the 20th session.

The interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights may be rescheduled. This follows concerns expressed by Senegal, on behalf of the African Group, that clustering the presentation of the report with those of two other special procedures will not allow enough time for discussion.

The Council will continue its efforts to follow-up on the situation in Syria. On 27 June it will hold an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry (the Commission) on the situation in Syria. Following the special session on Syria, convened on 1 June, the Commission will include in its oral report a full briefing on its investigation into the massacre in El-Houleh. Also as a consequence of the resolution adopted at that special session, the Council will also be briefed by the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States, Mr Kofi Annan. Finally, under Item 2, the Council will consider (along with other thematic reports from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Secretary-General) the report of the Secretary-General into the implementation of resolution 19/22 on the ‘situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic’.

In terms of other country situations, there will be an interactive dialogue on the report requested from the High Commissioner, under resolution17/24, into the situation of human rights in Belarus. The EU also announced plans to bring a resolution on Belarus at this session. In addition, at the last session of the Council, 44 States joined a joint statement on Eritrea, expressing concern at the situation in the country. This statement may pave the way for a resolution at this session.

The situation of human rights in Bahrain, however, remains off the Council’s agenda. As the recent UPR of Bahrain demonstrated, there are urgent and serious issues in need of address in the country, which demand the attention of the Council outside of the framework of the UPR. The Council’s failure to take action with respect to the grievous situation in Bahrain seriously undermines its credibility.

Also at the UPR of Bahrain, the President of the Council highlighted the danger of reprisals faced by human rights defenders who had engaged with the process. The President faced criticism from some States who claimed she was not authorised to speak on behalf of the Council. Since the President took as her basis for authorisation the Council’s own condemnation of reprisals, States would do well at this session of the Council to reiterate that condemnation and give support to the President’s position.

A key area of discussion at this session will be women’s human rights. The Council President announced that the annual full-day discussion on women’s human rights, co-sponsored by Canada and Chile, will be broken into two themes, with panels held on the afternoon of 25 June and the morning of 26 June. As the subject of the first panel, the Council decided to discuss ‘remedies, with a focus on transformative and culturally sensitive reparation for women who have been subjected to violence’, as requested by resolution 17/11. The discussion will identify good practices, ensuring women’s access to judicial institutions and out-of-court reparations.

The second theme of discussion during this annual full-day discussion will be on women human rights defenders. Moderated by the Council President with a panel of distinguished experts, the discussion will focus on the effectiveness of mechanisms, if any, that have been established by States to protect and empower women human rights defenders with a view to making concrete recommendations to States on designed and implementing gender-specific programmes for the protection of women human rights defenders. Panellists include Ms Sunila Abeysekera, representing the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD IC).

Adding to the focus on women’s human rights at this session, there will also be interactive dialogues with the Working Group on discrimination against women, and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

Following on from the high profile panel on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, and other related events at the Council’s last session, this session will see this issue take a much lower profile. There are however several contexts in which it could arise, including the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to health. His report on the mandate’s visit to Ghana includes criticism of the criminalisation of female sex workers and men who have sex with men.

Also at this session a panel will be held on ‘the promotion and protection of human rights in a multicultural context’. The resolution that created the panel initially sparked fears that it could be used as a vehicle for culturally relative interpretations of human rights, of particular concern in the context of women’s rights, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Those fears were largely assuaged by the final version of the resolution, and the focus of the panel will be on combating xenophobia, discrimination, and intolerance.

Finally, the office of the Presidency of the Council will co-host a high-level side event, with OHCHR and the Permanent Missions of Armenia, Belgium, Mexico, Senegal, Qatar, and Thailand. The event will be on ‘enhancing cooperation with regional and sub-regional human rights mechanisms’, and will be held on 18 June. It will be chaired by the President and includes the High Commissioner as panellist, together with representatives from the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Council of Europe, the League of Arab States, and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The event will include discussion of how regional and sub-regional mechanisms could enhance inputs and follow-up to the UPR process.

The only mandate due for renewal at this session is that of the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire. The Council will also appoint an expert to the mandate of Independent Expert on the issue of human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, health and sustainable environment, a mandate created at the last session of the Council. The list of candidates can be found here.

This session will be somewhat lighter than previous sessions, due to the fact that there are no UPR adoptions.

Resolutions to be brought at 20th session, as mentioned at organisational meeting

• Promotion of the enjoyment of the cultural rights of everyone and respect for cultural diversity (Cuba)
• Trafficking in persons, especially women and children (Germany and Philippines)
• The effects of foreign debt and other international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights (Cuba)
• Promotion of the right of peoples to peace (Cuba)
• Human rights of internally displaced persons, theme on IDPs outside camps (Austria)
• The right to education (Portugal)
• Assistance to Côte d’Ivoire in the field of Human Rights (Senegal/African Group)
• Human rights situation in Belarus (EU)
• Accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women – theme on remedies (Canada)
• Human rights of migrants (Mexico)
• National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (Canada)
• Human rights and climate change (Bangladesh and Philippines)
• Promotion of human rights in the context of the use of internet (Sweden)
• Discrimination against women in law and in practice (Mexico and Colombia)
• Right to nationality with focus on women and children (USA)
• Right to conscientious objection within military service (Croatia)
• Arbitrary detention (France)
• Arbitrary deprivation of nationality - obstacles to enjoyment of human rights (Russia)

Based on previous June Council sessions, the following resolutions, although not announced at the organisational meeting, may also be tabled at the upcoming session

• Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
• Human rights situation in Syria
• Freedom of peaceful assembly and of association
• Human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises
• Extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions
• Extreme poverty and human rights
• Independence of judges and lawyers
• Technical assistance and cooperation on human rights for Kyrgyzstan
• Freedom of opinion and expression
• Right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
• Follow-up of the report of the Independent International Fact Finding Mission on the incident of the humanitarian flotilla

You can view a webcast of the panel discussion below.

ISHR presented statement during the panel. Watch from 2:23:36 to 2:26:03 to view it being presented to the Council.

Human rights experts and State representatives will come together on Tuesday 26 June in the first-ever United Nations Human Rights Council panel discussion on the protection of women human rights defenders.

The panel will take place as part of the Council’s annual day of discussion on women’s human rights, and recommendations will be made to States on establishing and strengthening national programmes to protect women human rights defenders, based on the gender-specific nature of many of the violations women defenders face, and their specific protection needs.

The panel will include the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Margaret Sekaggya; Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez; Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition representative, Sunila Abeysekera; with an opening statement by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kyung-wha Kang. It will be moderated by the President of the Human Rights Council, Laura Dupuy Lasserre.

The UN and regional human rights systems have previously highlighted women defenders for particular attention. Ms Sekaggya’s 2010 report to the Human Rights Council focused on the situation of women human rights defenders. Mr Jesús Orozco Henríquez’s office at the Inter-American Commission has also acknowledged this group of defenders in its Second Report on Human Rights Defenders in the America, launched this year. Meanwhile, the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition has been working since its formation in 2005 to press for effective responses to the issues faced by those working on women’s and sexual rights, including activists defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

ISHR’s representative on the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition, Eleanor Openshaw, says the panel is an important piece in a much broader Human Rights Council commitment to integrating a gender perspective in the work of the UN.

‘In 2007, the Council adopted a resolution that encourages all parts of the UN human rights system to integrate a gender perspective in their work, including through the annual day of discussion on women’s rights.

‘Gender integration requires documenting and analysing the gender-specific nature of the violations women human rights defenders face. It also involves questioning how different people experience violations differently, how this affects their ability to claim and defend rights, and, therefore, how this should inform responses to those violations. 

‘The direct engagement of women defenders with human rights processes and access to UN bodies is key to answering these questions. The focused panel on women human rights defenders tomorrow should therefore make an important contribution to raising awareness about the specific challenges women defenders face and their specific needs for protection. ‘

Any discussion on the protection of women defenders and their engagement with the UN must include a focus on the problem of reprisals, adds Ms Openshaw.

‘Reprisals against the legitimate engagement of women defenders with the Human Rights Council and other UN human rights mechanisms is simply one expression of far broader, but often under-reported, threats and intimidation faced by human rights defenders,’ she says.

‘This panel is an essential opportunity to explore the extent of this problem for women defenders, and to look at ways the Council can improve its response.’

The panel on women human rights defenders is one of two that will take place as part of the Council’s day of discussion on women’s human rights, which started on Monday 25 June. The second panel will explore remedies and reparations for women who have been subjected to violence.

The Human Rights Council opened its 20^th regular session on 18 June 2012. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay, updated the Council on the recent activity and prospective concerns of her office (OHCHR).

Ms Pillay’s statement focused on the Rio+20 Outcome Document, the treaty body strengthening process, OHCHR resources, and the domestic human rights situations in various countries. Her statements were raised in the context of a general appeal for a ‘human rights focus to be applied to all dimensions of United Nations activity in light of the ‘backdrop of crisis around the globe’. Most States expressed approval for this idea.

However, Ms Pillay’s description of specific human rights concerns in some States, including Canada, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), drew defensive and hostile responses from their delegates. In the course of the general debate, Ms Pillay was repeatedly accused of working beyond the scope of her mandate and failing to approach the international human rights situation with objectivity and impartiality.  To dispute Ms Pillay’s assessment of the human rights situation in their respective countries, these delegates attempted to deflect attention away from their own States by listing human rights violations in States that had echoed the High Commissioner’s concerns. This gave the opening session a somewhat combative atmosphere, which will hopefully be channelled into productive debate as the session progresses.

Continuing the trend of her previous reports and the increasingly outspoken role of the President of the Council, Ms Pillay expressed regret that reprisals against those who cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms continue. However, she welcomed the attention that the issue has recently received. A more diverse group of States took up her concern about reprisals than in previous sessions; Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) said that it was important to increase the safety and security of those who cooperate with human rights mechanisms. Chile and Peru also referred to the need to address the issue, and Switzerland declared that it was the responsibility of all countries to ensure that human rights defenders can exercise their rights freely.

In an ongoing effort to ensure attention to human rights violations in all regions of the world, the High Commissioner discussed the human rights situations in Syria, Mali, Eritrea, Somalia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Nepal, Hungary, Mexico, Canada, and various Latin American countries. Additionally, she reported on the Deputy High Commissioner’s missions to Guatemala, Barbados, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Chad, Niger, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Regardless, her comments drew angry responses from some States because of delegates’ perceptions of being ‘singled out’.

Though nearly all States affirmed the need for action in Syria and deplored the actions of the Syrian regime, the Syrian delegate described Ms Pillay’s remarks as 'very strange' and 'far from being objective or accurate'. The delegate criticised Ms Pillay for failing to refer to the actions of Al Qaeda, and dismissed her remarks as ‘far from constructive dialogue’ and contradictory to her mandate. At the conclusion of formal proceedings, Syria exercised its right of reply to also condemn the 'hypocrisy' of Qatar, Libya, France, and Canada in criticising Syria while failing to address human rights violations in their own countries. Syria accused other delegates of ‘lying’ in their expressions of sympathy for the victims of the uprising and said that nothing justified the ‘foul language’ used by the High Commissioner in her comments.

Similar resentment about 'hypocrisy' was expressed by Sri Lanka on the ‘ill conceived’ resolution passed on Sri Lanka at the 19th session. The delegate stated that the resolution created mistrust in international processes and was ‘wholly unnecessary’ to resolving Sri Lanka’s human rights challenges.

Surprisingly, Canada also objected to the High Commissioner’s remarks, on the grounds that legislative reform restricting student protests in Quebec did not justify Canada’s consideration alongside States such as Syria and the DRC. The Canadian delegate tartly dismissed Ms Pillay’s comments with reference to various aspects of Canada’s judicial system and respect for fundamental freedoms. She went on to say that 'in a world where Syrians are dying', Ms Pillay had ‘wasted valuable time’ commenting on Canada when she could have been talking about important human rights violations relating to Sri Lanka and Syria.[1] The Sri Lankan delegate, in reply, expressed surprise at Canada’s attempt to deflect attention from its domestic situation, and criticised Canada for drawing unrelated parallels.

Belarus declared that the ‘selectivity’ of OHCHR in raising issues of concern was worrying, and called for the High Commissioner to consider adopting a new approach.

It was notable that a number of States from different regions was willing to criticise the human rights record of others, while reacting forcefully when faced with critical comments from independent sources, such as the High Commissioner and special procedures. Constructive debate in the Council requires willingness by all governments to engage on each human rights situation – including their own – on their merits. While it is to be expected that some governments disagree with the assessment of the High Commissioner or special procedures, their response should be based on a constructive presentation of facts, rather than on an unhelpful comparison of human rights violations occurring in very different contexts.

Following on from the joint statement on Eritrea presented by Somalia at the last session of the Council, the High Commissioner called for Eritrean authorities to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms. This issue was not widely picked up by States, though Denmark (on behalf of the EU) endorsed the High Commissioner's remarks, and Switzerland stated that the Council should react more specifically to the situation.

In relation to her office's increasing involvement in country situations, including requests for reports from the Council and continuing missions of Commissions of Inquiry operating under her office's mandate, Ms Pillay stressed the necessity of balancing competing human rights concerns given the limited resources available to OHCHR. She stated that OHCHR’s mandates and fields of operation could not be extended indefinitely without a review of priorities. India expressed support for this call from the High Commissioner, but stated that it was important for the High Commissioner to regularly share information on budgetary allocations, particularly on special procedures and specific programmes. Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) said that this should result in a review and rationalisation of the special procedures, noting that ten special procedure mandates are country specific indicating a gradual increase. It suggested that this approach should change to one where country situations are addressed through thematic mandates.

India also raised the issue of special procedures. Noting positively the High Commissioner's call for cooperation between States and special procedures, India added that the special procedures must adhere to the Council-approved Code of Conduct as the ultimate guide to their behaviour, rather than any other internal procedural guidelines.[2]

Ms Pillay also discussed the importance of reinforcing protection of human rights holders at a domestic level in the context of treaty body reform. The strengthening process was launched in 2009 with multi-stakeholder participation, and a report containing stakeholders’ proposals was made available on 22 June 2012. Pakistan (on behalf of the OIC) said that it looked forward to contributing substantively to the intergovernmental process in New York. Poland, Spain, Chile, and Ireland made positive statements anticipating the report and on the importance of the treaty body strengthening process generally. Russia, however, suggested that the role of the OHCHR should be ‘backstopping’ in nature, and should not delve into the ‘substantive work’ of the treaty body process in a way that dictates its agenda. India stressed the importance of ensuring that States are fully involved in the outcome of the strengthening process, contrasting such an approach to the 'fait accompli' that it felt States had been handed when some treaty bodies adopted the new reporting procedure of List of Issues Prior to Reporting. The full involvement of States, the delegation argued, would ensure that treaty bodies were in turn able to elicit the cooperation from States that the system relies on. The role of NGOs in the intergovernmental process was not discussed, despite the severe lack of clarity about how civil society will be able to add its voice to the discussions.

Other issues raised included the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons. Ms Pillay referred to Russian and Ukrainian laws restricting freedom of expression in relation to LGBTI issues. This issue was not widely engaged by State parties, though Denmark (on behalf of the EU), the Czech Republic, Norway, and Switzerland stated that they shared the High Commissioner's concerns.