Human Rights Council Meetings Start Today

(March 1, 2010)  Today is the first day of the 13th session of the Human Rights Council.  Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, referred to the impact of the international economic situation in her opening statement to the Council:

The "sudden and cascading upheavals exposed and exacerbated existing violations of human rights.  They also widened the areas and increased the number of victims of abuse and hardship.  Some countries have now overcome the most acute phases of recession and hardship. However, according to World Bank economist Shanta Devarajan, in Africa the crises have thrown an estimated 7 to 10 million into poverty, 30-50,000 children may have not reached their first birthday as a result of the recession."

The UN General Assembly created the Human Rights Council in 2006.  Its main purpose is to address situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.  The Council has had a controversial past and spectators will be watching the session's activities closely.  Pillay emphasized that the Human Rights Council must "address gaps in the Council's practices in order to attain greater equality and a framework in which the public good is more widely enjoyed...[Council discussions] should not be, or be perceived as, a zero-sum game."

Pillay concluded her statement by recalling the six priority areas that Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights identified as requiring additional focus in the next biennium. They are:

• Countering discrimination, in particular racial discrimination, discrimination on the grounds of sex, religion and against others who are marginalized;
• Pursuing economic, social and cultural rights in efforts and combating inequalities and poverty, including in the context of the economic, food and climate crises;
• Protecting human rights in the context of migration;
• Combating impunity and strengthening accountability, the rule of law, and democratic societies;
• Protecting human rights in situations of armed conflict, violence and insecurity; and,
• Strengthening human rights mechanisms and the progressive development of international human rights law.

Maria Otero, United States' Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, addressed the Human Rights Council:

"When we ran for election to the Human Rights Council in 2009, we did so out of a renewed commitment to the Council, to the United Nations, and to the defense of human rights and human dignity around the globe. At the September plenary session of the HRC, we made clear that three tenets guide our participation: a commitment to principled engagement; consistent application of international human rights law; and a fidelity to the truth."

Otero stated that the U.S. continues "to have concerns about disproportionate attention the Council pays to Israel, which is the only country that has its own agenda item.Ultimately, the United States is committed to working with the parties to bring about a comprehensive peace in the region, including two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. This will be best way to ensure a long term protection of human rights for both Israelis and Palestinians. Of course, human rights challenges reach well beyond the border of Palestine and Israel. We believe the Council could and should play a helpful role in accompanying Guinea through its current transition, by focusing on opportunities for technical assistance and safeguards to strengthen the new government's ability to promote and protect human rights. We also remain deeply concerned about the lack of capacity to prosecute human rights abusers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), particularly in the military. At this March session, the mandates for the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and Burma, among others, will be up for renewal and the United States will strongly support their renewal. The human rights situation in both of these countries remains very poor."

Otero concluded by saying that the goals she described are "ambitious in many ways but they correspond to the very reason the Human Rights Council was established: to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. Our expectations should be nothing less and the United States will strong advocate that the Council meet these expectations."

The 13th Session of the Human Rights Council runs until the 26th of March.

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