Human Rights Council president hails body’s success as duties increase, resources shrink

Presenting the annual report of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the body’s President, Baudelaire Ndong Ella, told the General Assembly today that the Council has bolstered its reputation and credibility over the years through the work of its special experts and carrying out the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The President stated that the work of the Geneva-based Council took place in a “difficult” international context marked by many crises and conflicts sometimes involving non-state actors.

“The Council’s three regular sessions held during which more than 138 meetings were held with an average of 46 meetings per session than the conventional threshold of 32 sessions approved,” said Mr. Ella noting that more than 252 reports been examined from various points in the agenda.

He said that the Council has held three special sessions in immediate response to situations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including the Central African Republic.

The President also noted that the Council decided to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the occupied Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem and Gaza.

“Despite some difficulties, I was able to appoint members of the Commission of Inquiry began its preliminary investigations,” said Mr. Ella.

Regarding the situation in Iraq, the President recalled that at a special meeting held September 1, 2014, it was decided to send a fact-finding mission to shed light on violations and abuses committed by the armed group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and related groups in northern Iraq.

Regarding the mechanism of the Universal Periodic Review, the President stated that the Council adopted the reports of the 57 countries surveyed this year by the Working Group on the UPR. The situation of human rights in 15 African countries, 15 Asian countries, 10 Latin American countries, 5 countries of Western Europe, six countries of Eastern Europe and three Pacific countries had been reviewed.

“Some 5,040 recommendations were accepted…with 3,931 simply noted. Since the beginning of the second cycle of the UPR, more than 20,000 recommendations were made with more than 16,000 accepted and less than 4,000 simply noted,” said Mr. Ella, adding that all countries examined were represented at least at the ministerial level.

Among its other activities, the Council renewed and appointment of mandate-holders of special procedures. Appointment decisions have concerned several special rapporteurs, including the situation of human rights, the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, the right to freedom of expression and the right to health and the right to privacy.

With regard to country situations, Dr. Ella said that the Council has closely monitored during three regular sessions, the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Belarus, Myanmar, Iran and Syria.

Echoing recent concerns voiced by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he noted that the Organization’s human rights work is plagued by insufficient resources, as funds continued to shrink while, in contrast, the number of new mandates requested by member States for country situations, as well on thematic issues, has tripled over the past three years.

“I would call the attention of the Assembly to the need to provide additional resources for the High Commissioner for Human Rights to enable the Council to fulfil its mandate effectively and to respond to situations emergencies in all regions of the world,” he said.