OPENING - Human Rights Council Opens Fifty-Second Regular Session and Holds a Minute of Silence for the Victims of the Earthquake in Türkiye and Syria

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its fifty-second regular session, hearing statements from the President of the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

At the beginning of the meeting, Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Permanent Representative of Gambia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, requested a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the recent earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. The Council then held a minute of silence.

Václav Bálek, President of the Human Rights Council, said the first meeting of the year was, in many ways, the main session of this Council. A constructive atmosphere and cooperative spirit were essential for the effective functioning of the Council, allowing for an open exchange of views and frank discussion while respecting the dignity inherent in this body. All delegations and participants should commit to these principles.

Csaba Kőrösi, President of the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, said this year was the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and whilst there were reasons to celebrate, these were clearly superseded by the reality of a world in a state of disarray, with unprecedented, cascading, and interlocking crises. The world was far from recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 70 countries in debt distress, women and girls in distress in many countries, and the world not on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The Council, like the General Assembly, was at a crossroads.

António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 75 years ago, setting out the rights to life, liberty and security; to equality before the law; to freedom of expression; to seek asylum; to work, to healthcare and education, and more. But as its seventy-fifth anniversary was being marked, the Universal Declaration was under attack. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had triggered the most massive violations of human rights, unleashing widespread death, destruction, and displacement. Looking forward gave rise to greater alarm. In July this year, Mr. Guterres said he and the High Commissioner would launch a new Agenda for Protection. The important initiative would seek to strengthen support from across the United Nations system to Member States to protect people and their rights, in times of peace and conflict.

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said over the past 75 years, there had been profound gains and many achievements. However, the oppression of the past could return, in various disguises, including wars of aggression, as witnessed in Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Much of the progress made over decades was being reined back and even reversed. It was critical to rekindle the spirit that led to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago. The goal needed to be to promote and implement a twenty-first century human rights vision that was transformative.

Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, said that for 368 days now, the Russian armed forces had been flagrantly violating the United Nations Charter. This year marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with which founding States of the United Nations committed themselves together to protect the individual against State arbitrariness. However, millions of women, men and children were still deprived of their most basic rights. Human rights violations should be documented worldwide and perpetrators held accountable.

The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-second regular session can be found here.

The Council started its high-level segment at 9:50 a.m.

Minute of Silence

MUHAMMADOU M. O. KAH, Permanent Representative of Gambia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, requested humbly a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the recent earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, which had claimed many lives, injured many more, and left thousands without homes. The Council should take a minute to honour those who had lost their lives and show their solidarity.

The Council held a minute of silence.

Opening Remarks by the President of the Council

VÁCLAV BÁLEK, President of the Human Rights Council, said the first meeting of the year was, in many ways, the main session of this Council. A constructive atmosphere and cooperative spirit were essential for the effective functioning of the Council, allowing for an open exchange of views and frank discussion while respecting the dignity inherent in this body. All delegations and participants should commit to these principles. He extended a very warm welcome to all delegations and other stakeholders who would participate in this session of the Council, noting that it was a special pleasure to warmly welcome 14 government officials whose participation has been made possible by the generosity of the Voluntary Technical Assistance Trust Fund to support the participation of least developed countries and small island developing States in the work of the Council and its donor countries. Also welcomed were the delegations that were participating online, thanks to the Council’s continued use of modern technologies.

Keynote Opening Statements

CSABA KŐRÖSI, President of the Seventy-seventh Session of the General Assembly, said this year was the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and whilst there were reasons to celebrate, these were clearly superseded by the reality of a world in a state of disarray, with unprecedented, cascading, and interlocking crises. The world was far from recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 70 countries in debt distress, women and girls in distress in many countries, and the world not on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda. Armed conflicts were on the rise, including an aggression by a permanent member of the Security Council against a neighbouring State, effectively paralysing the Security Council.

The Council, like the General Assembly, was at a crossroads. Mr. Kőrösi said he wished to advocate for a transformation, a fundamental shift in how interlocking crises were managed. Nowhere was this more apparent than in tackling climate change - the crisis of this generation, which threatened human rights, food, health, adequate housing, and in some cases, self-determination. It was already threatening the right to life of many. Integrating the grim reality of climate change with human rights, the General Assembly had recognised that access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment was a human right, although not all Member States agreed. The Council should help on moving this forward, as all human rights had their origin in political recognition.

Human rights violations existed in every country - no country had a perfect record. In times of crisis, Governments must prioritise. The crises faced were human crises, and solutions that did not respect human rights were not solutions at all. Transformation would require acknowledgement that the effective protection of human rights would only occur when responsibilities were acknowledged. All should continue to advance the rights of those marginalised and in vulnerable situations, and ensure that women were fully, equally and meaningfully involved in decision-making. The treaty body system’s power should be fully harnessed. Prevention must be conceptualised as a path towards peace and humane societies, putting the rule of law front of centre, paving the way for the transformation that societies desperately needed in these times of crises.

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted 75 years ago, setting out the rights to life, liberty and security; to equality before the law; to freedom of expression; to seek asylum; to work, to healthcare and education, and more. But as its seventy-fifth anniversary was being marked, the Universal Declaration was under attack. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had triggered the most massive violations of human rights, unleashing widespread death, destruction, and displacement. Unfortunately, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which should be the common blueprint, was too often misused and abused. Instead of continuing the progress made, the world had gone into reverse. Extreme poverty and hunger were rising for the first time in decades. Nearly half the world’s population lived in climate hotspots, where people were 15 times more likely to die of climate impacts. A record one hundred million people were forced to flee by violence, conflict and human rights violations. Everyday brough new evidence of human rights violations, from summary executions and torture to enforced disappearance and sexual violence. The pandemic had left the world with a pandemic of abuses of civil and political rights.

Looking forward gave rise to greater alarm. Unless humanity kicked its addiction to fossil fuels, critical climate tipping points would crush the human rights of generations to come. The report on Our Common Agenda set out a vision for the future with people and their rights at the centre, and the Call to Action for Human Rights established seven areas for urgent attention. Mr. Guterres said that in July this year, he and the High Commissioner would launch a new Agenda for Protection. The important initiative would seek to strengthen support from across the United Nations system to Member States to protect people and their rights, in times of peace and conflict. The Council and its various mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review, the fact-finding missions, and the International Court of Justice, among others, were essential to creating momentum for progress. Mr. Guterres said that as the world celebrated the impact of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, complacency was the worst enemy. When it came to human rights, history was still to be written.

VOLKER TÜRK, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said human rights was the common language of shared humanity. Over the past 75 years, there had been profound gains and many achievements. There was a treaty-based system, and a whole institutional architecture for the promotion and protection of human rights – including the Council and its ground-breaking Universal Periodic Review and Special Procedures. There had also been the growth of other innovative movements that drew on human rights principles, including movements for the rights of indigenous peoples. However, the oppression of the past could return, in various disguises, including wars of aggression, as witnessed in Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was hoped that 2023 would be the moment to shift the balance from exploitation of digital technology for profit, to tackle the biggest challenges – poverty, climate change, and inequality.

Much of the progress made over decades was being reined back and even reversed. It was critical to rekindle the spirit that led to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 75 years ago. The goal needed to be to promote and implement a twenty-first century human rights vision that was transformative. It was against this backdrop that the Human Rights 75 initiative was to rebuild trust. Mr. Türk invited all Member States to take the lead in advancing all human rights across the world and in their own nations. He asked States to deepen cross-regional engagement and ensure that serious violations were addressed. Leaders were encouraged to address people’s rights to freedom and to communicate their commitment to human rights to the public. States were urged to share transformational promises at the high-level event planned in December. Mr. Türk said he would provide a detailed global update on specific country and regional situations on 7 March as part of the agenda of the Council session. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights not only voiced ancient wisdoms from all cultures, but would ensure the world’s survival.

IGNAZIO CASSIS, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Federation, said that for 368 days now, the Russian armed forces had been flagrantly violating the United Nations Charter. Atrocities identified in the independent investigative reports included massacres of civilians, sexual violence, detention and torture camps, deportation of children and adolescents, repression, and imprisonment of opponents. This year marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with which founding States of the United Nations committed themselves together to protect the individual against State arbitrariness. However, millions of women, men and children were still deprived of their most basic rights. So many people were imprisoned, even tortured for peacefully expressing their opinion, or executed on the basis of speedy trials and confessions obtained under duress. Still so many victims of violence were forced to flee or remain silent because of their gender, ethnic, linguistic or religious identity.

On progress made, more and more States were ratifying conventions to protect their citizens against the law of the strongest. Mr. Cassis called the establishment of the various ad hoc tribunals, not forgetting the International Criminal Court, one of the greatest advances. Other positive developments included access to education, health and equality of men and women before the law and collaboration with the private sector. However, the expectation that democracy, the rule of law and human rights would prevail throughout the world had not been realised. Noting a gap between States' commitments under international law and reality, Mr. Cassis stressed the need to speak clearly, naming things as they were. Human rights violations should be documented worldwide and perpetrators held accountable. Multilateralism must be strengthened and dialogue promoted.

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not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

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