AFTERNOON - Human Rights Council Adopts Four Resolutions – Extends Mandate of the Independent Expert on Protection from Violence and Discrimination Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The Human Rights Council this afternoon adopted four resolutions, in which it, among other things, extended the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection from violence and discrimination related to sexual orientation and gender identity for a period of three years.

The Council also adopted resolutions on the importance of casualty recording for the promotion and protection of human rights; human rights and the regulation of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms; and access to medicines, vaccines and other health products in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

The resolution on the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection from violence and discrimination related to sexual orientation and gender identity was adopted by a vote of 23 in favour, 17 against and 7 abstentions. Votes on 13 amendments rejected all but one amendment. The Council extended the mandate for three years, and requested the Expert to continue to report annually on the implementation of the mandate to the Council and the General Assembly.

On the importance of casualty recording for the promotion and protection of human rights, the Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a comprehensive report on the impact of casualty recording on the promotion and protection of human rights, and to present the report to the Council at its fifty-third session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue.

Concerning human rights and the regulation of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms, the Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on effective national regulations, policies and good practices, challenges and lessons learned, to address the negative human rights impact of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms and underlying root causes and risk factors driving the availability of firearms and firearms-related violence.

On access to medicines, vaccines, and other health products in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Council requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organise three expert workshops to provide technical support to States on the human rights dimension of access to medicines and vaccines in the context of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of health.

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 fiftieth regular session can be found here .

The Council will reconvene at 9 a.m. on Friday, 8 July to continue to take action on 11 remaining draft resolutions and decisions before concluding its fiftieth session.

Action on Resolutions Under Agenda Item Three on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social ad Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development

In a resolution (A/HRC/50 02/L.2) on the Mandate of the Independent Expert on protection from violence and discrimination related to sexual orientation and gender identity, adopted by a vote of 23 in favour, 17 against and 7 abstentions (as amended), the Council calls upon States to amend or repeal laws and policies that discriminate against certain persons on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and to take effective measures to prevent acts of violence and discrimination; decides to extend for a period of three years the mandate of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination related to sexual orientation and gender identity; requests the Independent Expert to continue to report annually on the implementation of their mandate to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

Before the vote on and adoption of L.2, the Council voted on and rejected draft amendments L.25 to L.30 and L.32 to L.37, and adopted draft amendment L.31.

The results of the vote were as follows:

In favour (23): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, Paraguay, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela.

Against (17): Cameroon, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Indonesia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan and United Arab Emirates.

Abstentions (7): Armenia, Benin, India, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Poland and Uzbekistan.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.6) on the Importance of casualty recording for the promotion and protection of human rights, adopted without a vote (as orally revised), the Council requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a comprehensive report on the impact of casualty recording on the promotion and protection of human rights, and to present the report to the Council at its fifty-third session, to be followed by an interactive dialogue; and encourages all stakeholders to provide relevant information to the Office of the High Commissioner for the preparation of the report.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.12) on Human rights and the regulation of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms, adopted without a vote, the Council calls upon States to do their utmost to take appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures to address the root causes and risk factors driving firearms-related violence; and requests the High Commissioner to prepare a report on effective national regulations, policies and good practices, challenges and lessons learned to address the negative human rights impact of civilian acquisition, possession and use of firearms and underlying root causes and risk factors driving the availability of firearms and firearms-related violence.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.13/Rev.1) on Access to medicines, vaccines and other health products in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, adopted without a vote, the Council calls upon States to promote timely, equitable and unhindered access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, and other health products and technologies, for all; requests the Office of the High Commissioner to organise three expert workshops, to provide technical assistance to States throughout the next three years on the human rights dimension of access to medicines and vaccines in the context of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and to present to the Council a compendium of good practices at its fifty-third session and an analytical study on key challenges at its fifty-sixth session, with a view to presenting a comprehensive report, including new developments, at its fifty-ninth session.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the information media;
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.

HRC22.073E