HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS EIGHTH REGULAR SESSION FROM 2 TO 18 JUNE

The Human Rights Council will hold its eighth regular session from 2 to 18 June during which it will consider for the first time the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review’s Working Group on the fulfillment of human rights obligations in the first group of States reviewed under this new mechanism.

At the beginning of the session, the Council will hear an update from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, her last before leaving her position at the end of June. The President of Slovenia, Danilo Turk, will also address the Council at the opening of the session.

During the session, the Council will hear reports from and hold interactive dialogues with its Special Procedures on the human rights of internally displaced persons; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; independence of judges and lawyers; right to education; human rights and extreme poverty; human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; and the situation of human rights in Haiti. An interactive discussion will also be held to consider the draft Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Council will discuss follow-up to its Special Sessions on the situation in Myanmar, on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and on the world food crisis.

The review, rationalization and improvement process of Special Procedures will continue as the Council takes up the mandates on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; independence of judges and lawyers; torture; right to education; trafficking in persons, especially women and children; human rights of migrant workers; human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; and human rights and extreme poverty.

Also during the session, the Council will devote two meetings to discuss the human rights of women, and will hold two Special Events on the entry into force of the Covenant on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and on the draft UN guidelines for the appropriate use and conditions of alternative care for children. It will hear an oral report from the Preparatory Committee on the Durban Review Conference on Racism.

The Council will also consider the outcome of the first and second sessions of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group which met over the past two months and considered the situation of human rights in the following 32 States (in order of review): Bahrain, Ecuador, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Finland, the United Kingdom, India, Finland, the Philippines, Algeria, Poland, the Netherlands, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Argentina, Gabon, Ghana, Peru, Guatemala, Benin, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Pakistan, Zambia, Japan, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, France, Tonga, Romania and Mali. During the session, these 32 States will have the opportunity to submit their views on the recommendations and/or conclusions made during their review. Council members and observers, as well as non-governmental organizations having status with the Economic and Social Council will also make general comments.

The eighth regular session will be immediately followed by an organizational meeting of the Human Rights Council on 19 and 20 June to mark the beginning of the third year of the Council. At this meeting the new composition of the 47-member Council, following the General Assembly elections on 21 May, will assume its role. The Council will also elect its new bureau members and consider its agenda, programme of work and calendar of regular sessions for the year.

The session will take place at the Palais des Nations in Room XVIII from 2 to 13 June and in Room XIX from 16 to 18 June.

Composition of the Council

The Council is made up of the following 47 Member States. The mandates conclude on 18 June of the year indicated between paranthesis, and an asterisk marks the countries which were not re-elected in the elections held on 21 May 2008. The Member States are Angola (2010), Azerbaijan (2009), Bangladesh (2009), Bolivia (2010), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010), Brazil (2008), Cameroon (2009), Canada (2009), China (2009), Cuba (2009), Djibouti (2009), Egypt (2010), France (2008), Gabon (2008), Ghana (2008), Germany (2009), Guatemala (2008*), India (2010), Indonesia (2010), Italy (2010), Japan (2008), Jordan (2008), Madagascar (2010), Malaysia (2009), Mali (2008*), Mauritius Islands (2009), Mexico (2009), the Netherlands (2010), Nicaragua (2010), Nigeria (2009), Pakistan (2008), Peru (2008*), the Phillippines (2010), Qatar (2010), Republic of Korea (2008), Romania (2008*), Russian Federation (2009), Saudi Arabia (2009), Senegal (2009), Slovenia (2010), South Africa (2010), Sri Lanka (2008*), Switzerland (2009), Ukraine (2008), Uruguay (2009), the United Kingdom (2008), and Zambia (2008).

On 21 May, the General Assembly held elections for some of the Member States of the Council whose mandates conclude in 2008. Most of the 15 countries concerned, except for Mali, Guatemala, Peru, Romania and Sri Lanka, were re-elected. They will be replaced by Burkina Faso, Chile, Argentina, Slovakia and Bahrain.

The bureau of the Council is made up of the President, Ambassador Doru Romulus Costea of Romania. The Vice Chairpersons are Mohamed-Siad Doualeh (Djibouti), Boudewijn Van Eenennaam (the Netherlands), and Dayan Jayathilleka (Sri Lanka). Alejandro Artucio (Uruguay) is also a Vice Chairperson and the Rapporteur.


For use of the information media; not an official record

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