HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ADJOURNS SECOND SESSION UNTIL 27 NOVEMBER
The Human Rights Council this afternoon suspended its second session until 27 November when it will take action on all the draft proposals that it could not consider given their high number and the insufficient time available in order to guarantee the due and balanced consideration of all proposals.
When the Council concludes taking action on the draft proposals at the end of November, it will immediately open its third session.
Over the past three weeks, the Council addressed a wide range of issues, hearing from the thematic Special Procedures on the following topics: racism and racial discrimination, people of African descent, migrants, internally displaced persons, minorities, indigenous peoples, extrajudicial and summary executions, enforced disappearances, children in armed conflict, gender issues and the status of women, violence against women, trafficking in persons, torture, arbitrary detention, the independence of judges, freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, human rights defenders, the right to health, toxic and dangerous products and waste, housing, food, poverty, sale of children, economic and structural reform, mercenaries, education, transnational corporations, and human rights and counter-terrorism measures.
The Council also considered the reports of country-specific Special Rapporteurs and Experts, including on Belarus, Somalia, Cuba, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Cambodia, Haiti, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Sudan and Liberia.
The Council heard a presentation of the joint report by the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and on adequate housing, and of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally-displaced persons, on their mission to Lebanon and Israel. This was accompanied by a report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on his mission to Lebanon.
After the Experts presented their reports, the Council held an interactive dialogue with each of them, with the participation of Member States, observer States and non-governmental organizations.
A series of reports were presented to the Council by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Colombia, Guatemala, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Uganda. The report of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights was also considered by Member States in the context of a debate with the Chairman of the Sub-Commission.
The follow-up of decisions and resolutions taken at the first session and during the first and second special sessions were discussed during the session, and a follow-up report by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 was also presented.
The Council also heard the progress report of the intersessional open-ended intergovernmental Working Group which it established to develop the modalities of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism; and the progress report of the Working Group on the implementation of operative paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution A/60/251 to review, and where necessary improve and rationalize, all mandates of its Special Procedures, expert advice, and a complaint procedure inherited from the former Commission on Human Rights, and this within one year. In this regard, the Council adopted a generic text on mechanisms and mandates.
Meetings of the 1503 procedure, during which the Council considers the situation of human rights violations in certain countries behind closed doors, were also held. The Council discussed the situation of human rights in Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and decided to end its consideration of the situation in Kyrgyzstan under this procedure.
At the opening session, High Commissioner Louise Arbour, reading the message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the Council was established by a resolution of the General Assembly, but Member States themselves would lay its true foundations, through the decisions they took during these crucial weeks. In particular, they would be discussing the new Universal Periodic Review mechanism and the strengthening of the Special Procedures – two vital elements of the Council’s work. To reach agreement on these would not be easy. In her own opening statement, Ms. Arbour said migration was a pressing issue of international concern on which progress was urgently needed. Violence, depravation and human rights abuses triggered migratory flows to the real or imagined
In the decision adopted by the Council on reports of mechanisms and mandates, the Council requested the Secretary-General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretariat to continue with the fulfilment of their activities, in accordance with all previous decisions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and to update the relevant reports and studies; decided to transmit the views of the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights on the Human Rights Council’s future system of expert advice to the Working Group established pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 2006/104; and also decided to take note of the draft decisions transmitted by the Sub-Commission pertaining to previously authorised activities, with a view to allowing their continuation in accordance with Council’s decision 2006/102.
In another decision, the Human Rights Council, at its 29th meeting on 6 October 2006, decided to add a segment on “follow-up to decisions of the Human Rights Council” to the programme of work as contained in Council’s decision 2006/105 of 30 June 2006.
Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, the President of the Council, said in his concluding statement that more than 40 reports had been heard, and dialogues undertaken with Special Procedures and the High Commissioner. Discussion and dialogue had been expanded on. A large number of resolutions had been submitted, compelling the Council to continue its work throughout November, and this was an indication of delegations’ interest in substantive matters, even during the first phases of the new body. Better working methods were required in order to be able to deal with each and every subject. A generic decision had been adopted which ensured the human rights system would function, and which guaranteed continuity of work, preventing the creation of a vacuum or gap during the transitional period. In the inter-sessional period, the work of the Working Groups would have to start, as they had been entrusted with shaping the Universal Periodic Review and operative paragraph 6 of the General Assembly resolution, including the review of mandates. There would also be consultations on the agenda and on working methods. These were no meagre results, but the challenges facing the Council were even greater than the progress that had been made.
Also speaking at the final meeting before the adjournment were Peru, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil who regretted that the Council had not taken any decisions on substantive issues, adding that it was important to make sure that there was no compromise in the protection of victims of violations of human rights. They urged that every effort be made to strengthen the methods of work of the Council in order to tackle human rights violations around the world. India noted that the work of the second session was part of the architecture that the international community was building throughout its transitional period of the Council. The United States said it was disappointed at the results of the Council. The Council had missed an opportunity to enhance dialogue and communication among cultures.
The Council will resume its second session on 27 November to take action on the deferred draft proposals, subsequent to which it will begin its scheduled third session.
For use of the information media; not an official record
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