HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL CONCLUDES ELEVENTH SESSION

The Human Rights Council closed its eleventh regular session this afternoon, adopting 13 texts on a wide range of issues, including on violence against women, trafficking in persons, the effects of foreign debt and the human rights of migrants. The Council also established a new human rights mandate of Independent Expert on human rights in Sudan for the period of one year, and decided to extend the mandate of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action for a period of three years. It also established an Open-ended Working Group of the Human Rights Council to explore the possibility of elaborating an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communications procedure complementary to the reporting procedure under the Convention.

The Council adopted texts on the promotion of the right of peoples to peace, the right to education, guidelines for the alternative care of children, preventable maternal mortality and morbidity, enhancement of the system of special procedures, the Universal Periodic Review, and the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

Over the course of the session, the Council heard a number of high profile reports and held interactive dialogues with the Special Procedures presenting them, including mandate holders on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises; on the human rights of migrants; on the right to education; on the independence of judges and lawyers; on freedom of opinion and expression; on the right to health; on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; on violence against women, its causes and consequences; on the question of human rights and extreme poverty; on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; on the situation of human rights in Sudan; on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; and on the situation of human rights in Haiti.

The Council also received an update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on human rights themes and situations of particular concern, especially the condition of civilians in armed conflict, and the human rights of migrants. She also detailed her activities in the field of human rights since the last Council meeting in April, and raised issues of concern in several countries. Her presentation was followed by a general debate.

Also at this session, the Council held its annual full-day meeting on women's human rights, on the theme of equality before the law. The discussion focused on non-discrimination in the law, with a view to identifying concrete steps to further women’s equality. Opening the discussions, the High Commissioner said international human rights treaties prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex and included guarantees to ensure that women and men enjoyed their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights on a basis of equality. Despite that perception, global and national realities indicated that there was a wide gulf between international legal obligations and their implementation. Not only did inequality in the legal, civil, economic, political and social arenas violate international obligations, but it also compounded discrimination against women. When race, religion, ethnicity, poverty, disability, social status, and other forms of discrimination were factored in, then the picture was one of even greater disparity.

In addition, over the past three weeks, the Council held a number of general debates, including on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, and on situations that require the Council’s attention, during which it heard from a series of delegations about violations of human rights in countries around the world. It also held a general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms, during which it heard the President of the Council present reports on his visits to Brazil and Bahrain in April and May this year. A general debate on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism heard many speakers raising concerns relating to the speakers’ lists and the translation of documents into the six official languages of the United Nations. The Council also held general debates on the human rights situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories; on follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, in the context of follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; and on technical assistance and capacity building.

The Council also held a discussion on follow-up to the Council’s ninth Special Session on the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The President held a panel discussion on objectives and modalities of panels, during which speakers stressed the importance of panels and the need to continue to utilize them as an instrument to provide detailed information, build consensus and provide action-oriented solutions to the challenges the Council faced. A panel discussion on the relationship between climate change and human rights was also held, during which many speakers raised the barrier that climate change could pose to development.

The Council also adopted the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review process on Germany, Djibouti, Canada, Bangladesh, Russian Federation, Cameroon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, China, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Mexico, Mauritius, Malaysia, and Jordan.

The eleventh session, which was presided by Ambassador Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, was held from 1 to 18 June 2009.

The twelfth regular session of the Council will be held from 14 September to 2 October 2009.

Resolutions Adopted by the Council

Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development

The Council decided to establish an Open-ended Working Group of the Human Rights Council to explore the possibility of elaborating an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communications procedure complementary to the reporting procedure under the Convention.

On accelerating efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to convene, in 2010, an expert workshop to discuss specific measures for overcoming obstacles and challenges that States may face in preventing, investigating, prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators of violence against women and girls, as well as measures for providing protection, support, assistance and redress for victims.

On trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Council requested OHCHR to organize, in close coordination with the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, a two-day seminar aimed at identifying opportunities and challenges in the development of rights-based responses to trafficking in persons with a view to acknowledging emerging good practices and further promoting the practical application of the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking.

On the promotion of the right of peoples to peace, the Council reiterated its request to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene, before February 2010, a workshop on the right of peoples to peace, with the participation of experts from all regions of the world, in order to further clarify the content and scope of this right; to propose measures that raise awareness of the importance of realizing this right; and to suggest concrete actions to mobilize States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the promotion of the right of peoples to peace.

On the effects of foreign debt, the Council welcomed the report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights and requested that he continue to explore the inter-linkages with trade and other issues, including HIV/AIDS, when examining the impact of structural adjustment and foreign debt.

On the right to education: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolution 8/4, the Council urged all relevant stakeholders to increase their efforts so that the goals of the Education for All initiative can be achieved by 2015, including by tackling persistent inequalities based on income, gender, location, ethnicity, language, disability and other factors.

On the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, the Council welcomed the accomplishment of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and decided to submit the Guidelines to the General Assembly for consideration with a view to their adoption on the twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

On preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights, the Council requested OHCHR to prepare a thematic study on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights, in consultation with States, the World Health Organization, and all other relevant stakeholders, and requested that the study include: identification of the human rights dimensions of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in the existing international legal framework; an overview of initiatives and activities within the United Nations system to address all causes of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity; identification of how the Council can add value to existing initiatives through a human rights analysis, including efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal on improving maternal health; and that it recommend options for better addressing the human rights dimension of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity throughout the United Nations system.

On the human rights of migrants in detention centres, the Council decides to hold a panel of discussion on the matter at its twelfth session, with equitable geographic and gender participation of representatives of Governments, relevant experts and representatives of civil society including national institutions.

Human Rights Situations That Require the Council’s Attention

On the situation of human rights in Sudan, the Council calls on the Government of National Unity to continue and intensify its efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights by taking all possible concrete steps to improve the human rights situation; and decides to create the mandate of independent expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan for a period of one year, who shall assume the mandate and responsibilities set out by the Council in its resolutions 6/34, 6/35, 7/16 and 9/17.

Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms

On enhancement of the system of Special Procedures, the Council recalls that it is incumbent on Special Procedures mandate holders to exercise their functions in full respect for and strict observance of their mandates, as outlined in the relevant Council resolutions providing such mandates, as well as to comply fully with the provisions of the Code of Conduct.

Universal Periodic Review

On issuance of reports of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review in all official languages of the United Nations, the Council decided that all reports adopted by the Working Group shall be issued as official documents in all official languages of the United Nations, in a timely manner before their consideration by the Council, and requested the Secretary-General to ensure the necessary support to that effect.

Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance, Follow-up and Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

On the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Council decides to extend the mandate of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action for a period of three years.


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HRC09095E