HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS FOURTEENTH SESSION FROM 31 MAY TO 18 JUNE 2010

The Human Rights Council will hold its fourteenth regular session from 31 May to 18 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

On the morning of Monday, 31 May, the Council will hear an update by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to be followed by a general debate. Under this item, which covers the reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, the Council will have before it a number of reports, including the High Commissioner’s report on operationalizing the framework for business and human rights; the reports of both the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner on human rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice; the report of the High Commissioner on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights; and the report of the High Commissioner on protecting the human rights of civilians in armed conflict.

Concerning the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, the Council will review reports by and hold interactive dialogues with Special Procedure mandate holders on issues concerning human rights and transnational corporations; the effects of foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights; the right to education; the independence of judges and lawyers; the protection of human rights while countering terrorism; the right to freedom of opinion and expression; extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; trafficking in persons, especially in women and children; the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; human rights and extreme poverty; and violence against women, its causes and consequences.

The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with four Special Procedures which will be presenting their joint study on global practices in relation to secret detention in the context of countering terrorism on Wednesday, 2 June. On the afternoon of that same day, the Council will hold a panel discussion to “Give voice to the victims of trafficking”.

The Council will be holding a number of other half-day panel discussions at this session: on protection of journalists in armed conflict; on toxic waste; and on maternal mortality. In addition, on Monday, 7 June it will host its annual day of discussion on women’s human rights.

On Monday, 14 June, the Council will discuss the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, and the follow-up to its Special Session on grave human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly due to the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip

On racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance: follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the Council will have before it the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including findings and recommendations on his missions to Germany and the United Arab Emirates. It will also engage in a dialogue with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, which will present its report to the Council.

As for technical assistance and capacity-building, the Council will hear a presentation by and hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti of his report, which focuses on the impact of the earthquake on the enjoyment of human rights there. The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi will address the Council and present an oral report of his activities since September 2008 and following his visit to the country.

Also at this session, the Council will consider the final outcome of Universal Periodic Reviews undertaken on the human rights situations in Qatar, Nicaragua, Italy, El Salvador, Gambia, Bolivia, Fiji, San Marino, Kazakhstan, Angola, Iran, Madagascar, Iraq, Slovenia, Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following its consideration of the reports, the Council is expected to officially adopt those documents, which include observations and recommendations to concretely improve the human rights situations in those countries.

At the end of its session, the Council will decide on a number of Special Procedures’ appointments: the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights; the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; the Special Rapporteur on the right to education; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi; a new member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; and a member of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination. In other appointments, the Council will elect a replacement for a member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee who passed away.

For more detailed information about the work of the Council at this session, including with regard to documentation, please refer to the annotated agenda of the session A/HRC/14/1, as well as the Human Rights Council website at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/14session/.


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 parentheses. The Member States are: Angola (2010); Argentina (2011); Bahrain (2011); Bangladesh (2012); Belgium (2012); Bolivia (2010); Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010); Brazil (2011); Burkina Faso (2011); Cameroon (2012); Chile (2011); China (2012); Cuba (2012); Djibouti (2012); Egypt (2010); France (2011); Gabon (2011); Ghana (2011); Hungary (2012); India (2010); Indonesia (2010); Italy (2010); Japan (2011); Jordan (2012); Kyrgyzstan (2012); Madagascar (2010); Mauritius (2012); Mexico (2012); Netherlands (2010); Nicaragua (2010); Nigeria (2012); Norway (2012); Pakistan (2011); Philippines (2010); Qatar (2010); Republic of Korea (2011); Russian Federation (2012); Saudi Arabia (2012); Senegal (2012); Slovakia (2011); Slovenia (2010); South Africa (2010); Ukraine (2011); United Kingdom (2011); United States (2012); Uruguay (2012); and Zambia (2011).

The President of the Council is Alex Van Meeuwen (Belgium); Vice-Presidents are Dian Triansyah Djani (Indonesia), Pedro Oyarce (Chile) and Andrej Logar (Slovenia); and the Vice-President and Rapporteur is Hisham Badr (Egypt).


For use of the information media; not an official record


HRC10/052E