HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE CONCLUDES SEVENTEENTH SESSION

The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee today concluded its seventeenth session, which was held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 8 to 12 August 2016.

At the closing meeting, the Advisory Committee, a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council, took action on the four thematic issues that it had been considering: unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents; the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy; the negative impact of the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin on the enjoyment of human rights; and regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights.

On unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Human Rights Council take note of the progress report submitted by the Advisory Committee to the Council for consideration at its thirty-third session, and request the drafting group to submit its draft final report to the Advisory Committee at its eighteenth session, with a view to submitting the final report to the Council at its thirty-sixth session.

Concerning the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Human Rights Council take note of the progress report on the implementation of the principles and guidelines for the elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, and request the drafting group to submit its draft final report to the Advisory Committee at its eighteenth session, with a view to submitting the final report to the Council at its thirty-fifth session.

With regard to the negative impact of the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin on the enjoyment of human rights, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Human Rights Council designate members of the drafting group and request the drafting group to submit a draft progress report to the Advisory Committee at its eighteenth session, with a view to submitting the progress report to the Council at its thirty-sixth session.

On regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights, the Advisory Committee recommended that the Human Rights Council designate members of the drafting group and request the drafting group to submit a preliminary report to the Advisory Committee at its eighteenth session, with a view to submitting a final report to the Council at its thirty-ninth session.

The Advisory Committee also adopted its session report ad referendum.

In an address to the Advisory Committee at the beginning of the session, Janis Karklins, Vice President of the Human Rights Council, expressed his sincere appreciation for the work of the Committee, adding that the Committee’s expertise on a broad range of human rights issues, its efforts to draw the attention of the Council to pressing and emerging issues and obtain additional mandates thereon, and its determination to collect information from a wide range of stakeholders were very much valued.

Documentation relating to the seventeenth session can be found on the Advisory Committee’s webpage.

The eighteenth session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 20 to 24 February 2017.

Background

The Advisory Committee is a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was established in 2008, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, to provide studies and research-based advice, as requested by the Council, and meets twice annually. The Committee’s work is implementation-oriented and follows thematic issues linked to the mandate of the Council, namely, the promotion and protection of all human rights. It interacts with States, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other civil society bodies.

Membership

The membership of the Advisory Committee conforms to the following geographical distribution guidelines set out in its establishing resolution: five members each from African and Asian States; three each from Latin American and Caribbean States, and Western European and other States; and two members from Eastern European States.

Following is the list of members of the Advisory Committee and expiration dates for their respective terms of office:

Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Alsheddi (Saudi Arabia, 2018); Mohamed Bennani (Morocco, 2017); Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (France, 2017); Mario Luis Coriolano (Argentina, 2018); Laura Craciunean (Romania, 2017); Hoda Elsadda (Egypt, 2016); Karla Hananía de Varela (El Salvador 2016); Mikhail Lebedev (Russian Federation, 2016); Alfred Ntunduguru Karokora (Uganda, 2016); Kaoru Obata (Japan, 2016); Obiora Chinedu Okafor (Nigeria, 2017); Katharina Pabel (Austria, 2018); Anantonia Reyes Prado (Guatemala, 2017); Changrok Soh (Republic of Korea, 2017); Ahmer Bilal Soofi (Pakistan, 2017); Imeru Tamrat Yigezu (Ethiopia, 2018); Yishan Zhang (China, 2016) and Jean Ziegler (Switzerland, 2016).



For use of the information media; not an official record

AC16/004E