On July 18, the Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley gave the keynote address at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank, on the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council. The full speech and subsequent panel discussion can be found here . Ambassador Haley characterised the United States as a unique nation, with values of freedom and human dignity embedded in its very foundation. She …
Why the US left the UN Human Rights Council – and why it matters
The US’s announcement that it is leaving the UN Human Rights Council should not surprise anyone, since the Trump administration has long made clear its disdain for many parts of the United Nations. But the damage that the decision is likely to cause could nonetheless topple an increasingly wobbly house of cards. When the Human Rights Council was created in 2006, the US (then under the …
Rapport sur la 38ème session du Conseil des droits de l’Homme
Bref résumé: La 38ème session ordinaire du Conseil des droits de l’Homme ( CDH38 ) s’est déroulée du lundi 18 juin au vendredi 6 juillet 2018. Le 18 juin, Monsieur Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein a donné son discours introductif sur l’état global des droits de l’Homme, en tant que Haut-Commissaire de l’ONU. Son successeur sera désigné par le Secrétaire général de l’ONU Antonia Guterres au …
Time for a ‘Universal Magnitsky Act’?
In 2009, Russian tax accountant Sergei Magnitsky died in a Moscow prison after investigating a $230 million tax fraud involving Russian officials. A subsequent investigation into his case by the Kremlin’s own human rights commission, ordered and endorsed (in July 2011) by the-then Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, found that in order to silence Magnitsky, corrupt officials had accused him of …
Informe de la 38ª sesión del Consejo de Derechos Humanos
Resumen rápido: La 38ª sesión ordinaria del Consejo de Derechos Humanos (CDH38) se celebró del lunes 18 de junio al viernes 6 de julio de 2018. El 18 de junio, el Excmo. Sr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein presentó su última actualización oral como Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos sobre la situación mundial de los derechos humanos. Se espera que su sucesor sea nombrado por el …
Report on the 38th session of the Human Rights Council
Quick summary: The 38th regular session of the Human Rights Council ( HRC38) was held from Monday 18th June to Friday 6th July 2018. On 18th June, H.E. Mr Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, presented his last oral update as High Commissioner for Human Rights on the global human rights situation. His successor is expected to be selected by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres over …
Human rights treaty bodies in the field: The experience of the African regional system
In a 2017 post on this site, Christof Heyns and Willem Gravett proposed the idea of external sessions for the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies – they should meet at least once a year for part of the session outside Geneva, in order to ‘bring the system closer to the people’. This idea generated considerable interest, including in the recent report by the Geneva …
The UN Secretary-General’s human rights crisis can be solved
There is a crisis in the United Nations human-rights system. Secretary-General António Guterres can lead the way out of it. Indeed, the world continues to look to the UN secretary-general to stand up for the principles of the organisation. One of the highest responsibilities of the incumbent is to help steer a course toward realising UN goals in the areas …
It is time for the United Nations to recognise the human right to a healthy environment
Earlier this month, on World Environment Day, the Executive Director of UN Environment, Erik Solheim, and I jointly stated that the historic moment has arrived for the United Nations to recognise the human right to a healthy environment at the global level. The fundamental UN human rights treaties do not include this right because the modern environmental movement began in the late 1960s, …
La salida de EE.UU. del Consejo de Derechos Humanos: ¿Qué ha pasado realmente y qué viene a continuación?
El 19 de junio, la Embajadora de Estados Unidos para la ONU, Nikki Haley, acompañada por el Secretario de Estado, Mike Pompeo, anunció que Estados Unidos renunciaría a su condición de miembro del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de la ONU . Las noticias sacudieron al Consejo y, en general, a la ONU; muchas delegaciones, especialmente occidentales, quedaron conmocionadas por las noticias y sus implicaciones para el sistema internacional de derechos humanos. Sin embargo, ¿deberían éstas, o cualquiera, realmente …