Report of the 34th Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression 

by the URG team Accountability, Blog, Blog, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Special session, Uncategorized

On Thursday 12 May 2022, the Human Rights Council convened a Special Session to address ‘the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression’. The Special Session was requested via an official letter dated 9 May and signed by H.E. Yevheniia Filipenko, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations in Geneva. This letter, addressed to H.E. …

Council President speaks of centrality of human rights to the  multilateral system, including to peace and security, and sustainable development

by Abigail WEISS, URG Fellow Blog, Blog, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Membership, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, SDGs

On April 21, 2022, Ambassador Federico Villegas of Argentina, the President of the Human Rights Council, gave a lecture at the New School in downtown New York, on the place of human rights in the UN system. Although he touched on a variety of themes, a key point was that human rights is integral to – and should be better …

Report on the 49th session of the Human Rights Council

by the URG team Blog, Blog, Democracy, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, Membership, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Resolution 16/18, Thematic human rights issues

Quick summary  The 49th regular session of the Human Rights Council ( HRC49 ) was held from Monday 28 February to Friday 1 April 2022. As the main annual session of the Council, HRC49 began with a High-Level Segment (HLS). The 2022 HLS included speeches by more than 120 world leaders, including six Heads or Deputy Heads of State, five Heads …

Report of the Council’s urgent debate on the situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression during HRC49

by the URG team Accountability, Blog, Blog, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice

On 3 and 4 March 2022, in the context of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council, which opened on Monday 28 February, an urgent debate was convened on the ‘situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression’. The urgent debate was requested through an official letter from H. E. Ms Yevheniia Filipenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine, addressed to the President …

Climate change, a threat to international peace and security?

by Joseph Burke, Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Climate change, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Thematic human rights issues

On 13 December 2021, the UN Security Council (UNSC) once again missed the opportunity to assert its leadership in the field of climate security and anchor its ability to more effectively and comprehensively address the global threat posed by climate change. After months of tense negotiations, a draft resolution (first circulated on 23 September by Ireland and Niger), which would have defined …

Making it real: Why members of the Human Rights Council should make use of their power to conduct ‘good offices’ missions

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, HRC, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice

From 23-25 October, members of the Security Council carried out country missions to Mali and Niger, under the auspices of the Kenyan presidency of the body. In Mali, they met with members of the Transitional Government, including the Transitional President and Prime Minister, signatory armed groups, representatives of civil society, the Special Representative of the Secretary‑General for Mali, and representatives …

What we talk about when we talk about accountability

by Louis Mason, Universal Rights Group and Anna-Christina Schmidl, Universal Rights Group Geneva Accountability, Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, International human rights institutions, mechanisms and processes, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice

On 27 May 2010, addressing the Rome Statute Review Conference of the International Criminal Court in Kampala, Uganda, then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon heralded the ‘birth of a new Age of Accountability.’ More than a decade on, in the face of devastating conflicts and a global pandemic that has reinforced structural inequalities and led to a deterioration in the state of human …

Sisyphean endeavours and unfinished business: UN Secretary-General Guterres lays out his vision for a second term, including a conference on human rights and renewed focus on prevention

by Danica Damplo, Universal Rights Group NYC Blog, Blog, Climate change, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Thematic human rights issues, UNGA, Universal Rights Group NYC

On 8 January 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres notified the General Assembly (GA) President Volkan Bozkir and Security Council President for January Tarek Ladeb of his intentions to run for re-election. On 23 March, Guterres sent his Vision Statement to Bozkir, and on 7 May, engaged in an informal dialogue with the GA. Given that Guterres will likely succeed in securing a second term, his …

Western States flex their ‘Magnitsky muscles’ to secure accountability for human rights abuses in China

by the URG team Accountability, Blog, Blog, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues, HRC, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Magnitsky, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice

With the return of the US to the UN stage, geopolitical tensions surrounding human rights, especially relating to alleged violations of human rights law by China, Egypt, Russia and Saudi Arabia, have resurfaced, dominating , for example, the recently concluded 46th session of the Human Rights Council . Central to the renewed tensions with China is deep US concern about the treatment of the country’s Muslim minority population …

Coup d’état in Myanmar underlines critical importance of the Secretary-General’s prevention agenda – and the continued failure of the UN to deliver on it

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group Blog, Blog, Democracy, Human Rights Council, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, In focus: democracy, Prevention, Prevention, accountability and justice, Thematic human rights issues

The devastating news that Myanmar’s military has again seized power through a coup d’état, after detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of her governing party, represents the culmination of a five-year cycle of failure on the part of the UN – a failure to put human rights ‘up front’ in its dealings with governments, and …