Reforming the UN Human Rights Council: a call for new leadership

by Peter Splinter, Human Rights Consultant and Former Representative of Amnesty International to the United Nations in Geneva Blog BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

The UN Human Rights Council falls seriously short in its mandate to ensure effective enjoyment by all of all human rights. It needs real reform—not another reform process. With the close of the UN Human Rights Council’s 36th session—the third consecutive session without  substantive engagement by the US—an air of unease continues to hang over the body. The US threat to withdraw from …

‘No fear, no hate, no wall, no ban:’ the world – and freedom of expression – at a critical juncture

by Dr Agnes Callamard, Director, Columbia Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University and Geneva Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Contemporary and emerging human rights issues BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, In Focus: Human rights and religion BORRAR, Istanbul process BORRAR, Religion, Resolution 16/18 BORRAR, Thematic human rights issues

In the aftermath of the so-called ‘Danish cartoons crisis’ in 2005, the political, policy and academic world was replete with debates over the benefits or risks of ‘blasphemy laws.’ The debates highlighted a profound gap between those who believed that mocking religion (the faith, the tenets, the sacraments, the symbols, etc.) should not be tolerated and those who argued that …

Sibling rivalry? Measuring and understanding the uneasy relationship between the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the GA

by the URG team Beyond the Council BORRAR, Beyond the Council BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, UNGA borrar

A comparative analysis of Council and Third Committee resolutions The relationship between the Third Committee of the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council sometimes appears not dissimilar to that of two brothers. Like brothers, for the most part, these two key UN human rights bodies get on well, with both understanding that they are part of the same family …

Collectively confronting our challenges through pragmatic action

by H.E. Ambassador Maza Martelli, 11th President of the Human Rights Council and Geneva Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, HRC BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

22nd February 2017, Geneva                                                                                                                 …

Afrontando colectivamente nuestros retos mediante una acción pragmática

by H.E. Ambassador Maza Martelli, 11th President of the Human Rights Council and Geneva Asuntos contemporáneos y emergentes BORRAR, Blog INVALID 7, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Instituciones, procesos y mecanismos de derechos humanos internacionales BORRAR

Visión del 11º Presidente del Consejo de Derechos Humanos S.E. Embajador Maza Martelli, acerca del trabajo y desafíos que enfrenta el Consejo en 2017 Ginebra, 22 de febrero de 2017                                                             …

Brexit, the US Presidential Election, and ‘Post-Truth’ politics at the UN: a common thread?

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group and the URG team Beyond the Council BORRAR, Beyond the Council BORRAR, Blog BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, UNGA borrar

Friday 18th November 2016, UN headquarters, New York On 15th November Oxford English Dictionaries declared ‘post-truth’ to be its international word of the year. Defined by the dictionary as an adjective ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief,’ Oxford Dictionaries said use of the …

UN takes important strides to build new human rights ‘Implementation Agenda’

by Marc Limon, Executive Director of the Universal Rights Group, Mariana Montoya, Universal Rights Group and the URG team Blog BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights implementation and impact, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR, Implementation BORRAR

As is well known, since 1948 the UN has debated and set a wide canopy of universal human rights norms. Through the Universal Declaration, the two Covenants, and various human rights conventions, optional protocols, guidelines, and resolutions, the international community has produced thousands of words across hundreds of documents, stipulating, in some detail, what States should do to better promote …

The Human Rights Council’s relationships with the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council

by Emmanuel Bichet, Stephanie Rutz and the URG team Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Policy reports

The Human Rights Council’s relationships with the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council

As the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (‘the Council’) celebrates it tenth anniversary in 2016, this policy paper aims to provide an overview of the institutional issues relating to its status as a subsidiary body within the UN system. In light of its subsidiary status, the paper explores the Council’s synergies and interactions with its parent body – the …

How the Global South shaped the international human rights system

by Steven L. B. Jensen, Researcher at the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the URG team Blog BORRAR, By invitation, By invitation BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

2016 is a landmark year for the UN human rights system. Looking back, the UN is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the two International Human Rights Covenants, and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Human Rights Council. Looking forward, the international community is beginning to wrestle with future challenges such as how to promote and protect the enjoyment …

Shifting gears? How Cuba-U.S. rapprochement is playing out at the Human Rights Council

by Ashley Miller, Ted Piccone and the URG team Blog BORRAR, Human Rights Council BORRAR, Human rights institutions and mechanisms, Reflections BORRAR

The long-overdue shift in U.S.-Cuba relations—formally initiated on December 17, 2014 2014, when both countries agreed at the highest political level to resume formal relations—advances their shared interests and over time may position them to work together toward a more cooperative future. So far, the two countries have made modest progress in advancing this new rapprochement: diplomatic relations were officially restored; bilateral …