This post is the third in a series of blogs produced by the URG-NYC team to take stock of the implementation of the UN reforms, which were adopted in the past 18 months. This post covers reforms to the peace and security pillar. Objectives All of the reforms are intended, to varying degrees, to modernise the UN, to streamline and …
In early May the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, undertook an important mission to Cameroon, a country beset by serious human rights challenges especially in the context of unrest and violence in the west and north of the country. That a High Commissioner would undertake an urgent visit to a country facing a situation of serious human …
Guiding States on how to prevent and respond to torturous forms of abuse of power or position is what the UN Convention against Torture is all about. Yet, despite torture being long condemned and the prohibition recognised as a jus cogens international norm, there continue to be grave abuses perpetrated in many countries and in all regions. In others, lack …
The following blog is based on a presentation given by Marc Limon, URG Executive Director, during the final panel discussion of the 9-10 April Council inter-sessional meeting, held at the Palais des Nations (UN) pursuant to Council resolution 38/18. The Human Rights Council (Council) this week convened a first inter-sessional seminar on how to operationalize its prevention mandate, as set forth …
On March 11th, at UN headquarters in New York City, High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet gave her first address to the Security Council in her capacity as High Commissioner for Human Rights. She spoke at an Arria-Formula meeting, on the topic of “human rights, accountability, and justice: contributions to international peace and security” (watch it here ). The High Commissioner briefed the Security …
After four years of discussions in and around the Human Rights Council about improving the body’s efficiency, discussions that have culminated, over the past ten months, in intensive Bureau-led negotiations to secure agreement on a meaningful (though still rather modest) set of reform measures; States are now entering the final stretch, with the contours of a deal clearly discernible in …
Newly appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, gave a statement at a High-Level Event during the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, marking the 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “A Prevention Tool to Achieve Peace and Sustainable Development.” She said: “Human rights are the interlocking elements that build resilient and confident societies – societies …
El 1 de mayo de este año, los diputados de los principales partidos políticos del Reino Unido acordaron en el Parlamento del Reino Unido apoyar la enmienda ‘Magnitsky’ al proyecto de ley de sanciones y prevención del lavado de dinero. La enmienda fue adoptada sin votación y fue descrita por el Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores, Boris Johnson, como “un momento …
On 1 May this year, MPs from across the major UK political parties, agreed in the UK Parliament to support a ‘Magnitsky’ amendment to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill. The amendment was adopted without a vote and was described by the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, as “an important moment” that would “allow the UK to act against those responsible …
As the Human Rights Council enters its teenage years, the Council’s ‘prevention mandate’—i.e., its responsibility to ‘contribute, through dialogue and cooperation, towards the prevention of human rights violations and [to] respond promptly to human rights emergencies’ [1] —has become one of the hot topics of discussion. Operationalising the prevention part of the Council’s mandate was the central theme of the last …
