Inside Track: HRC48

by Geneva Human rights institutions and mechanisms BORRAR

Inside Track: HRC48

Inside Track HRC48 looks ahead at the 48th regular session of the Council, which runs from 13 September to 8 October 2021. It aims to provide those interested in the Council’s work with an at-a-glance brief on what to expect from HRC48: the key issues, debates, and questions that are expected to keep delegates busy; the country situations that will require the Council’s attention; and the draft resolutions that will be negotiated and voted upon.

Inside Track is produced by the Universal Rights Group with the support of the Permanent Mission of Singapore. At HRC48, Inside Track will be published only in an electronic format due to the precautionary measures being taken to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Expected highlights at HRC48 include:

  • On 13th September, H.E. Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will open HRC48 with an oral update on her annual report on the human rights situation around the world. This oral update together with other country specific oral updates given by the High Commissioner will provide the basis for the general debate under Item 2 on 14th and 15th September.
  • During the session, the Council will consider country-specific reports by the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General covering human rights issues in, inter alia: Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Myanmar, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), and Yemen. Additionally, the High Commissioner will deliver oral updates on the situations in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, the Tigray region of Ethiopia, and Ukraine, and a written update on Myanmar.
  • It will also consider High Commissioner and Secretary General reports on a number of thematic issues, including inter alia:
    • Conscientious objection to military service;
    • Contribution of the special procedures in assisting States and other stakeholders in the prevention of human rights violations and abuses;
    • Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights;
    • Current state of play of the mainstreaming of the human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations in the work of the Council;
    • Effects of artificial intelligence on the enjoyment of the right to privacy;
    • Rights of indigenous peoples;
    • Right to development.
  • The Council will consider reports from, and hold interactive dialogues with, 18 Special Procedures (four country-specific and 14 thematic), including those dealing with: arbitrary detention; enforced disappearances; hazardous substances and wastes; Indigenous Peoples; international order; mercenaries; older persons; People of African Descent; racism; right to development; slavery; truth, justice and reparation; unilateral coercive measures; water and sanitation; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Myanmar; and Somalia. In accordance with HRC/PRST/OS/13/1 all the Interactive Dialogues (IDs) will be individual.
  • As per HRC/PRST/OS/13/1 there were no general debates during HRC47. Therefore, the reports and oral updates of the High Commissioner and the Secretary- General as well as subsidiary bodies that were presented during HRC47 will be considered during the relevant general debates at this session, unless they were mandated to be considered during an interactive dialogue, which already took place.
  • On 22 September the Council will receive for the first time a briefing by the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission on the Commission’s work. This briefing was mandated by Council resolution 45/31 on ‘the contribution of the Human Rights Council to the prevention of human rights violations’.
  • The Council is expected to act on around 28 draft resolutions and other texts. The deadline for submitting draft resolutions has been set at 1 PM on 29th September 2021. Additionally, it is expected to appoint three new mandate-holders, including the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, one member of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent (member from Latin American and Caribbean States), and one member of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (member from Latin American and Caribbean States). More information on the appointment process and the candidates can be found here.

Find the English version of the Inside Track here.

The French version of the Inside Track is available here.