Old and new challenges for the Human Rights Council as it approaches its 20th anniversary

“Human rights are founded in times like these,” said Awa Dabo, the newly appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, “when human rights are under pressure, when people need protection and principles must be translated into action.”

Created to replace the UN Human Rights Commission, the 47 Member States of the new Council were urged to avoid “political gains or petty maneuvering” – words spoken by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 19 June 2006.

Now, in its 62nd session in Geneva, the Security Council is even busier in pushing for accountability in the many new emergencies and unresolved crises.

But, does it meet expectations? And has it adapted to a world where “human rights are under attack [and] openly violated?”, as UN Secretary General António Guterres underlined in a special event on Friday marking two decades of the Council.

‘It’s not easy’

“Building a Board is not an easy task,” recalled Luis Alfonso de Alba Góngora, its first president.

“Member states have very different views on what needs to change and what needs to be retained from the old Commission [on Human Rights].

This is not easy because the international context situation is also not good; there are countries that are against creationism Human Rights Council and does not support the development of this new institution. There is a conflict in Gaza, like now, a conflict in Lebanon…It’s not easy.”

Every voice counts

As with other UN bodies, one of the aims of the Council was to involve as many participants as possible in its discussions, from governmental to non-governmental speakers and from independent investigators to civil society activists.

This level of participation “ensuring that Indigenous Peoples are represented” among others whose voices are difficult to hear, explained Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“I have attended many interactive panels that not only involve children and youth, but also involve survivors and victims. This is a model of participation that the UN needs to maintain and develop further.”

Council observers will often hear the president, who is appointed on a rotating basis from regional blocs for a year, gently and frequently remind delegates that they must respect each other.

The statement reminds us of the deadly reprisals many human rights activists face today and the important role the forum plays in conveying their concerns.

Special investigator

Another important feature of the Council are human rights investigators who are mandated to monitor situations of concern and report back to raise awareness and encourage action.

There are around 50 Special Rapporteurs who are “on the front lines for unheard voices”, said Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to education. “We also speak when others are silent, and sometimes people don’t like what we say. We bring up things that aren’t always talked about.”

Considered approach

This council has a higher status than its predecessor as a supporting body to the UN General Assembly. These meetings are held in three regular sessions a year and each time they are held, there are usually two dozen or more resolution to consider everything from advancing human rights in specific countries of concern such as South Sudan freedom of religion or belief and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable living environment.

Most of these texts detail what measures the Council is expected to adopt without a vote at the end of each session. Some undergo revisions before approval while others may be withdrawn from the final list. Sometimes this occurs after hushed informal negotiations near the UN coffee machine as caffeine-deprived delegates dash out of the more plush, carpeted confines of Geneva’s iconic Room XX, which houses the Council.

When agreement on an issue cannot be reached, as in Ukrainea vote is taken and the resolution is adopted or not. And although the UNSC continues to face accusations of anti-Israel bias – a state that remains on the Council’s agenda 20 years on – defenders of the forum point to the human rights peer review of each UN Member State, which is conducted every four and a half years.

Funding crisis

Although human rights are one of the three pillars of the UN along with peace, security and development, the current funding crisis occurring across the UN poses a real challenge to the work of the Council.

Delegates have less time to speak and translation has to be reduced.

Echoing concerns about the dire financial situation expressed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, independent experts have also frequently highlighted how a lack of funding has forced them to rationalize their workload.

Heady days

Despite the challenges the Council faced, senior communications officer Rolando Gomez recalled the excitement of the first session in 2006.

“As part of the small media team supporting the launch, there is a real sense that we are witnessing the beginning of something new, a new commitment from the international community to strengthen the UN’s work on human rights and make these issues more prominent on the global agenda.

“Although the forum has faced many challenges and controversies, it has become an indispensable forum for dialogue, accountability and action on human rights issues around the world.he said.

“What struck me most was its ability to provide a unique platform for voices often unheard elsewhere – victims, human rights defenders, independent experts and civil society representatives whose testimony brought the reality of human rights into sharp focus.”

Also taking part in the Council at the start was veteran political adviser Bob Last of the British Mission “On the first day there was a mixture of excitement and hope. Excitement because we were starting something big and with the opportunity to build a new institution, something that many of us who worked at the UN had not been able to do.

“And hope because this is an opportunity to correct the failures of the Human Rights Commission. There were and still are differences of opinion regarding what those failures were. But on that first day, [former UN Secretary-General] Kofi Annan has been very clear about what he sees as the Commission’s failures, why he is calling for its replacement, and his hopes for the Council.”

Watch UN Secretary-General Annan’s historic speech at the Council’s inaugural meeting in 2006: