Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Background Information on the Reform of the
UN Commission on Human Rights, provided by
the Background Information on the Reform of
the UN Commission on Human Rights.
In his report "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and
Human Rights for All" (March 2005), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called
for efforts to build a more transparent, efficient and effective UN, better
capable of meeting the challenges of today’s world. According to Secretary-
General Annan, radical reforms of the UN are needed to ensure that the
organization is fit to advance the interrelated and mutually reinforcing aims
of security, development and human rights in years to come. He
asserted: “we must reshape the [UN] in ways not previously imagined and
with a boldness and speed not previously shown.”
The Secretary-General outlined a number of concrete measures for
reforming the UN system. Concluding that the work of the Commission on
Human Rights has increasingly been undermined by its declining credibility,
he proposed that it be replaced with a new Human Rights Council.
According to Secretary-General Annan:
If the United Nations is to meet the expectations of men and women
everywhere — and indeed, if the Organization is to take the cause of
human rights as seriously as those of security and development — then
Member States should agree to replace the Commission on Human Rights
with a smaller standing Human Rights Council. Member States would need
to decide if they want the Human Rights Council to be a principal organ of
the United Nations or a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, but in
either case its members would be elected directly by the General Assembly
by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. The creation of
the Council would accord human rights a more authoritative position,
corresponding to the primacy of human rights in the Charter of the United
Nations. Member States should determine the composition of the Council
and the term of office of its members. Those elected to the Council should
undertake to abide by the highest human rights standards. [p. 45-46]
In a separate explanatory note, the Secretary-General elaborated on his
proposal to establish a Human Rights Council. Among other things, he
explained that the Council should have a mandate to deal with imminent
human rights crises as well as to regularly evaluate the human rights
situation in all countries in a fair and transparent peer review process. He
also said that the new body should take into account the full spectrum of
human rights and that a forum for dialogue involving civil society should be
preserved.
The proposals made by the Secretary-General in his March report will be
considered at a UN summit in New York on 14-16 September 2005. During
the last few months, his proposals have been discussed by States in
informal sessions. In these discussions, it has become clear that there is
widespread support for a reform of the UN Commission on Human Rights
but that States have differing views as to the role, composition and
working methods of such a body. On the basis of preliminary deliberations,
the president of the UN General Assembly released on 3 June a first draft
outcome document for the September summit. This draft endorses the
establishment of a Human Rights Council as a subsidiary organ of the
General Assembly pending a possible decision to elevate it at a later stage
to a new Charter body. The draft contains the following text:
We therefore decide that:
- The membership of the Council shall be elected directly by the General
Assembly, by a two thirds majority on the basis of equitable geographical
representation, and be comparable in size to the CHR (Commission on
Human Rights);
- The Council shall discuss any matters or situations related to the
promotion and protection of human rights and make recommendations
thereupon to the Member States of the United Nations and provide policy
recommendations to the UN system through the General Assembly;
- The Council shall fulfil its responsibility on the basis of the principle that all
human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated,
and must be treated in a fair and equal manner;
- The Council shall have the ability to periodically review the fulfilment of all
human rights obligations of all Member States;
- The arrangements made by the Economic and Social Council for
consultations with non-governmental organizations under Article 71 of the
Charter shall apply to the Human Rights Council;
- The Human Rights Council shall preserve the strengths of the Commission
on Human Rights, including the system of Special Procedures.
We mandate the General Assembly to elaborate further in order to adopt
during the 6oth session the modalities, functions, procedures and working
methods as well as the composition of the proposed Human Rights Council.
[p. 19-20]
Discussions about various UN reforms, including the creation of a Human
Rights Council, continue on the basis of the draft outcome document. As of
21 June, the UN General Assembly began intensive consultations regarding
the reform proposals, which will continue until mid-July 2005. The coming
weeks are hence, a crucial time for civil society to seek to influence the
reform process and to encourage Member States to commit themselves to
a reform of the UN Commission on Human Rights that will render the body
a more effective and credible instrument for advancing the cause of human
rights worldwide.
Major UN reform documents:
In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for
All (March 2005)
http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/
Explanatory Note regarding Human Rights Council (April 2005)
http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/add1.htm
Address by Secretary-General to the Commission on Human Rights (April
2005)
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/docs/61chr/sgchr.doc
Draft Outcome Document for September Summit (June 2005):
http://www.un.org/ga/president/59/draft_outcome.htm
This note was prepared by the International Helsinki Federation for Human
Rights (IHF), June 2005