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The Human Rights Council today concluded its third regular session, which was held from 29 November to 8 December. During the session, which started immediately following the conclusion of the second session, the Council heard an address delivered on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and heard the report of High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour. The Council also adopted six Resolutions and one Decision, as well as its Annual Report to the General Assembly. Interactive debates and dialogues were also held with the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide and the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon. Discussions took place on missions to the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and with the four facilitators from the Working Group on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 60/251 on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, the review of mechanisms, the complaint procedure, and the Expert advice body. The Council also debated methods of work and rules of procedure for the future work of the body. During the session, the President of the Council, Luis Alfonso de Alba, announced that the High-Level Fact-Finding Mission to Beit Hanoun would be led by Desmond Mpilo Tutu, former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Christine Chinkin of the United Kingdom was named as a member of the mission, and would accompany Archbishop Tutu. Ambassador de Alba also announced a request from Finland, on behalf of 29 countries, for the Council to hold a special session immediately after the conclusion of the third session on the situation of human rights in Darfur. In his message, the Secretary-General said that since their first session in June, the Human Rights Council had been very active – holding three special sessions as well as two regular ones. The Council had focused especially on the Arab-Israeli conflict, which indeed had escalated during these months in ways that caused deep concern to all. He hoped, however, that the Council took care to handle this issue in an impartial way, and did not allow it to monopolize attention at the expense of others where there were equally grave or even graver violations. There were surely other situations, besides the one in the Middle East, which merited scrutiny by a special session of this Council. The Secretary-General suggested that Darfur was a glaring case in point. Ms. Arbour offered an overview of the missions that she had undertaken since the second session of the Council as well as updates and thoughts on countries and themes that continued to engage her attention and work. Her missions had taken her to Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Germany and Canada. On Haiti, Ms. Arbour said the general human rights situation was a matter of serious concern with regard to all rights. The human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was grave and worsening, within a general climate of impunity. The High Commissioner also spoke about recent developments in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Darfur. The Council adopted six Resolutions and one Decision during the session, including on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Preparations for the Durban Review Conference; Global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive follow-up to the World Conference and the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; regional cooperation for the protection and promotion of human rights in the Asian and Pacific region; the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon; and implementation of General Assembly resolution 60/251. The fourth special session of the Council will be on Tuesday, 12 December 2006, when the Council will consider the situation in Darfur, Sudan. The fourth regular session will be held from 12 March to 5 April 2007. Children and armed conflict In a discussion on "other issues" related to the protection and promotion of human rights, the Council discussed the situation of children involved in armed conflict, amon g other issues. It was vital to protect children in all circumstances, and this was especially important during armed conflict where children often were victims of grave human rights violations, speakers said. Children were involved in armed conflicts in many parts of the world, including Sri Lanka. The situation of children under foreign occupation was also raised. The recent report by the Secretary-General on children in armed conflict was welcomed. Further information
pdf: http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/EBD46AEAE7294399C12572...