NGO Participation in the Human Rights Council
Background Paper
On Wednesday, 15 March 2006, the General Assembly adopted
resolution A/RES/60/251 creating the new Human Rights Council. This establishment has led to the
closure of the Commission on Human Rights, a fact that has led to sentiments of
hope for an improved and more effective human rights system. However, an anxiety
has also developed regarding the numerous gaps in the structure of the new
body. With the new shift towards
the new Council on Human Rights, many questions have begun to circulate in the
NGO community regarding their participation in the new body. Does this shift
towards the Council on Human Rights pose a challenge or an opportunity for
NGOs? What should NGOs consider
during the interim between the Commission and the
Council?
NGO Participation in the HR Council at least at the same
level as in the Commission
As we look forward to the new Council, it is important to understand the
established provisions of the General Assembly Resolution creating the Council.
In addition to a clear mandate and intentions to address all human rights
situations, the resolution notes that the participation of and consultation with
observers such as non-governmental organizations shall be “based on arrangements
including the Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996 and
practices observed by the Commission on Human Rights.” In other
words, NGO participation should be, at the beginning of the Council, at least
the equivalent to participation at the end of the Commission.
In this light, NGOs should still hold their participation
rights from ECOSOC resolution 1996/31 including:
▪
Maintenance of ECOSOC accreditation process (List of NGOs
in consultative status will remain unchanged).
▪
Access to the provisional agenda.
▪
Right to attend public sessions of the Council
▪
Right to submit written statements to the Council (2000
words for General status, 1500 words
for Special status and NGOs on the Roster—under the current ruling)
▪
Right to oral statements under all agenda items.
Thus far, civil society organizations have been able to
participate in the Commission on Human Rights to a level that allowed them to
make very valuable contributions to the work of the Commission and for the
promotion of human rights. However,
it has been clear during the GA debate regarding the resolution to create the
Human Rights Council that there has been a great division between States as to
the importance of NGO participation in the future Council. Although it has been recognized by
various countries that the participation of NGOs has been of a particular
importance in the past and will continue to be in the future, many opposing
countries have reiterated their wish to streamline and rationalize NGO
participation. The question of the
efficacy of NGO participation has become a major concern for both State actors
and NGOs alike.
Opportunities for NGOs with the Human Rights Council
There are many new opportunities that exist with the introduction of the
new human rights body into the United Nations system, especially for NGOs. The creation of the new Human Rights
Council, in retaining the best elements of the Commission, has been described by
many as an historic moment. In setting up the body, it was ensured that it will
not be forced to begin all over again as the Council should maintain its Special
Procedures as well as its practices of NGO participation. Keeping this in mind, it is important to
observe that a certain flexibility has been awarded to the new body and it has a
great potential to go above and beyond the work of the Commission.
The Council, in principle, should be much stronger
instrument and more effective than the Commission for several reasons. First of all, the clear mandate should
prevent ambiguous or irrelevant subjects from removing the true focus of the
work of the Council. An additional
significant feature for the Council includes the fact that candidates for
membership would have to make commitments on human rights and those actually
elected will be the first under the scrutiny of a periodic review. A new universal peer review mechanism
should, in theory, place all States under the microscope in order to prevent
situations that will cause the work of the Council to be discredited.
Since it is up to the new Council members to decide a lot of the
specifics regarding the rules and procedures of the Council, this could allow
for a flexibility that could allow NGOs to expand their participation rights and
privileges in the new body. Two
principle ways that NGOs should attempt to expand their participation in the new
Council are regarding the interactive dialogue with the Special Procedures
mechanisms as well as involving themselves in the Universal Peer Review
mechanism. A chance for NGOs to participate during the Interactive Dialogue with
the Special Rapporteurs during the Council would be an excellent opportunity for
NGOs to present their arguments to the international community. In voicing their expertise not only to
the Special Rapporteurs when drafting the reports but also at the time of the
presentation of the report, important questions can continue to be raised and
made aware to the assembly.
Furthermore, NGO participation in the Universal Peer
Review mechanism would also be an excellent step forward for NGO
participation. Work at the local,
regional, and international levels has placed NGOs at a certain level of
expertise regarding their subject area.
In order to acquire the most out of their work with government actors, it
would be useful to hear NGO input on current situations in countries of their
concern. These two mechanisms, key features of the Council, hold much
significance for NGOs, as their work reaches the world community at the local,
regional, and national levels.
Lastly, the standing nature of the Council will give it
more clout to address urgent human rights situation. The fact that the Council
will be convened several times throughout the year gives room for a more
clustered and more focused approach for each of its meetings. This particular
yearly scheduling will challenge all NGOs, including Geneva based ones as well
as those at the regional or at the local level, the opportunity to collaborate
with the objective of having more collective contributions and joint inputs in
Council proceedings. Recent initiatives, such as NGOIC (www.ngoic.org),
would help in that direction.
Risks for NGOs with the Human Rights
Council
It has, however, been noted that the text creating the Human Rights
Council is not perfect and, consequently, a few problems and risks exist among
the benefits to the new organization that will need to be addressed sooner or
later. For instance, it will be up to the first Council members to adopt the
rules and procedures and to begin work on designing the universal review
procedure. Therefore, NGOs should be involved in all discussions related to the
rules and procedures and the working methods of the Council. In addition, should
there be a strong movement against the participation of NGOs by the new members,
this could be detrimental to all the work that has been done by NGOs over the
past fifty years to attain the level of involvement that they acquired. Among members of civil society there is
a slight anxiety that can found in the last part of operative paragraph 11 of
the GA Resolution 251 which creates the new Council. The sentence states that NGOs will be
allowed to participate in the Council “while ensuring the most effective
contribution of these entities.” The last part of this paragraph has lead to
much ambiguity among the NGO community as it could insinuate a reduction of NGO
voices in the future Council. However, NGOs should consider this aspect as
encouragement to organize themselves and their contribution to the Council on a
voluntary basis, as well as to join together for a more collaborative approach
in the new Human Rights Council.
Another dilemma which could be derived from the implementation of
operative paragraph 11 relates to the ECOSOC-based consultative status
transferred, together with the other arrangements and practices of the
Commission, to the Council by GA Resolution 60/251 as its normative basis for
NGO participation. The consultative status for accreditation to the Council will
remain the mechanism described by ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, as well as
provisions related to the suspension and the withdrawal of this consultative
status. Even with such clear ground in paragraph 11 of Resolution 60/251, the
risk stands that some States might argue that the GA or the Council should
themselves address questions related to the suspension of accreditation without
referring to the ECOSOC Sub-Committee in charge of it so far. However, it should
be considered on the NGO side that all provisions related to accreditation to
the Human Rights Council, as well as procedures for suspension or withdrawal
should be referred to the already existing procedures under ECOSOC Resolution
1996/31.
Conclusion
Considering both the positive and negative aspects of the new Human
Rights Council, it is important for NGOs to remain active and mobilized during
this transitional period between the Commission and Council. The most pressing factor in the balance
is the election of the members of the Council, as they will be the major
decision-makers for NGO participation in the new body. The new members will be determining the
rules and procedures used in the Council, more particularly how and when NGOs
will be participating. NGOs should
continue to stay active in the debate surrounding the Council, especially
regarding the rules and procedures that are yet to be determined. A few key
questions that should be raised among the NGO community include: What should the
general criteria be for members of the Council? Which guarantees are NGOs
looking for in candidates’ campaigns for membership?
The
most important thing that NGOs should bear in mind at this moment is that there
is an important need for them to preserve and improve their established
principles and participation rights. The
main concern of the NGOs and civil society community is to be guaranteed equal
voice and equal rights for all NGOs, with the view to assure their constructive
work within the Council. NGOs will have to continue to fight for human rights
and strive for the highest possible participation standard throughout this
transitional period. In order to
achieve this, NGOs should begin to look towards one another and see how they can
work together. If NGOs begin to
strategize and strengthen their input on a voluntary and collective basis, then
they will be more effectively contributing to the UN human rights
machinery.
