At Friday's close of the Council's two-week session, members agreed on
positive steps to address five pressing human rights issues: the situation of
human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine; support for
the Abuja Agreement; avoiding incitement to hatred and violence for reasons of
religion or race; the human rights of migrants; and the role of human rights
defenders in promoting and protecting human rights.
On the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab
territories, the Council adopted a resolution requesting the relevant special
rapporteurs to report to the next session of the Council on the Israeli human
rights violations in occupied Palestine; and deciding to undertake substantive
consideration of the human rights violations and implications of the Israeli
occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories at its next session
and to incorporate this issue in its following sessions.
The Council was also requested by the 21 of its 47 members - more than the
one third required for action - to convene a special session on the situation of
human rights in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories. The President of
the Council, Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico, said he was holding
consultations to see when it could be scheduled as soon as possible. In light of
the fact that the four-week session of the Economic and Social Council was
beginning on 3 July, they were even considering holding the Special Session
during the lunch break. A decision would be announced by Monday, he said.
With regard to an incitement to racial and religious hatred and the promotion
of tolerance, the Council adopted a resolution deciding to request the Special
Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and the Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to report to
the next session on this phenomenon.
During the session, the Council adopted by consensus a landmark treaty to
prevent and prohibit enforced disappearances. The International Convention for
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances defines the practice
of enforced disappearances as a crime and as a crime against humanity when it is
widespread or systematic. The Convention, which focuses on preventive measures
as well as the rights of victims, is being forwarded to the General Assembly for
final adoption.
The Council also adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, which reaffirms the right of self-determination of indigenous peoples
and sets out other indigenous rights, including the right to protection against
actions taken without free, prior and informed consent; the right to traditional
lands and resources; and the right of indigenous peoples to establish and
control their own educational systems providing education in their own
languages. The Declaration will also be forwarded to the General Assembly's
September session.
Addressing the issue of torture, the Council called upon all States to ratify
the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel,
Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which entered into force during the
Council session, on 22 June. That optional pact establishes a mechanism for
in-country inspections of places of detention in order to prevent acts of
torture.
The Council replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights, which was widely
criticized, among other reasons, for having violators among its members. The
Council, which will scrutinize the human rights performance of all States
starting with its own members, decided to set up a Working Group that will
develop the procedures and timing of this "Universal Periodic Review" over the
coming months.
To ensure there is no gap in human rights protection during the transition
from the Commission, the Council extended all the independent fact-finding
mechanisms of that body for one year.
Despite the transitional nature of this first session and its time
constraints, civil society groups contributed throughout, including four
prominent human rights defenders who addressed the high-level segment, the
participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in interactive dialogues,
and the inclusion of NGO representatives in all informal consultations which
were held in parallel to the session. ______________________________________________________________________________
1 July 2006 –
Ushering in a new era in the way the international community responds to
rights abuses, the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council has
concluded its inaugural session with decisive action on both fundamental
protections and pressing concerns.