Adopts Twenty-Eight Resolutions and Three Decisions, Names Experts on Cultural Rights and on Sudan, Extends Mandates of Special Procedures on Cambodia

The Human Rights Council today closed its twelfth regular session, adopting texts on a wide range of issues, including on discrimination against women, adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, human rights and unilateral coercive measures, the right to development, freedom of opinion and expression, protection of the human rights of civilians in armed conflict, access to safe drinking water and sanitation, human rights and international solidarity, the situation of human rights in Honduras since the coup d'état of 28 June 2009, and on Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar.
The Council appointed Farida Shaheed (Pakistan) as Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights; and Mohamed Chande Othman (Tanzania) as Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan. It named Barbara Lee as President of the Forum on Minority Issues for its second session that will take place on 12 and 13 November 2009. It extended for one year the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on Cambodia and of the Independent Expert on Somalia.

The Council also adopted texts on the open-ended Working Group on the review of the Human Rights Council and its functioning, cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, regional arrangements for the protection and promotion of human rights, independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the World Programme for Human Rights Education, the human rights of migrants, elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, follow-up to the seventh special session of the Human Rights Council on the negative impact of the worsening of the world food crisis on the realisation of the right to food for all, the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, access to medicine in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the protection of human rights in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), follow-up to the tenth Human Rights Council special session (resolution S-10/1) on the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the universal realisation and effective enjoyment of human rights, human rights and transitional justice, right to the truth, draft guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights, human rights and indigenous peoples, missing persons, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind in conformity with international human rights law, advisory services and technical assistance for Cambodia, and assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights.

During this session, the Council heard a number of high profile reports and held interactive dialogues with the Special Procedures presenting them, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, who presented her annual report; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, its causes and consequences; the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; the Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity; the Independent Expert on access to safe water and sanitation; the Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people; the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia

The Council also received an update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on salient human rights issues that remained of the utmost concern for the human rights community. The High Commissioner said there still existed huge gaps between lofty pledges and national realities in the human rights sphere. Indigenous peoples in many countries endured age-old discrimination and exclusion. The protection of minorities was a key concern around the world. Women's human rights also continued to be denied or curtailed in too many countries. Civilians continued to be targets of attacks motivated by ethnic or religious hatred, and by the ruthless pursuit of economic greed and political control. Another alarming global trend was attacks against peaceful opponents and critics of those at the helm of power, Ms. Pillay said. The Council also held a general debate on the update.

The Council held a general debate on a series of reports by the United Nations Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office, among which was a report by the Joint Inspection Unit concerning geographical representation among staff in the Office.

During the session, the Council held a number of general debates, including on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development; human rights situations that require the Council's attention; on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism; human rights bodies and mechanisms; on the human rights situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories, on human rights bodies and mechanisms, and on follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action; racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; and technical assistance and capacity building. The Council also heard presentations of reports by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Liberia and Burundi, and of a report by the United Nations Secretary-General on Cambodia.

The Council held a discussion on follow-up to its Special Sessions on the economic and financial crises and the food crisis, hearing presentations by Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Olivier de Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food. It also discussed the report of the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, holding an interactive dialogue with the Mission following the presentation of the Report of the Mission.

The Council also held panel discussions on the human rights of migrants in detention centres; and the integration of gender perspectives in the work of the Council.

The Council also adopted the outcome of the reports on the Universal Periodic Review on Central African Republic, Monaco, Belize, Congo, Malta, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Chile, Chad, Viet Nam, Uruguay, Yemen, Vanuatu, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Comoros and Slovakia.

The twelfth session, which was presided by Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen of Belgium, was held from 14 September to 2 October 2009.

The thirteenth regular session of the Council will be held from 1 to 29 March 2010.

Resolutions Adopted by the Council

Organisational and procedural matters

On the Open-ended Working Group on the review of the Human Rights Council and its functioning, the Council decided to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group with the mandate to review the work and functioning of the Council and requested the Secretary-General to present a report to the Council at its fifteenth session on how to improve conference and secretariat services for the Council.

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

On Cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights, the Council urged Governments to prevent and refrain from all acts of intimidation or reprisal against those who: seek to cooperate or have cooperated with the United Nations; submit or have submitted communications under procedures established by human rights instruments; and those who are relatives of victims of human rights violations or of those who have provided legal or other assistance to victims. The Council further condemned all acts of intimidation or reprisal by Governments and non-State actors against such individuals.

Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development

On regional arrangements for the protection and promotion of human rights, the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to hold a workshop on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights on a regular basis.

On discrimination against women, the Council called upon States to fulfil their international obligations and commitments to revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice, taking into account that those laws violate their human right to be protected against discrimination; and called on States to ensure full representation and full equal participation of women in political, social and economic decision-making as an essential condition for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as a critical factor in the eradication of poverty.

On the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights, the Council strongly condemned the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes, which had a negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights; and decided to hold a panel discussion on the matter at its thirteenth session.

On human rights and unilateral coercive measures, the Council called upon all States to stop adopting or implementing unilateral coercive measures not in accordance with international law, international humanitarian law, the Charter of the United Nations and the norms and principles governing peaceful relations among States; and condemned the continued unilateral application and enforcement by certain powers of such measures as tools of political or economic pressure against any country, particularly against developing countries, with a view to preventing these countries from exercising their right to decide, of their own free will, their own political, economic and social systems.

On the right to development the Council decided to continue to act to ensure that its agenda promotes and advances sustainable development and the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals and to lead to raising the right to development, as set out in paragraphs 5 and 10 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, to the same level and on a par with all other human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On independence and impartiality of the judiciary, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers to elaborate safeguards to ensure and strengthen the independence of lawyers; encouraged States to promote diversity in the composition of the members of the judiciary; and further called on all Governments to respect and uphold the independence of judges and lawyers.

On the World Programme for Human Rights Education, the Council decided to focus the second phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education on human rights education for higher education and on human rights training programmes for teachers and educators, civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel at all levels and encouraged States that had not yet taken steps to incorporate human rights education in the primary and secondary school system to do so.

On freedom of opinion and expression, the Council expressed its concern that incidents of racial and religious intolerance, discrimination and related violence, as well as of negative racial and religious stereotyping continue to rise around the world; and called on all parties to armed conflict to respect international humanitarian law.

On Protection of the human rights of civilians in armed conflict, the Council invited the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene a second expert consultation on the issue of protecting the human rights of civilians in armed conflict and requested the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report on the outcome of the consultation, in the form of a summary of discussions.

On human rights of migrants: migration and human rights of the child, the Council called upon States to promote and protect effectively the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, especially those of children; called upon States of origin to take appropriate measures to promote and protect effectively the rights of children who are left behind in their country of origin by migrating family members; and requested all States to take concrete measures to prevent the violation of the human rights of migrant children while in transit.

On elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members, the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect the views of relevant actors on the draft set of principles and guidelines, and to make those views available to the Advisory Committee and requested the Advisory Committee to finalize the draft set of principles and guidelines taking into full consideration the views of relevant actors

On human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation, the Council called upon States, among other things: to create an enabling environment to address the issue of lack of sanitation at all levels; to collect, at the appropriate level, current, accurate and detailed information about sanitation coverage in the country; to develop, where appropriate, national and/or local plans of action, in order to address the lack of access to sanitation in a comprehensive way, giving due consideration to wastewater management, including treatment and reuse.

On human rights and international solidarity, the Council called upon the international community to promote international solidarity and cooperation as an important tool to help to overcome the negative effects of the current economic, financial and climate crisis, particularly in developing countries.

On follow-up to the seventh special session of the Human Rights Council on the negative impact of the worsening of the world food crisis on the realisation of the right to food for all, the Council called upon States, individually and through international cooperation and assistance, relevant multilateral institutions and other relevant stakeholders, to take all necessary measures to ensure the realization of the right to food as an essential human rights objective, and to consider reviewing any policy or measure that could have a negative impact on the realization of the right to food.

On the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, the Council requested the Office of the High Commissioner to allocate sufficient budgetary resources for the implementation of the activities envisaged in resolution 11/5, including the organization and holding of regional stakeholder consultations on the draft general guidelines on foreign debt and human rights during the present term of the mandate holder.

On access to medicine in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the Council called upon States, at the international level, to take steps, individually and/or through international cooperation, in accordance with applicable international law, including international agreements, to ensure that their actions as members of international organizations take into due account the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and that the application of international agreements is supportive of public health policies that promote broad access to safe, effective and affordable medicines.

On the protection of human rights in the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the Council invited States, United Nations organs, programmes and specialized agencies and international and non-governmental organizations to assist developing countries, in particular least developed countries and those in Africa, in their efforts to prevent the spread of the epidemic and alleviate and control the detrimental impact of HIV/AIDS on the human rights of their populations; and requested States to further develop and, where necessary, establish coordinated, participatory, gender-sensitive, transparent and accountable national policies and programmes for the HIV response.

On follow-up to the 10th Human Rights Council special session (resolution S-10/1) on the impact of the global economic and financial crises on the universal realisation and effective enjoyment of human rights, the Council decided to hold a panel discussion during the high-level segment of its thirteenth session, to discuss and evaluate the impact of the financial and economic crises to the realization of all human rights worldwide, with a view to contribute to the work of the Open-ended Working Group of the General Assembly to follow up on the issues contained in the outcome document of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development.

On human rights and transitional justice, the Council called upon the international community and regional organizations to assist countries, who so consent, in the context of transitional justice, to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights and to incorporate best practices into the development and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms.

On the right to the truth, the Council invited the Office of the High Commissioner to convene, within existing resources, a seminar, taking into account different experiences on the importance of the creation, organization and management of public systems of archives as a means to guarantee the right to the truth, with a view to study the need for guidelines on this issue.

On draft guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights, the Council invited the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty to submit a progress report presenting her recommendations on how to improve the draft guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights to the Council no later than its fifteenth session, to allow the Council to take a decision on the way forward with a view to a possible adoption of guiding principles on the rights of persons living in extreme poverty by 2012.

On human rights and indigenous peoples, the Council requested the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people to report on the implementation of his mandate to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session; also requests the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in accordance with its mandate, to carry out a study on indigenous peoples and the right to participate in decision-making.

Human rights situations that require the Council's attention

On the situation of human rights in Honduras since the coup d'état of 28 June 2009, the Council strongly condemned the human rights violations occurring as a consequence of the coup d'état of 28 June 2009, and in particular following the return of President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales on 21 September 2009; and called for the immediate end to all human rights violations in Honduras and for the unconditional respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the restoration of democracy and the rule of law.

On Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Myanmar, the Council expressed grave concern at the recent conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for her immediate and unconditional release; and called upon the Government of Myanmar: to release all political prisoners, immediately and unconditionally, enabling them to participate fully in the 2010 elections.

Human rights bodies and mechanisms

On missing persons, the Council took note of recommendation 3/2 of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee on the progress of its work with regard to the study on the best practices in the matter of missing persons.

On the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, the Council welcomed the various initiatives aiming at furthering the discussions on the draft United Nations declaration on human rights education and training

Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

On promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms through a better understanding of traditional values of humankind in conformity with international human rights law, the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene, in 2010, a workshop for an exchange of views on how a better understanding of traditional values of humankind underpinning international human rights norms and standards can contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Technical assistance and capacity-building

On advisory services and technical assistance for Cambodia, the Council invited the Secretary-General, agencies of the United Nations system present in Cambodia and the international community to make further efforts with the Government of Cambodia in improving democracy as well as ensuring the protection and promotion of the human rights of all people in Cambodia; and decided to extend by one year the mandate of the special procedure on the situation of human rights in Cambodia.

On assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights, the Council urged all parties to refrain from all forms of violence against the civilian population and to actively prevent abuses of human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to social groups and minorities living in Somalia; and decided to renew the mandate of the independent expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia for a period of one year, with a view to maximizing the provision and flow of technical assistance to Somalia in the field of human rights, in order to support the Transitional Federal Government and regional authorities to ensure the respect of human rights.