Inside Track: HRC50

by Geneva Uncategorized BORRAR

Inside Track: HRC50

Inside Track HRC50 looks ahead at the 50th regular session of the Council, which runs from 13th June to 8th July 2022. It aims to provide those interested in the Council’s work with an at-a-glance brief on what to expect from HRC50: the key issues, debates, and questions that are expected to keep delegates busy; the country situations that will require the Council’s attention; and the draft resolutions that will be negotiated and voted upon.

Inside Track is produced by the Universal Rights Group with the support of the Permanent Mission of Singapore. At HRC50, Inside Track will be published only in an electronic format.

Expected highlights at HRC50 include:

  • On 13th June, H.E. Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will open HRC50 with the presentation of her annual report on the human rights situation around the world, followed by an interactive dialogue on her report on the role of the State in responding to pandemics. The presentation of her annual report will provide the basis for an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on 14th and 15th June.
  • As per HRC/PRST/OS/13/1 there will be no general debates during HRC50. Therefore, the reports and oral updates of the High Commissioner and the Secretary- General as well as subsidiary bodies to be presented during HRC50 will be considered during the relevant general debates at HRC51, unless they are mandated to be considered during an interactive dialogue.
  • During the session, the Council will consider country-specific reports by the High Commissioner and the UN Secretary-General covering human rights issues in, inter alia: Iran (Islamic Republic of), Sudan, Ukraine (in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as in Mariupol), and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). Additionally, the High Commissioner will deliver oral updates on the situations in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Nicaragua. 
  • It will also consider High Commissioner and Secretary-General reports on a number of thematic issues, including inter alia:
    • Enhancement of technical cooperation and capacity-building in the field of human rights;
    • Enhancing the accessibility, dissemination and implementation of the Accountability and Remedy Project;
    • Human rights and HIV/AIDS;
    • Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the realization of the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl;
    • Impacts of climate change on the human rights of people in vulnerable situations;
    • Implementation and enhancement of international cooperation in the field of human rights;
    • Internet shutdowns: trends, causes, legal implications and impacts on a range of human rights;
    • Progress, gaps and challenges in addressing child, early and forced marriage, and measures to ensure accountability at the community and national levels, including for women and girls at risk of and those subjected to this harmful practice; and
    • Terrorism and human rights.
  • The Council will consider reports from, and hold interactive dialogues with, 23 Special Procedures (five country-specific and 18 thematic), including those dealing with: Belarus; Burundi; Central African Republic; Eritrea; Myanmar; climate change; discrimination against women; education; extreme poverty; freedom of expression; independence of judges and lawyers; internally displaced persons; international solidarity; migrants; peaceful assembly; persons with leprosy; racism; right to health; sexual orientation and gender identity; summary executions; trafficking; transnational corporations; and violence against women. In accordance with HRC/PRST/OS/13/1 all the Interactive Dialogues (IDs) will be individual.
  • In addition, the Council will also hold interactive dialogues with a number of investigative mechanisms, including the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia; the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel; the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic; and the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya.
  • The Council is expected to act on around 22 draft resolutions and other texts. The deadline for submitting draft resolutions has been set at 1 PM on 29th June 2022.
  • Additionally, it is expected to appoint eight new mandate-holders, including one member of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (member from Latin American and Caribbean States), Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, one member of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (member from Eastern European States), one member of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (member from African States), and one member of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (member from Western European and other States). More information on the appointment process and the candidates can be found here.

Find the English version of the Inside Track here.

The French version of the Inside Track will be made available here.