Human Rights Council
BACKGROUND RELEASE

7 September 2016

The Human Rights Council will hold its thirty-third regular session from 13 to 30 September 2016 in the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

The three-week session will include an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, as well as an enhanced interactive dialogue on Burundi.  It will also include a high-level panel discussion on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, a panel on violence against indigenous women and girls and another on youth and human rights.  The Council will also hold its annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective. 

Under its agenda item on technical assistance and capacity building, the session includes interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and with the Independent Experts on Sudan, Central African Republic and Somalia.  It will also hold interactive dialogues based on oral updates by the High Commissioner on the situation in Ukraine and in Libya, and based on a report by the High Commissioner on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

With regard to thematic issues, the Council will hold interactive dialogues with the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, the Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures, the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Independent Expert on the rights of older persons, the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation, the Working Group on enforced disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, the Special Rapporteur on hazardous wastes, the Special Rapporteur on indigenous peoples, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. 

General debates will be held on the oral update by the High Commissioner, the promotion and protection of all human rights, human rights situations that require the Council’s attention, human rights bodies and mechanisms, the Universal Periodic Review, the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, racism and racial discrimination, including follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and on technical assistance and capacity building.

During the second week, the Council will consider the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Greece, Sudan, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Antigua and Barbuda, Swaziland, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand and Ireland.

The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee during the second week.  Before it concludes the session, it will proceed with the election of members of the Advisory Committee.  The President of the Council will also appoint the following new independent expert mandate holders: Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Independent Expert on the protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and a member of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention from the group of East European States.  

Click here for the programme of work of the thirty-third session. Reports of the session can be found here, and other information can be found on the homepage of the Human Rights Council website.  All public Council meetings will be webcast live at UNTV at the following address: http://webtv.un.org.

Week One of the Session

The thirty-third session of the Human Rights Council will be opened by Ambassador Choi Kyong-lim of the Republic of Korea, President of the Council, on Tuesday, 13 September at 9 a.m.  The Council will then hear an oral update by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, on which a general debate will start the following morning.  Following the intervention by the High Commissioner, the Council will hold a clustered interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order and the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. 

On Tuesday afternoon, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Working Group on arbitrary detention.  On Wednesday, 14 September, after concluding its general debate, the Council will hold a clustered interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons and the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, followed by a high-level panel discussion on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. 

The next day, the Council will hold two clustered interactive dialogues: one with the Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; and the other one with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination and with the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. 

On Friday, 16 September, the Council will hold a general debate on the promotion and protection of all human rights, including on the report of the Working Group on the right to development on its seventeenth session and on thematic reports by the High Commissioner, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General.  At 5 p.m. that day, the Council will meet in private under its complaint procedure. 

Week Two of the Session

On Monday, 19 September, the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, followed by a general debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention. 

The next day will start with a half-day panel discussion on violence against indigenous women and girls, followed by a clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Expert Mechanism on the rights of indigenous peoples.  At 3 p.m., the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with its Advisory Committee, followed by a general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms, including on the report of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas on progress made in drafting the declaration. 

The rest of the second week will mostly be dedicated to the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.  On Wednesday, 21 September, the Council will consider the Universal Periodic Review outcomes of Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Greece, Sudan and Hungary.  On Thursday, it will consider the outcomes of Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Antigua and Barbuda, Swaziland and Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to holding, at noon, a panel discussion on youth and human rights.  On Friday morning, the Council will consider two additional Universal Periodic Review outcomes, namely Thailand and Ireland, followed by a general debate on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.  At 3 p.m., the Council will hold its general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.

Week Three of the Session

The last week of the thirty-third session will start with an annual discussion on the integration of a gender perspective, which will be followed by a general debate on the follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.  Then, at 3 p.m., the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, followed by a general debate on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. 

On Tuesday, 27 September, the Council will hold separate interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner on Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Libya, followed by an enhanced interactive dialogue on the situation in Burundi.  The next day, it will hold separate interactive dialogues with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia and the Independent Experts on the human rights situation in Sudan, the Central African Republic and Somalia, before starting a general debate on technical assistance and capacity building, including on the reports of the High Commissioner on Yemen and Cambodia, to be concluded the next morning. 

At noon on Thursday, 29 September, the Council will begin to take action on draft resolutions, which will last until the next day. 

Before concluding its session session, the Council will proceed with the election of members of the Advisory Committee.  The President of the Council will also appoint the following new independent expert mandate holders: Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Special Rapporteur on  torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Independent Expert on the protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and a member of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention from the group of East European States.  

The Human Rights Council

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States which are responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.  The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.

The composition of the Council at its thirty-second session is as follows:  Albania (2017); Algeria (2016); Bangladesh (2017); Belgium (2018); Bolivia (2017); Botswana (2017); Burundi (2018); China (2016); Congo (2017); Côte d’Ivoire (2018); Cuba (2016); Ecuador (2018); El Salvador (2017); Ethiopia (2018); France (2016); Georgia (2018); Germany (2018); Ghana (2017); India (2017); Indonesia (2017); Kenya (2018); Kyrgyzstan (2018); Latvia (2017); Maldives (2016); Mexico (2016); Mongolia (2018);  Morocco (2016); Namibia (2016); Netherlands (2017); Nigeria (2017); Panama (2018); Paraguay (2017); Philippines (2018); Portugal (2017); Qatar (2017); Republic of Korea (2018); Russian Federation (2016); Saudi Arabia (2016); Slovenia (2018); South Africa (2016); Switzerland (2018); the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2016); Togo (2018); United Arab Emirates (2018); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2016); Venezuela (2018); Viet Nam (2016).

The President of the Human Rights Council is Choi Kyong-lim, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who took up the post on 1 January 2016.  The Council’s four Vice Presidents are Ramón Alberto Morales Quijano of Panama, Janis Karklins of Latvia, Negash Kebret Botora of Ethiopia and Geert Muylle of Belgium.  Mr. Muylle is the Rapporteur of the Council. 


For further information and media requests, please contact Rolando Gomez (+ 41.22.917.9711 / rgomez@ohchr.org), or Cédric Sapey (+41.22.917.9751 / csapey@ohchr.org)

Follow the Human Rights Council online and on social media:

· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNHRC

· Twitter: https://twitter.com/UN_HRC (Use hashtag #HRC32 for this session)

· Website: http://www.ohchr.org/HRC

To receive a username and password to access the HRC Extranet, please fill out the following form: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/HRCRegistration.aspx.

__________

For use of the information media; not an official record

Follow UNIS Geneva on: Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube |Flickr