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GENEVA (22 February 2019) - The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee today concluded its 22nd session, which was held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 18 to 22 February 2019.

At the opening of the session, Coly Seck, President of the Human Rights Council for 2019, addressed the members of Advisory Committee updating them on the work of the Council.  Thereafter, the 18-member Committee elected its bureau for the year, namely Ms. Elizabeth Salmón as Chair, Mr. Kaoru Obata, Mr. Lazhari Bouzid, Mr. Ion Diaconu, as Vice Chairs, and Mr. Jean Ziegler as Rapporteur.

During the weeklong session (18 to 22 February), the Committee discussed and took action on eight thematic issues.  The Committee also held separate meetings with the Bureau of the Human Rights Council, regional and political coordinators, and held a public meeting with non-governmental organizations. 

On the activities of vulture funds and their impact on human rights, the Committee adopted its draft final report ad referendum entrusting its Rapporteur, Jean Ziegler, with its finalization before it is submitted to the Human Rights Council at its 41st session in June 2019. 

On the negative impact of the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin on the enjoyment of human rights, the Committee requested the drafting group to finalize the report to the Human Rights Council in the light of its discussion.

On the negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights, the Committee requested the drafting group to finalize the report to the Human Rights Council in the light of its discussions.

On the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, the Committee adopted its draft final report ad referendum entrusting its Rapporteur, Mikhail Lebedev, with its finalization before it is submitted to the Human Rights Council at its 41st session in June 2019.

On national policies and human rights, the Committee invited its members to continue intersessional discussions, participate in, and contribute to regional consultations on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   The Committee also decided to continue the exchange of views with external experts and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on activities related to the preparation of the report.

On the global call for for concrete action for the total elimination of racism, the Committee decided to address a note verbale to Member States and other stakeholders, including international organizations, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations, in which it requests them to submit, by 30 April 2019, inputs on appropriate ways and means of assessing the situation regarding racial equality in the world.  It also requested the drafting group to submit a preliminary outline of the study, taking into account the above-mentioned inputs from stakeholders, to the Advisory Committee at its twenty-third session.

On the role of technical assistance and capacity-building in fostering mutually beneficial cooperation in promoting and protecting human rights, the Committee requestedthe Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide an overview of its technical assistance programmes, complete with an oral presentation, at the twenty-third session of the Advisory Committee. It also requested the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation to provide input on the role of technical assistance and capacity building in fostering mutually beneficial cooperation in promoting and protecting human rights.  Finally, the Committee requested the drafting group to submit a draft study to it at its twenty-third session, taking into account the replies received pursuant to the above-mentioned note verbale and the discussions held at the present session.

On the importance of a legally binding instrument on the right to development, the Committee established a drafting group composed of Lazhari Bouzid, Ludovic Hennebel, Xinsheng Liu, Ajai Malhotra, Ion Diaconu, Hananía de Varela, Elizabeth Salmón and Cheikh Tidiane Thiam.  It appointed  Mr. Hennebel as Chair and Mr. Malhotra as Rapporteur.

Documentation relating to the twenty-second session, including the agenda and draft programme of work, is available on the Advisory Committee’s webpage. The Committee took action on eight thematic issues.

The twenty- third session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 22 to 26 July 2019.

Background

The Advisory Committee is a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was established in 2008, pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, to provide studies and research-based advice, as requested by the Council, and meets twice annually. The Committee’s work is implementation-oriented and follows thematic issues linked to the mandate of the Council, namely, the promotion and protection of all human rights. It interacts with States, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations and other civil society bodies.

Membership

The membership of the Advisory Committee is as follows: Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alsheddi (Saudi Arabia, 2021); Mohamed Bennani (Morocco, 2020); Lazhari Bouzid (Algeria, 2019); Alessio Bruni (Italy, 2021); Ion Diaconu (Romania, 2020); Karla Hananía de Varela (El Salvador, 2019); Ludovic Hennebel (Belgium, 2020); Mikhail Lebedev (Russian Federation, 2019); José Augusto Lindgren Alves (Brazil, 2021); Xinsheng Liu (China), 2019); Ajai Malhotra (India, 2020); Kaoru Obata (Japan, 2019); Mona Omar (Egypt, 2019); Elizabeth Salmón (Peru, 2020); Dheerujlall Seetulsingh (Mauritius, 2020); Changrok Soh (Republic of Korea, 2020); Cheikh Tidiane Thiam (Senegal, 2021) ; and Jean Ziegler (Switzerland, 2019).

ENDS