Human Rights Council Advisory Committee concludes its 24th session

GENEVA (21 February 2020) - The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee today concluded its 24^th session, which was held from 17 to 21 February 2020 in the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Chamber (Room XX) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Over the course of the one-week session, the 18-member Committee, serving as the Council's "think tank", addressed the issues of terrorism, national policies and the Sustainable Development Goals, racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, the right to development, new and emerging digital technologies and the representation of women in human rights.  

At the opening of the session, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, President of the Human Rights Council, welcomed the newly elected members of the body, Ms. Costas Trascasas from Spain, Mr. Kolesnikov from the Russian Federation, Ms. Nakai from Japan and Mr. Palummo from Uruguay, as well as the members re-elected for a second term, Mr. Bouzid, Mr. Liu and Ms. Omar.

Ambassador Tichy-Fisslberger highlighted the key role the Advisory Committee plays in bringing new and emerging topics to the attention of the Council such as modern digital technologies, which led to the adoption of HRC resolution 41/11 on possible impacts, opportunities and challenges of new and emerging digital technologies with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights. She encouraged the Members of the Committee to continue bringing issues that are not or cannot be discussed elsewhere to the attention of the Council.

The President also noted the work done by the Council on the question of women's representation in the Council and announced that she has appointed the Ambassador of Angola to act as a gender focal point in the Council. She noted that her role would be to act as a focal point for harassment, including sexual harassment, but also to look into measures to increase women's participation in the Council.

During the one-week session, the 18-member Committee took action on six thematic issues.

On national policies and human rights, the Committee adopted the draft final study ad referendum and entrusted the Rapporteur with its finalization, aiming at its presentation to the Human Rights Council at its 45^th session on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the 2030 Agenda.

On the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights, the Committee adopted the draft final report ad referendum and entrusted the Rapporteur with its finalization, with a view to presenting the report to the Human Rights Council at its 45^th session.

The Committee requested the drafting group to submit the study on the global call for concrete action for the total elimination of racism to its 25^th session, and decided to submit the final study to the Human Rights Council at its 47^th session, to be brought to the attention of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session.

On women representation in human rights organs and mechanisms, the Committee took note of the preliminary outline of the report submitted by the drafting group to the Advisory Committee at its present session and welcomed the input received from Member States and other stakeholders in response to the questionnaire circulated after its 23^rd session. It requested the drafting group to submit a draft report to the Advisory Committee at its 25^th session (August 2020), taking into account the input received and the discussions held at the current session.

On New and emerging digital technologies and human rights, the Committee took note of the draft preliminary outline of the report submitted by the drafting group to the Advisory Committee at its current session and welcomed the input received from Member States and other stakeholders in response to the note verbale and questionnaire circulated after its 23^rd session. It designated Mr. Soh, in his capacity as Rapporteur, to present an oral update on this issue at the panel discussion on the impacts, opportunities and challenges of new and emerging digital technologies with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights, to be held at the 44^th session of the Human Rights Council. Moreover, it requested the drafting group to submit the report to the Advisory Committee at its 25^th session, with a view to presenting it to the Human Rights Council at its 47^th session.

On the negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights, the Committee took note of the draft report and noted that the drafting group and the Advisory Committee held meetings to discuss the topic and the different views expressed thereon by Member States and other stakeholders. It then reaffirmed the highly complex character of the mandate, and that it required further thorough deliberations. Therefore, it requested the drafting group to continue its work with a view to finalizing in the intersessional period, the report on the negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for submission to the Human Rights Council at its 45^th session.

The 25^th session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from 17 to 21 August 2020.

Background

The Advisory Committee is a body of 18 independent experts serving as a think-tank to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC). 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 conforms to the following geographical distribution guidelines set out in its establishing resolution: five members each from African and Asian States; three each from Latin American and Caribbean States, and Western European and other States; and two members from Eastern European States.

Following is the list of members of the Advisory Committee and expiration dates for their respective terms of office:

Ibrahim Abdulaziz Alsheddi (Saudi Arabia, 2021); Mohamed Bennani (Morocco, 2020); Lazhari Bouzid (Algeria, 2022); Alessio Bruni (Italy, 2021); Milena Costas Trascasas (Spain, 2022); Ion Diaconu (Romania, 2020); Ludovic Hennebel (Belgium, 2020); Iurri Kolesnikov (Russian Federation, 2022); José Augusto Lindgren Alves (Brazil, 2021); Xinsheng Liu (China, 2022); Ajai Malhotra (India, 2020); Itsuko Nakai (Japan, 2022); Mona Omar (Egypt, 2022); Javier Palummo (Uruguay, 2022); Elisabeth S. Salmon (Peru, 2020); Dheerujlall Baramlall Seetulsingh (Mauritius, 2020); Changrok Soh (Republic of Korea, 2020); Cheikh Tidiane Thiam (Senegal, 2021).