Human Rights Council Adopts Seven Resolutions – Extends Mandates on Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Girls, and Belarus

The Human Rights Council this morning adopted seven resolutions, in which it, among other things, extended the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and of the Working Group on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls for a period of three years each. The Council extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus for a period of one year.

The Council also adopted resolutions on the situation of human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan; freedom of opinion and expression; the elimination of female genital mutilation; and the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic.

On the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Council decided to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association for a period of three years.

Concerning the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls, the Council decided to extend the mandate of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls for a period of three years, and requested the Group to continue considering an age dimension, and examine the specific forms of discrimination that girls faced across its work.

As for the situation of human rights in Belarus, the Council decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus for a period of one year, and requested the Special Rapporteur to continue to monitor developments and make recommendations.

On the situation of human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, the Council requested the High Commissioner to organise an enhanced interactive dialogue during its fifty-first session, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

With regard to the elimination of female genital mutilation, the Council urged States to adopt and enforce regional and national legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation. The High Commissioner was requested to prepare a report on human rights challenges and good practices, to address cross-border and transnational female genital mutilation.

On freedom of opinion and expression, the Council requested the High Commissioner to hold a panel discussion on the role of digital, media and information literacy in the promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, fully accessible to persons with disabilities, at its fifty-third session.

Concerning the situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, the Council condemned all acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed by all parties since the start of conflict in 2011. The Council requested that the Commission of Inquiry consider updating its report on sexual and gender-based violence, to take a victim- and survivor-centred approach.

The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fiftieth regular session can be found here.

The Council will next meet at 3 p.m. to take action on four remaining texts before concluding its regular fiftieth session.

Action on Resolution under Agenda Item One on Organizational and Procedural Matters

In a resolution on the Situation of human rights of women and girls in Afghanistan (A/HRC/L.62/Rev.1), adopted without a vote as orally revised, the Human Rights Council reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by all women, girls and children in Afghanistan, including the right to freedom of movement, the right to education, the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including their sexual and reproductive health, the right to work and the right of access to justice on an equal basis with others; and calls for measures to ensure that local women’s rights organizations and local organizations led by women can continue to carry out their work all over Afghanistan and support women and girls.

The Council calls for measures to ensure that victims of sexual and gender-based violence have access to justice and to an effective remedy and reparations, with a human rights and gender perspective; calls for the reinstatement of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission or the establishment of a similar independent institution in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and the reinstatement of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs; and requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organise an enhanced interactive dialogue during its fifty-first session, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, other relevant human rights mechanisms, United Nations bodies and agencies, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and non-governmental organizations, including Afghan women’s rights organizations in Afghanistan and the diaspora.

Action on Resolutions under Agenda Item Three on the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.11) on Freedom of opinion and expression, adopted without a vote, the Council calls upon all States to promote, protect, respect and ensure the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, and to take all measures necessary to put an end to and to prevent violations and abuses of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene at its fifty-third session a panel discussion, fully accessible to persons with disabilities, on the role of digital, media and information literacy in the promotion and enjoyment of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; and also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a summary report on the panel discussion and present it to the Council at its fifty-fourth session.

In a resolution /A/HRC/50/L.15/Rev.1) on the Elimination of female genital mutilation, adopted without a vote, the Council urges States to adopt and enforce regional and national legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation; calls upon States to take comprehensive, multisectoral and international and regional cooperation measures to prevent and eliminate cross-border and transnational female genital mutilation; and requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on human rights challenges and good practices in relation to international and regional cooperation and coordination efforts and the implementation of initiatives to address cross-border and transnational female genital mutilation, and to submit the report to the Council at its fifty-sixth session.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.20) on the Rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, adopted without a vote (as orally revised), the Council decides to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, as established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 15/21, for a period of three years; condemns unequivocally measures in violation of international human rights law that prevent or disrupt an individual’s ability to seek, receive or impart information online, including Internet shutdowns and online censorship; calls upon States to respect, fully protect and fulfil the rights of all individuals to assemble peacefully and associate freely, online and offline, including in the context of elections; and requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to report annually to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.22/Rev.1) on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and girls, adopted without a vote (as orally revised), the Council calls upon States to, inter alia, repeal all laws and policies that exclusively or disproportionately target or criminalise the actions or behaviour of women and girls, and laws and policies that discriminate against them; urges States to, inter alia, remove political, legal, social, practical, structural, cultural, economic, institutional, physical barriers or those derived from misuse of religion, that prevent the full, equal, effective and meaningful participation, in all fields, of women, and of girls in accordance with their age and maturity, including participation of women in leadership at all levels of decision-making in the public and private sectors, to actively promote diversity in leadership and a culture of inclusive and enabling leadership.

The Council urges States to respect, protect and fulfil the right to sexual and reproductive health, including for adolescent girls and young women, and to ensure timely access to maternal health services and emergency obstetric care, including treatment for pregnancy-related morbidities, respectful of individual privacy; decides to extend the mandate of the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls for a period of three years, on the same terms provided for by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 15/23 of 1 October 2010, and requests the Working Group to continue considering, and mainstreaming across all its work, an age dimension in the fulfilment of its mandate, and to examine the specific forms of discrimination that girls face; and invites the High Commissioner for Human Rights to inform the Human Rights Council periodically of progress made to implement the recommendations addressed to her Office in the report of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee entitled: “Current levels of representation of women in human rights organs and mechanisms: ensuring gender balance.”

Action on Resolutions under Agenda Item Four on Human Rights Situations that Require the Council’s Attention

In a resolution /A/HRC/50/L.5/Rev.1) on the Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic, adopted by a vote of 25 in favour, 6 against and 15 abstentions, the Council condemns in the strongest of terms all acts of sexual and gender-based violence committed by all parties since the start of conflict in 2011; calls upon all parties to the conflict to immediately cease the perpetration of sexual and gender-based violence; calls for the lifting of constraints on women in the Syrian Arab Republic in accessing economic resources and opportunities; and requests that the Commission of Inquiry consider updating its report on sexual and gender-based violence, taking a victim- and survivor-centred approach.

The results of the vote are as follows:

In favour (25): Argentina, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Honduras, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Against (6): Armenia, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Eritrea and Venezuela.

Abstentions (15): Brazil, Cameroun, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

In a resolution (A/HRC/50/L.18) on the Situation of human rights in Belarus, adopted by a vote of 23 in favour, 6 against and 18 abstentions, the Council strongly condemns reported arbitrary deprivation of life of persons in custody in breach of international human rights law; notes with deep concern the increasingly restrictive legal framework that further restricts the right to freedoms of opinion and expression and of peaceful assembly in violation of international human rights law or that leads to violations of other human rights; expresses deep concern at the use of the death penalty in a context where fair trial guarantees are not respected; decides to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus for a period of one year, and requests the Special Rapporteur to continue to monitor developments and to make recommendations, and to submit a report on the situation of human rights in Belarus to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-third session and to the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session.

The results of the vote are as follows:

In favour (23): Argentina, Benin, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Honduras, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Paraguay, Poland, Republic of Korea, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Against (6): Bolivia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Kazakhstan and Venezuela.

Abstentions (18): Armenia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.