New York, 2 November 2011

Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and honour to come before you today to present the annual report of the Human Rights Council to the General Assembly. Allow me first to congratulate the President on his election and sincerely wish him a successful tenure.

Mr. President, distinguished delegates,

2011 marks the fifth year since the establishment of the Human Rights Council and in accordance with General Assembly resolution 60/251, the Council undertook a review process. Its outcome was adopted by the Council last March and by the General Assembly last June.

The review process in Geneva has proven to be a valuable opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the Council and its working methods. Even though the outcome document does not include specific language on how the Council will enhance its effectiveness in responding to urgent human rights situations, the review process has created a momentum for rising above group politics and responding to such situations on the ground in a timely and constructive manner. During the past year, the Council has held four special sessions in relation to the situations in Cote d’Ivoire, Libya and the Syrian Arab Republic (on two occasions) and established Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions in order to ascertain facts and to make recommendations in the face of serious human rights violations. Furthermore, at the last session, the Council held an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her reports on specific country situations, including Yemen and Belarus, on which the Council will follow up. We held interactive dialogues promoted by concerned States like Somalia, and adopted many technical cooperation resolutions at the request of concerned States, like Tunisia, Cambodia, Sudan and South Sudan.

The review has generated a number of follow-up tasks for the Council. In my capacity as President, I have established a Task Force mandated by the review outcome to consider improving secretariat services, accessibility for persons with disabilities to the work of the Council, and the use of information technology. The Task Force will report and present recommendations to the Council at the nineteenth session. I have also begun consultations on the first yearly high-level panel on human rights mainstreaming within the UN system to be held on 28 February 2012, during the March session. Heads of UN agencies, entities or funds will be invited as panellists and the UN Secretary General himself, for an opening statement. Under the broad focus of development and cooperation in the field of human rights, this panel will provide a good opportunity to assess the progress, achievements and challenges in mainstreaming human rights in the UN system in accordance with the mandate given to the Council by the General Assembly, as well as in promoting human rights mainstreaming at the national level.

Another achievement of the review process was the opening of new spaces for the participation in the Council of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) compliant with the Paris Principles, which are key actors for the improvement of the situation on the ground, especially - or including - through the role they may play in the follow-up to UPR and Special Procedures recommendations. From now on, their inputs to the UPR will be reflected in a separate part of the summary of stakeholders’ information and they will be able to take the floor right after the State under review at the adoption of the UPR in the Council plenary. They are also entitled to take the floor after the State concerned during the presentation of country mission reports by Special Procedures, and we have started implementing this last September. The review has also reinforced the quality of the selection process of Special Procedures mandate holders.

Mr. President, distinguished delegates,

The annual report of the Council and its addendum contain the resolutions and decisions adopted by the Council at its sixteenth and seventeenth regular sessions and at its fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth special sessions which took place under the presidency of my predecessor, Ambassador Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Permanent Representative of Thailand and those adopted at the seventeenth special session and the eighteenth regular session under my presidency, which I took over this year on June 20.

During its past three regular sessions, among other debates, the Council has held a total of 14 panel discussions, to share views of different actors such as UN human rights experts, civil society, academia, governments and representatives from international and regional organizations. The themes of panel discussions included inter alia the human rights of victims of terrorism; the issue of human rights in the context of action taken to address terrorist hostage-taking; the rights of children working or living on the street; violence against women; the right to adequate health of older persons; the role of international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the right of persons with disabilities, the role of languages and culture in the promotion and protection of the well-being and identity of indigenous peoples; best practices in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the human rights of people of African descent; the promotion of a culture of tolerance and peace based on respect for human rights and diversity of religions and beliefs, the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of peaceful protests and the realization of the right to development. Interestingly, the selected themes suggest the preoccupation of the Council in considering specific challenges and ways to address them, in promoting the rights of people belonging to various groups in society.

The Council has established new Special Procedures mandates, including both country and thematic mandates, bringing the total number of mandates to 44. The newly created mandates are the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Côte d’Ivoire, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees on non-recurrence.

The Council has also undertaken standard-setting activities through its working groups. The Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training and the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child providing for a communications procedure have been submitted to the General Assembly for adoption.

Mr. President, distinguished delegates,

I am pleased to report that on 17 October, the Working Group on the UPR concluded the last session of the first cycle. Although the first cycle will formally close with the adoption of the outcome documents of the last seventeen States at the forthcoming session of the Council in March 2012, it is important to recognize that the human rights situations in all 193 UN Member States have been considered by the Working Group and the Council, with most of the States under review represented by high level authorities. This is a milestone in the United Nations history.

The second cycle of the UPR starting on the 21st of May 2012 is key to the success of this mechanism. It will provide an opportunity for States and stakeholders to take stock of the developments since the previous review, examine the progress in the implementation of recommendations, and reassess the human rights situation in general. Moving from a four-year cycle to a four and a half year cycle, the Working Group will review fourteen countries per session, instead of sixteen and the time available for each review will be extended to three hours and a half. Some of these adjustments need a few additional human and financial resources in terms of conference services, especially for interpretation. Most importantly the UNGA should address the lack of funding that has affected this successful and valued mechanism since its establishment in 2008, by providing for the resources needed, especially regarding translation of documents.

Mr. President, Excellencies,

Before I conclude, I would like to touch briefly upon the significant challenges facing the Human Rights Council in terms of resources required for it to carry out its activities. As mentioned earlier, this past year has witnessed a renewed attention of the Council to address urgent human rights situations and emerging issues, leading to an increased number of resolutions and decisions adopted, and therefore significant financial implications. The total of new resource requirements emanating from HRC mandates in 2010 was just under $5 million, while this year the total has risen to more than $24 million. The main reason for this increase is the establishment of four Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions as well as the creation of new Special Procedures. These amounts have a direct impact on conference services, whose capacity in Geneva has already reached its limit. Consequently, an increasing number of reports are not being made available in all languages before their consideration.

As decided in its resolution on the review of the Human Rights Council, during this current session, the General Assembly will consider the issue of how to make additional resources available quickly, in response to new and time-sensitive mandates created by the Council at every session. I would like to seek cooperation and support from all Member States to address this issue, through the Fifth Committee, by positively considering options to be presented in the report of the Secretary-General to address the funding of unforeseen and extraordinary expenses arising from resolutions and decisions of the Council. To this end the Unexpected Emergency Expenditures mechanism may be adjusted to cover the funding of urgent mandates with significant financial implications, like Fact-Finding Missions and Commissions of Inquiry.

Mr. President,

Pursuant to the General Assembly resolution on the review of the Council, as a transitional measure, I will hold the Presidency until the end of 2012 and then have the honour to come back to this august Assembly next year to report on the Council’s activities during its future annual cycle under my Presidency. In concluding, I wish to assure you of my commitment to follow up on the review outcome and to ensure an effective and efficient functioning of the Council during my tenure as President.

I thank you for your attention and support.