Opening Remarks by H.E. Joachim Rücker, President of the Human Rights Council to the Opening of the fourteenth session of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee

23 February 2015

Chairperson,

Mr. Eric Tistounet, Officer-in-Charge of the Human Rights Council Mechanisms Division at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,

Distinguished Members of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I address you for the first time in my capacity as President of the Human Rights Council at the opening of the fourteenth session of the Advisory Committee.

While steering the Council through this important year, I will be guided by a number of key principles. I am committed to enhancing the credibility, functionality and effectiveness of the Council as a whole; strengthening the spirit of constructive dialogue; ensuring respect for the views of all relevant stakeholders; engaging with civil society organizations; and above all, achieving what matters most to the victims of human rights abuses around the world: real impact.

In fulfilling the Councils mandate, expertise and dedication to human rights are important as we move forward with our work. At this occasion, I would like to congratulate the new members of your Committee, Mr. Mohamed Bennani, Ms. Laura-Maria Crăciunean, and Mr. Changrok Soh on their election at the last session of the Council in September. I would also like to congratulate Ms. Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Mr. Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Ms. Anantonia Reyes Prado, and Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi on their re-election. It is an honour to have you with us here today.

Distinguished Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me start with an overview of the issues that the Council has considered since you last met in August and which are of relevance to the work of this Committee.

Last September, the Council held its third interactive dialogue with the Committee on the occasion of the presentation of the Committee’s annual report. Mr. Coriolano, the outgoing Chair of your Committee, also presented the progress reports on three of the topics that you will continue discussing this week. These reports highlighted the need for a human rights-based approach to humanitarian activities in post-disaster and post-conflict situations, the use of sport as a tool for promoting human rights and combating racism and discrimination, and the important role to be played by local government in the promotion and protection of human rights.

I am pleased to state here that the Council followed your Committee’s recommendation and extended the mandates for the Committee to prepare final reports in the latter two areas. The Council also responded positively to one of your research proposals submitted last September and adopted the resolution mandating your Committee to prepare a study on the activities of vulture funds and their impact on human rights.

Distinguished Members,

In line with its established practice, the Council held interactive dialogues with its Special Procedures on a number of thematic issues, some of which are of interest to the work of your Committee.

For instance, the importance of ensuring accountability has been underscored in many of the reports produced by your Committee, including the one on post-disaster and post-conflict situations. You might wish to note that in September, the Council heard the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, who addressed the topic of prioritization strategies for prosecutions in the aftermath of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, with a view to strengthening accountability for massive violations.

Furthermore, pursuant to resolution 6/30, your Committee is required to regularly and systematically integrate a gender perspective into the implementation of its mandate. In the same manner, the Council is also committed to include a gender perspective in its activities and therefore held its annual discussion on this issue last September. The focus was on the evaluation of progress made and challenges experienced in the integration of a gender perspective in the country-specific work of the Council and its mechanisms. The discussions highlighted that the Council’s record in integrating a gender perspective into its country-specific work was uneven and there was a need for the Council to encourage the consistent use of gender-sensitive language and refrain from referring to women as a vulnerable group. Hence, I seize this opportunity to also encourage your Committee to pay attention to this latter recommendation when drafting your reports.

Your Committee is also required to pay due attention in your studies to the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, in his third report to the Council in September, addressed the adverse effects of military spending on the enjoyment of human rights and called for a reorientation of funds towards education, health care, employment, rule of law, and the administration of justice to enable the realization of the right to development and the post-2015 development agenda.

When speaking about the post-2015 development process, it is important to address issues affecting marginalized groups, which include older persons. Today, approximately 700 million people or 10 per cent of the world’s population are over the age of 60, and by 2050, this number is expected to reach 20 per cent of the global population. In such a context, your Committee had prepared a working paper in 2009, highlighting the necessity of a human rights approach and an effective mechanism for the protection of the human rights of older persons. I would therefore like to inform you that the new Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons presented her first thematic report to the Council in September. She noted that the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons was an issue of global concern and outlined her focus on the inclusion and participation of older persons and the protection of their dignity, particularly in view of abuse and mistreatment of older persons.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Council continued its efforts to keep abreast of emerging issues that are not without controversy. Last September it held panel discussions on topics that appeared on its agenda for the first time. To name a few: history teaching and memorialization processes; the protection of the family; the use of remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones in counter-terrorism and military operations; and the right to privacy in the digital age, were among the issues discussed.

On September 26, 2014, the Council concluded its twenty-seventh session, adopting a total of 36 texts, of which 31 were on a range of thematic issues, including the equal enjoyment of the right to education by every girl, equal participation in political and public affairs, national policies and human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, civil society space and the safety of journalists. The Council also unanimously adopted texts (PRSTs) on the protection of the human rights of migrants at sea as well as on the respect of human rights of those affected by the Ebola epidemic in implementing measures to limit the spread of the virus.

Furthermore, a new mandate was established for a Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, which I understand is also one of the recommendations that your Committee was considering in its discussions last August in preparation of its upcoming report to the Council on this topic. I note that your Committee supports the creation of this mandate and would like to inform you that the appointment of the mandate-holder will be made during the upcoming March session. The resolution establishing this mandate also called for the Council to hold a biennial panel discussion on this issue.

Given the work your Committee has accomplished in the past on the promotion of the right to peace, I would like to also inform you that the Council adopted another resolution on this topic last September, wherein it requests the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the open-ended intergovernmental working group to prepare a revised text on the basis of the discussions held during the first and second sessions of the working group and the inter-sessional informal consultations, and to present it prior to its third session, which is scheduled for April this year.

These are just a few of the highlights of an exceptionally productive September session of the Council, for the people around the world who work tirelessly to advance human rights for everyone, and for those who continue to experience human rights violations on a daily basis.

Distinguished Members,

Another study that your Committee worked on in the past relates to the rights of peasants. In this respect, I wish to draw your attention to the activities of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on a United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, which held its second session from 2 to 6 February 2015. As requested by Council resolution 26/26, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the working group presented a new text of the draft Declaration for consideration by the working group. At the end of its weeklong session, the working group recommended to the Council that a third session of the working group be held to continue negotiating the draft Declaration on the basis of the text presented by the Chairperson-Rapporteur.

Distinguished Members,

The coming months will test our ability to deliver on the many expectations that right-holders around the globe have placed in the Council and its mechanisms. The contribution of all is essential to achieve our common mission. To this end, I encourage you to establish from early on good channels of interaction with States, national human rights institutions, NGOs and other civil society entities, pursuant to resolution 5/1, which will enable you to better fulfil your mandate and build a more effective work relationship with the Council.

I look forward to continuing to engage with you and counting on your views and inputs, including learning more on your current projects.

I wish you a very successful fourteenth session and reiterate the Human Rights Council’s full support to your work.

Thank you.