Address by Ms. Flavia Pansieri, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights: Introduction to thematic reports of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner under items 2 and 3

13 March 2015

Mr. President, Members of the Human Rights Council,
Excellences, Ladies and gentlemen,

This morning you have before you twenty reports of the Secretary-General and of the High Commissioner concerning a range of thematic issues.

Some of the reports contain summaries of panel discussions that you have already held. Other reports serve as basis for separate panel discussions during this session - on the rights of the child, the rights of persons of disabilities, on actions to foster religious tolerance, peace and respect and on development at the national level.

Since you already have been or will be introduced to the issues covered by those reports, and given the limited time at my disposal this morning, I would like to focus this introduction on some of the most important findings of the other nine reports before you today.

Let me start with a report on a topic which unfortunately remains in the headlines: the report on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.

States have an obligation to take measures to protect populations from violence and insecurity and to deliver justice. But such measures must be anchored in respect for international human rights law. To achieve this, the report recommends that:

• Counter-terrorism laws and implementing measures should be the result of broad and inclusive consultations.
• At all times, they must be consistent with international human rights norms and the principle of legality.
• In practical terms, this means that the compliance of counter-terrorism laws and practices with human rights should be regularly reviewed to ensure that these measures are specific, necessary, effective and proportionate.
• Any exceptional measure should be restricted in time through the inclusion of a sunset clause.

In relation to foreign fighters and States’ efforts to stem the flow, the report recommends States to:

• Address the conditions conducive to terrorism and extremism, including by fostering engagement between communities and the authorities in order to build trust, supporting local ownership of initiatives and developing positive counter-narratives.
• Support the role of civil society - through the creation of an enabling environment.
• Combat impunity and ensure accountability for all gross violations of international human rights law and of humanitarian law through the prompt, thorough, independent and effective investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
• Ensure that any measures taken in an effort to stem the flow of foreign fighters and to prevent the commission of criminal acts comply with States’ obligations under international human rights law.

Let me now introduce the report on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.

It is all too often violations of minority rights that threaten the peace and stability of communities, countries, and eventually entire regions. Currently we are witnessing increased violence against ethnic and religious groups in a number of countries – you heard the High Commissioner referring to many of these situations at the opening of this session, notably in the Middle East and North Africa. Women and girls are being particularly targeted. We have to redouble our efforts to strengthen their protection, and to end discrimination and impunity.

While the primary obligation to protect minorities remains with States, advancing human rights requires concerted efforts. As you will see in the report, OHCHR has continued to advance minority rights via concrete action in the field and at its headquarters, in cooperation with States, minorities and the entire UN system and other partners. Special procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, the universal periodic review and treaty bodies, play an important role in protecting minority rights – they raise key thematic and country-specific concerns and make recommendations that contribute to the full implementation of the 1992 Declaration on Minorities.

Guidance and tools that provide hands-on suggestions to States, other stakeholders and the UN can facilitate addressing protection gaps. For instance, the “Guidance note of the Secretary-General on racial discrimination and protection of minorities” is a key point of reference in our quest to strengthen advocacy to prevent and counter minority rights violations. The UN network on racial discrimination and protection of minorities is currently supporting the implementation of this guidance note through a range of concrete initiatives and a new action plan.

Moving now to the report on missing persons. To address this issue, the Secretary-General recommends States to take a series of steps. Let me mention six of them:

From the outset, it is important to really understand the needs of families of the missing.

Second, to put in place an appropriate legislative and institutional framework to address the issue of missing persons, both from a preventive and responsive point of view.

Third, become party to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances - for those States who have not yet taken that step.

Fourth, it is essential to take the issue of missing persons into consideration in the context of peacebuilding and transitional justice processes.

Fifth, continuing to develop local forensic capacity is key for resolving cases.

Last but not least, ensuring access to archives concerning human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law is crucial.

Indeed, ensuring accountability for gross human rights violations and serious violations of IHL is a must – it not only provides justice and redress for victims, but it has also proven to be one of the most effective preventative measures.

I will now move to the report on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights.

This report discusses the Social Protection Floor Initiative, led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and supported by all United Nations agencies. This report finds that protection floors are crucial for promoting basic income security and access to health care.

In fact, human rights norms and social protection floors complement each other: To successfully achieve gender equality, respect for the minimum core of economic, social and cultural rights; and to protect marginalized groups, such as children, older persons, persons with disabilities, informal workers and non-nationals, national social protection floors need to be implemented in accordance with human rights standards and principles. And conversely, the Social Protection Floor Initiative offers useful policy guidance for translating human rights obligations into practice, including through the realization of comprehensive social security systems.

The Secretary-General therefore encourages States to put in place comprehensive social protection systems and social protection floors.

Two reports helpfully summarize two important meetings held outside this council last autumn in Geneva:

The first concerns the expert consultation on human rights considerations relating to the issues of administration of justice through military tribunals and the role of the integral judicial system in combating human rights violations – held in November last year.

I attended this very interesting consultation, and I would like to highlight four findings that emerged:

First, the independence of the judiciary and fair trial rights in military justice proceedings were recognized by all as an imperative. However, it was clear that this consensus did not necessarily translate into its practical implementation at the national level.

Second, the discussions on personal jurisdiction underlined the human rights principle that civilians should not be tried in military courts, while also touching on exceptions, particularly on foreign deployments.

Third, the discussions on jurisdiction revealed a difference of views. Some experts argued that military courts should never preside over trials relating to serious human rights violations. Others indicated that, if a military tribunal was independent, impartial and competent, it should be permitted to try also serious violations - and that it was important to include these types of offences within the purview of military justice so as to maintain discipline and to avoid impunity.

Finally, the consultation encouraged States to seek technical assistance on issues relating to human rights and military justice.

The second report concerns the international workshop on enhancing cooperation between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights – held in October last year. It gathered regional mechanisms from Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East – as well as Member States, United Nations human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. The discussions focused on mainstreaming of economic, social and cultural rights, with a special focus on persons with disabilities and women. Participants agreed on a number of concrete proposals and recommendations aimed at enhancing cooperation between United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms.

One of those encourages more information-sharing on the implementation of decisions emanating from the UN human rights system and regional human rights mechanisms – and suggests that meetings of regional and sub-regional human rights courts should be held periodically to that end. The report suggests the first such meeting to be convened by OHCHR in 2015, with the participation of regional courts and the United Nations treaty bodies, on the enforcement of judgements, access to courts, human rights defenders, deprivation of liberty and freedom of expression.

Next, let me draw your attention to two reports on today’s agenda which concern the two funds that exist to prevent torture and protect torture victims:

The Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture is a unique UN victim-focused mechanism that channels support to victims of torture worldwide. 187 projects were awarded a grant in 2015, for a total of US$ 6,300,000 with an additional US$ 1,000,000 set aside to respond to a growing number of emergency assistance requests – often generated in the context of today’s numerous crises.

Over the last few months, the Fund was in fact able to respond rapidly to the needs of torture victims fleeing from Syria and from Central Africa Republic, and in Ukraine. Through these grants, rehabilitation centres and specialized non-governmental entities in 81 countries across all five world regions will provide medical, psychological, social, legal, humanitarian, financial and other forms of assistance to victims of torture and members of their families. I encourage you all to support this vital victim-centred fund, which requires a growing donor base to reach its yearly target, set at US$ 12 million .

The Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OP CAT) was established to help finance the implementation of the recommendations of the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, as well as national preventive mechanisms and became operational in 2011. In 2014, seven grants were attributed to projects aimed at implementing the SPT recommendations for a total of almost 200,000 USD. Despite an expanding base of applications (from 9 in 2012 to 34 in 2015) reflecting an increased visibility and a growing number of eligible countries to the Fund following visits by the Subcommittee (from 7 in 2012 to 13 in 2015), the Fund is seriously struggling to consolidate and enlarge its donor base. Since its establishment in 2011, only 9 States have contributed to this Fund. In 2014, the Fund’s income was a meagre US$ 288,000. If this negative trend is prolonged in 2015, the Fund will be at serious risk of survival by the end of this year and might have to cancel its call of applications for 2016.

Excellencies,

Let me end this introduction, on behalf of the Secretary-General, by referring to the report before you of the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU).

HRC resolution 22/2 requested “the Joint Inspection Unit to undertake a comprehensive follow-up review of the management and administration of the Office of the High Commissioner, in particular with regard to its impact on the recruitment policies and the composition of the staff, and to submit a report thereon and containing concrete proposals for the implementation of the present resolution to the Human Rights Council”. The General Assembly, by its resolution 68/144 of 18 December 2013, took note of the report of the Human Rights Council for its seventh organizational meeting and its twenty-second and twenty-third sessions, in which, among other things, resolution 22/2 is contained.

You will hear more about this review in a minute from Inspector Achamkulangare, who prepared this report. Let me draw your attention to the Secretary-General’s comments on the six recommendations of the JIU’s report. These are contained in the document A/70/68 Add.1, which is also before you today and which I encourage you all to consult.

The Secretary-General appreciates the collaborative approach undertaken by the Joint Inspection Unit in the preparation of its report. The Secretary-General especially appreciates the report’s observations regarding certain long term challenges facing the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), such as financial sustainability in a context of increasing mandates from legislative bodies and expanding demands connected to Human Rights up Front, mainstreaming human rights across the United Nations system and the emphasis on human rights in the post-2015 development agenda.

Nevertheless, the Secretary-General has expressed some concerns in respect of some of the recommendations, which are detailed in his response.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This concludes my introduction of thematic reports under items 2 and 3. Thank you for your attention.