Introduction to thematic reports of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner under items 2, 3 and 5

36th session of the Human Rights Council
United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

Geneva, 14 September 2017
Salle XX, Palais des Nations

Mr. President, Members of the Human Rights Council, 

Excellencies, colleagues and friends,

This afternoon I will introduce ten reports of the Secretary-General and of the High Commissioner concerning a range of thematic issues.

Reports under item 3

The first report before you under item 3 is the S-G’s report on the death penalty (A/HRC/36/26). It examines how the death penalty impacts on the human rights of those facing the death penalty, paying specific attention to equality and non-discrimination. Low-income individuals and foreign nationals are often unable to access effective legal representation, as legal aid services are generally limited or inadequate. As a result, they are disproportionately subjected to the death penalty. The Secretary-General urges States to ensure that all accused people have adequate and equal legal representation to exercise their right to access to justice. Foreign nationals should be informed of their right to contact the relevant consular post in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The Secretary-General further encourages retentionist States to systematically and publicly provide full and accurate data on death sentences that are carried out. This data should include information on charges; as well as disaggregated data, including on gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin and other relevant demographics of the persons affected.

Moving now to the HC’s report on the human rights of indigenous peoples (A/HRC/36/22). In order to translate the promise of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into reality, OHCHR provided technical assistance to Member States, indigenous peoples, civil society organizations and UN bodies and strengthened its efforts to involve indigenous peoples in all international initiatives that affect them - including the implementation of the 2030 development agenda and human rights mechanisms’ recommendations on indigenous peoples’ rights.

Despite advances in terms of participation of indigenous peoples, democratic space for indigenous human rights defenders is shrinking in many places. Indigenous peoples are rarely consulted on development priorities and strategies, extractive industries and the use of lands, territories and other resources impacting their rights. The report therefore concludes that more efforts are needed to effectively fill the gaps in national laws, policies and strategies, in line with the outcome document of the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples. The exploitation of natural resources on indigenous lands without respecting the principle of free, prior and informed consent must stop. We need more support to human rights defenders working for the rights of indigenous peoples, better access to justice and statutory recognition and better protection of indigenous peoples’ land rights.

The next report before you is the consolidated report of the S-G and HC on the right to development (A/HRC/36/23). It presents an overview of OHCHR’s recent activities on the right to development and analyses the implementation of this right, primarily at the international level.  Poverty and inequalities, climate change, conflicts, natural disasters and resource constraints and global governance unsurprisingly remain key challenges.  In order to address them, the report makes three recommendations:

First, give a voice to those most affected by these challenges – both at the global level, where amplified involvement of developing countries can help redress longstanding systemic asymmetries and favour inclusive, participatory development, but also locally, where widened civic space and an active role for women can nurture democratic and people-centred development.

Second, strengthen respect by the private sector for human rights, labour and environmental standards, including in supply chains and development partnerships.

Third, fair and progressive tax systems can help combat illicit financial flows and tax avoidance strategies. Implementing the right to development’s call for fair distribution and social justice is key to realizing human rights, sustaining peace and sustainable development, leaving no one behind.

The next report deals with administration of justice, (A/HRC/36/28) and looks in particular at the impact that over-incarceration and overcrowding has on persons with increased vulnerability.  The report highlights discriminatory impact of poverty, bias in the administration of justice, lack of access to justice and lack of alternatives to detention.  Persons with increased vulnerability particularly suffer from poor and inadequate conditions of detention, violence and ill-treatment, lack of access to healthcare, inadequate or insufficient training, educational or religious facilities. The report recommends that States gather more and better data on detained persons, so as to pay specific attention to persons with increased vulnerability.  These persons should be given the possibility to challenge their detention and to receive adequate legal assistance.  When reporting on SDGs 10 and 16, States are encouraged to pay specific attention to the causes and effects of over-incarceration and overcrowding with regard to non-discrimination. 

Next is OHCHR’s midterm progress report the implementation of the 3rd phase of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (A/HRC/36/24). It summarizes information received from 20 States and 18 national human rights institutions on progress and shows that significant efforts have taken place since 2015.  For instance, some school systems have adopted comprehensive strategies for human rights education, which go beyond curriculum development to also address extracurricular initiatives, educational policies, training of teachers and research.  And in some countries, civil servants benefitted from human rights training as part of overall strategies to tackle human rights issues in specific contexts. Cooperation among national actors, as well as between those and regional and international organizations, has taken place widely. Human rights education can play a vital role in sustaining social cohesion, promoting inclusion and participation, and ultimately, preventing violence and conflict in our societies. It is important now to intensify our work - human rights education is an investment in the future and we cannot afford to overlook it.

Moving now to the report (A/HRC/36/42) that this Council had requested the High Commissioner to prepare on a compendium of principles, good practices and policies on safe, orderly and regular migration in line with international human rights law. The report makes particular reference to the six informal thematic areas which have guided consultations in the preparatory process for the global compact on migration. It provides a non-exhaustive compilation of legal standards and other authoritative guidance such as general comments and the reports of special procedures, joint commitments made by States through declarations and other agreements, as well as guidelines and tools produced by UN agencies. It is accompanied by a set of promising practices drawn from all regions. The report recommends that the global compact be migrant-centred, human rights-based and gender-responsive – seeking to reach the 2030 Agenda aim to “leave no one behind” and to “reach those furthest behind first”.

Next is our report on the half-day expert workshop on the best practices to promote women’s equal nationality rights in law and in practice (A/HRC/36/30), which was held on 16 May 2017, with participation of experts, States, civil society organizations, UN entities and persons affected by gender inequality in nationality laws. While the vast majority of States guarantee gender equality in their nationality laws, some do not grant women the same rights as men to acquire, change and retain their nationality or to confer nationality to their children and non-national spouses. Participants underscored the importance of eradicating persistent patriarchal and discriminatory gender stereotypes combined with inter-sectoral forms of discrimination, and of involving women as active agents in public decision-making. Based on their experiences, including those of States which conducted successful nationality law reforms in recent years, the participants of the workshop emphasized the role of:

-        Strong political leadership and engagement of the Government, parliamentarians, civil society and the media;
-        Cooperation at the regional level, including among civil society organizations as well as States’ peer support through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy;
-        Strategic use of interaction with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.

I will now provide the requested oral update on the promotion of the effective implementation of equal participation in political affairs through the UN system. This Council’s resolution 33/22 requested us to prepare draft guidelines on the effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs, and to facilitate the elaboration of the draft guidelines, including through consultations with States and other stakeholders at the regional level. An initial briefing on the process was held here in April this year and a call for written inputs issued. The first two regional consultations were held on 13 and 14 June 2017 in Santiago, Chile and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 6 and 7 September 2017.  The next regional consultations will be held in Bangkok on 2 and 3 October, Beirut during the first half of November and finally Geneva at the beginning of next year.

Regional consultations provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to share good practices and recommendations on ways to effectively implement the right to participate in public affairs. The preparation of the draft guidelines will be informed by the discussions held and recommendations made during the regional consultations and the written contributions sent by all stakeholders. All information about the consultation process (including the concept note and agenda for each regional consultations) is available on the dedicated page of our website [www.ohchr.org/participationguidelines].

Report under item 2

Moving now to item 2 and the report on the composition of OHCHR (A/HRC/36/18). It gives an overview of the professional and higher category staff members at 31 December 2016, according to their recruitment status, nationality, grade and sex. As was explained in the previous report (A/HRC/33/18), most staff of OHCHR fall under the new staff selection and managed mobility system, which is centrally coordinated by OHRM in accordance with the system of desirable ranges mandated by the General Assembly. While the High Commissioner has remained attentive to the need to maintain the broadest possible geographical diversity of his staff - working closely with OHRM to do so - there are no separate measures by or for OHCHR on which to report to the Human Rights Council. The attention of the Council is drawn to the official report of the Secretary-General on staff demographics and the information it contains about the staff of the Secretariat, including OHCHR.

Report under item 5

The final report before you today is the SG’s report on cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights (A/HRC/36/31) – which will be presented separately under item 5 by the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.

Distinguished President,

This concludes our introduction of the thematic reports under items 2, 3, and 5. Thank you for your kind attention. [1700 words or 12 mins]