The Human Rights Council is the world’s peak multilateral human rights body. It is comprised of 47 Member States and meets at least three times per year in Geneva. It is mandated to strengthen the global promotion and protection of human rights, and to address human rights violations and situations of concern.
ISHR works intensively at the Human Rights Council to support the work of human rights defenders. Our strategic combination of research, capacity building, policy development, and advocacy seeks to ensure that the Council is accessible to human rights defenders, protects them against intimidation and reprisals, and is an effective mechanism for change on the ground.
We also monitor and report on States’ cooperation with the Human Rights Council and advocate to ensure that States that seek membership are held to account for their commitment to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’.
Read more about our impact and vision in making progress and preventing regress for civil society at the UN.
Stolen Presidential elections, the use of deeply repressive tactics by State agents against real and perceived opponents, and the recent return of OHCHR to Caracas informed today’s dialogue on Venezuela between the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council.
ISHR and partners have published a revised Q&A document that provides details of a Human Rights Council-mandated comprehensive accountability mechanism on Afghanistan.
The international community must fulfill its obligation to protect civilians facing war crimes.
Two years after the publication of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' landmark assessment on the situation in the Uyghur region (Xinjiang), global scrutiny of China's human rights violations remains strong.
Rute Fiuza demands justice for her son Davi, 16 years old, who was forcibly disappeared by 23 military police officers Brazil in October 2014.
During the General Debate on Item 9, Cristiano Silva denounced the ongoing human rights violations against Brazil's Black population, particularly in the prison system, and called the Brazilian authorities to change this.
Understand the structure, purpose and mandate of the Human Rights Council and the opportunities for effective engagement.
Visit the ISHR Academy to find out more!
ISHR has published ‘scorecards’ for States seeking election to the UN Human Rights Council for 2025-2027 to help inform voting States’ decisions in the upcoming election.
On April 15 2024, ISHR submitted its annual submission to the UN Secretary General on intimidation and reprisals against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms.
Ahead of China’s 4th UPR on 23 January 2024, ISHR has prepared an explainer about China’s UPR and its significance, and provides tips for NGOs and human rights defenders to engage with it, and for journalists to report on it.
ISHR has published ‘scorecards’ for States seeking election to the UN Human Rights Council for 2024-2026 to help inform voting States’ decisions in the upcoming election.
Following an earlier version of this submission of the same title in May 2022, this new ISHR report continues to document trends of reprisals in China in 2022-2023 with an analysis of extant cases, and further summarises the way in which it has portrayed civil society’s cooperation with the UN as a ‘criminal act’.
On 17 April 2023, ISHR submitted its annual submission to the report to the UN Secretary General on reprisals and intimidation against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms.
