© UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré
The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council (9 September - 11 October) will consider issues including intimidation and reprisals for cooperating with the UN, arbitrary detention, systemic racism, enforced disappearances, climate change, water and sanitation, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent, among others.
This 57h Human Rights Council session will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations in States including Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, China, Israel/oPt, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine and Venezuela, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Stay up-to-date: Follow @ISHRglobal and #HRC57 on X, and look out for our Human Rights Council Monitor. During the session, follow the live-updated programme of work on Sched.
On 26 August 2024, the Council decided that ‘NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC and NHRIs with “A” status would have the possibility to deliver their statements in person or via pre-recorded video statements’. On 22 August 2024, the Bureau of the Council ‘agreed that, in order to balance the importance of inclusivity and what is feasible in terms of time and resources, the list of speakers for NGOs for each of the General Debates would be set in line with the average number of NGOs that participated in each of the General Debates in the previous three September sessions (i.e., the 54th, 51st and 48th sessions)’.
The Secretariat announced that ‘space for NGO side events will continue being allocated at a reduced level. In the context of the renovations under the Strategic Heritage Plan, rooms will be allocated according to availability, and it may not be possible to accommodate all requests [….] a maximum of one side event per NGO may be requested. Each side event will last a maximum of one hour.’
Read the information note by the Secretariat which is updated according to the latest information.
For many victims and activists, the Council is a critical arena to confront abuses of power and push for change in their countries. Its success depends on members and their commitment to promote and protect human rights at home and abroad. Every year in October, the 193 Member States of the UN elect new members to the Human Rights Council.
In 2024, 19 candidates are running for 18 seats. None of them have a perfect human rights record, they all need to do better. However, and according to the HRC membership criteria, one candidate stands out as manifestly unsuitable for membership on the Council: Saudi Arabia.
The UN’s own experts have found the Saudi Arabian government responsible for the commission of atrocity crimes, as well as the repression of civil society in its own country and a pattern of reprisals against those who cooperate with the UN. The human rights situation in the country is dire, with the criminalisation of women human rights defenders, arbitrary detention and the application of the death penalty, among other abuses. We call on all UN States at the General Assembly not to vote for Saudi Arabia!
Here are some highlights of the session’s thematic discussions:
At this 57th session, the Council will discuss a range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and issues through dedicated debates with the:
In addition, the Council will hold dedicated debates on the rights of specific groups including with the:
During each Council session, panel discussions are held to provide member States and NGOs with opportunities to hear from subject-matter experts and raise questions. Six panel discussions are scheduled for this upcoming session:
The Council will also consider various other reports, see the full list here.
This session, civil society remains concerned with the implementation of the decision announced on 30 May, indicating that informal negotiations and informal meetings taking place on the sidelines of the session would only be available on a cost recovery basis. This means that States will be required to pay for the use WebEx for hybrid informal negotiations on draft resolutions. We regret further that, during HRC56, only two informal consultations were made available for remote participation.
An inclusive approach to participation requires that the United Nations addresses the limited space for civil society engagement. In this regard, we urge States to ensure that all informal negotiations during HRC57 are made available on WebEx, as done in previous sessions, to allow for broad and diverse participation from civil society organisations and human rights defenders, particularly those at the national and regional levels, who cannot attend the session in person. We reiterate civil society calls for States to address the liquidity crisis and its dire consequences on the work of the Human Rights Council and related mechanisms and to prevent the instrumentalisation of the cash flow crisis to create further restrictions on civil society participation and engagement with the HRC.
In line with a joint letter by over 300 organisations, we urge States to ensure that the United Nations Office in Geneva (UNOG) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have the budget and mandate to provide all stakeholders engaging with the UN human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms, as well as the Treaty Bodies and other mechanisms, with the necessary channels to participate in meetings via Zoom, WebEx or other relevant platforms.
ISHR has launched its annual campaign to #EndReprisals, focusing on cases of arbitrary detention as a form of reprisal. When human rights defenders are arbitrarily detained because they shared or sought to share information with the United Nations, this is a form of reprisals.
This year the campaign calls for the release of Pham Doan Trang in Viet Nam, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in Bahrain and Irfan Mehraj and Khurram Parvez in India, who are being detained because of their engagement with UN mechanisms.
ISHR urges States to raise these cases in their statements. Join us and take action!
During the organisational meeting held on 26 August 2024, the President of the Council stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of those participating in the Council’s work, and the obligation of States to prevent intimidation or reprisals.
Following the consensus renewal of their mandate during HRC56, the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement (EMLER) will present their third thematic report during an Enhanced Interactive Dialogue, together with the High Commissioner’s presentation of the OHCHR report on 2 October 2024. EMLER’s report will address justice, accountability, and redress for excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent, and the OHCHR report will address intersectional discrimination against Africans and people of African descent and advancing racial justice and equality through an intersectional approach. During this session EMLER will also present their much-anticipated reports on their Brazil and Italy country visits. As mandated by resolution 47/21, the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue will prioritise the participation of directly affected individuals and communities, including victims and their families.
In this context, ISHR, together with UNARC, are organising a side event on 3 October at 12:00 pm in Room XXV focused on the experiences and perspectives of families directly affected by police violence in Brazil. The side event will not only discuss specific cases of police violence in Brazil but will also discuss this as a systemic problem that connects to issues of torture and the legacies of colonialism and Transatlantic Slave Trade in enslaved Africans.
Additionally, under agenda item 9 the Africa Group will present its annual resolution ‘From rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance’. This resolution emphasises the importance of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, as well as the promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and people of African Descent. Antiracist in nature, this resolution echoes and creates synergies with other resolutions and initiatives on the same subject in both the General Assembly and the HRC, such as General Assembly resolution 76/226 and HRC resolution 47/21. We urge States to support the resolution calling for the full implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA).
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on climate change will be up for renewal during HRC57. ISHR calls on all States to support the renewal of the mandate considering the important role that it has been playing in making visible key areas of climate change with a human rights perspective.
The Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances will present his report on Pollution Information Portals and the right to know, which includes access to information on releases of hazardous substances. This report also elaborates on how access to this type of information empowers authorities, individuals and communities to make informed decisions about their environment.
The Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation will present his report on the nexus between water and economy. The report analyzes water use and management in accordance with four pillars: non-deterioration, restoration, cost recovery and cost-effectiveness.
The Secretary General will also present a report on the impact of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights. In addition to identifying key areas, the report also identifies legal and policy frameworks relevant to ensuring effective remedies. This report also makes a call to ensure that loss and damage funds integrate gender-responsive, and rights-based approaches to make funds directly accessible to those on the front lines of the climate crisis, including environmental human rights defenders.
The High Commissioner will provide an oral update to the Council on 9 September 2024. The Council will consider updates, reports and is expected to consider resolutions addressing a range of country situations, in some instances involving the renewal of the relevant expert mandates. These include:
The Council will hold an Enhanced Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan on 9 September and will consider a resolution on the human rights situation in Afghanistan at this session. A report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights will also be presented to this council session providing ‘A stocktaking of accountability options and processes for human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan‘.
In the past three years under the Taliban rule, the human rights situation in Afghanistan has continued to spiral. Successive reports by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan paint an increasingly grim picture of a human rights crisis in constant freefall. And as a group of over 35 UN human rights experts made clear in a statement in August, ‘avenues for justice within Taliban-controlled Afghanistan [are] virtually non-existent’.
ISHR supports the call of Afghan human rights defenders to the Council to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, this mandate remains incredibly important and essential given the ongoing human rights violations in the country.
ISHR also supports the repeated calls by Afghan civil society to establish a parallel and complementary independent accountability mechanism, which underline limitations in existing human rights frameworks to address the situation in Afghanistan. Accountability for widespread human rights violations, including gender apartheid and other crimes against humanity, is imperative to securing sustainable peace and development in the country.
The Council is scheduled to hold an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Burundi on 20 September and will be called upon to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. As serious human rights violations continue to be committed in Burundi in a context of widespread impunity, and as the country prepares for elections in a tense national and regional environment, ISHR joined dozens of NGOs in calling on the Council to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.
The signatories highlight ‘ongoing violations and abuses committed by state and para-state actors, as well as risk factors of further violations, especially in relation to upcoming legislative (May 2025) and presidential elections (May 2027) and as authorities have increased their pressure over civic space. They also stress that Burundi’s economic situation has worsened and that grave violations of economic, social and cultural rights are increasingly at the forefront of the country’s human rights crisis.
The Burundian government continues to disregard or minimise the severity of human rights challenges, and refuses to grant access to and meaningfully cooperate with independent human rights bodies. As Burundi became a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 period, the Council should pursue its action and make clear that membership comes with an ‘enhanced responsibility to accept scrutiny’.
October will mark one year since Israel’s war on Gaza and one year of failure of States to meet their obligations under international law to put an end to the genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza.
According to the ICJ advisory opinion from 19 July 2024, ‘Israel’s legislation and measures constitute a breach of Article 3 of CERD’ pertaining to racial segregation and apartheid. While the ICJ issued provisional measures and an advisory opinion stressing the legal consequences for third States and the United Nations, experts continued to raise alarm at States’ unwillingness to put an end to Israel’s impunity.
At this session, the Office of the High Commissioner will present a report on the implementation of the database on businesses activities in Israeli settlements pursuant to Human Rights Council Resolution 31/36. During this debate, and in the context of an ongoing genocide, we urge States to call for the expansion of the scope of the mandate of the UN database of businesses involved with Israel’s settlement enterprise to include all companies and entities that are involved in, profiting from or advancing Israel’s colonial apartheid on both sides of the Green Line (in line with the mandate of the UN Commission of Inquiry established in 2021).
Furthermore, we call on States to use this opportunity to urge the office of the High Commissioner to address the root causes of the situation as identified by experts and the ICJ, including settler-colonialism and apartheid, and to address the obligations of third States in the context of the ICJ’s provisional measures stressing the plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.
The Council is scheduled to hold an Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Russian Federation on 23 September. The Council will be called upon to renew the mandate of the Special Rapporteur (HRC Resolution 51/25 and 54/23).
ISHR strongly supports renewal of the mandate.
The human rights situation in Russia continues to deteriorate, while Russia also continues to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Russia is also increasingly engaged in acts of transnational repression against human rights defenders, dissidents and journalists outside of the country, in clear violation of international human rights law and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the states in which such acts are perpetrated.
Over the last decade, and accelerating since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has enacted a wide range of laws repressing and criminalising independent civil society actors and exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, public participation and non-discrimination. It has arbitrarily imprisoned, tortured and even killed hundreds of human rights defenders, political opponents, independent journalists and peaceful protesters. It has also criminalised assistance, cooperation or confidential communications with international bodies, which may include the HRC and its mechanisms. These regressive developments, and the lack of any improvement in the human rights situation in the country, clearly warrant the extension of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.
On 10 September, the Council is scheduled to hold an Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the comprehensive report of the independent international fact-finding mission (FFM) for Sudan, with the participation of the HC, representatives of the African Union and the Special Adviser to the SG on the Prevention of Genocide.
Despite the killings, torture, mass arrests and other attacks, Sudanese civil society including women human rights defenders and groups continue to ring the alarm on the humanitarian situation in Sudan has reached a critical point, with widespread conflict exacerbating the suffering of millions women and girls. The ongoing violence has led to a man-made famine, while the floods led to increasing suffering, includes deaths and displacement of thousands across the country. Recently, the United Nations announced a famine in parts of Darfur, where thousands are facing extreme hunger and malnutrition, especially children and women. The combination of conflict, collapse of the state and the neglection from international community is leading to unprecedented levels of humanitarian catastrophe, further deteriorating with increasing levels of violence and serious human rights violations including widespread sexual violence. In addition, Refugee International’s findings from visiting the Nuba Mountains attested to the ongoing atrocities and growing food insecurity in Sudan as the broader war continues.
As the situation continues to deteriorate, ISHR joined 80 Sudanese, African, and other international NGOs in calling for the extension of the mandate of the FFM for Sudan, and the strengthening of its resources. In addition, ISHR urges the Council to call for the implementation of the Women Peace and Security national agenda, in particular the calls from Sudanese women for 50% representation at the negotiation table. The latest peace talks held in Geneva in August 2024 indicate that equal participation of SUdanese women in these dialogues is far from being achieved. We further reiterate our urgent calls for an immediate ceasefire and the prompt creation of safe corridors for humanitarian aid organisations and groups, and to guarantee the safety of their operations, as well as call on the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Darfur to all of Sudan and create effective monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the embargo.
The UN Human Rights Committee and UN Special Procedures findings lead to the conclusion that Syria remains unsafe for Syrian refugees to return to as long as the root causes enabling human rights abuses are not effectively addressed. These include legislation and procedures legalising the political persecution of civilians, including HRDs, and impunity for human rights abuses, which remain in place and constitute a significant hurdle for the safe and voluntary return of Syrians to the country. Deportation and forced return of individuals to places where torture is widespread and systematic are in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, a binding principle under customary law that all States are bound to respect and uphold. The Commission of Inquiry, the OHCHR and the concluding observations made by the Special Procedures and Human Rights Committee have documented and reported that thousands of individuals are at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearance once back under the authority of the Syrian government.
Civil society organizations urge States to build on the latest review of Syria by the Human Rights Committee and the ICJ provisional measures on torture to reiterate during this session that Syria remains unsafe for return.,. Furthermore, States should call on the Syrian government to implement the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee and the Order on Provisional Measures issued by the ICJ. We finally urge States to also call on neighbouring countries to halt any deportation and procedures leading to coerced and forced return as long as acts of torture are documented in Syria.
At this session, the HRC mandates for the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela and OHCHR’s work on the country come up for renewal. There is a clear need for these mandates to be renewed. Since the Presidential election was held on 28 July, repression against real and perceived opponents in the country has deepened. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has described the Maduro government as using ‘State terrorism practices’ to sow ‘terror as a tool to silence the citizenry and perpetuate the ruling authoritarian regime in power’. The space for civil society in the country is fast disappearing as Venezuelan law enforcement have killed protestors, arbitrarily detained political opponents, including six human rights defenders. Last month’s adoption of an NGO law – with further legislation threatened – makes the work of independent NGOs in the country increasingly precarious. Defenders have had their passports cancelled as a means of restricting their ability to speak to the realities on the ground, including at the Human Rights Council.
In this context, the continuation of the mandates of the Fact-Finding Mission and the work of OHCHR in Venezuela for a further two years is essential. Ensuring independent and ongoing monitoring of the human rights situation will be key to keeping the world informed of individual violations and patterns of repression – essential in a context of huge uncertainty – all of which will be critical to holding those responsible for human rights violations accountable. These bodies’ recommendations provide States with key elements for use in bilateral and multilateral exchanges with and on Venezuela to ensure that the respect of human rights is the loadstar for reform and transition in the country.
States must speak up for the work of the Fact-Finding Mission and of OHCHR – including during the ID with the Fact-Finding Mission – and HRC members should vote for a two-year renewal of their mandates. States should voice their concern at attacks against opponents of the Maduro regime including human rights defenders. States should call for the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including human rights defenders Javier Tarazona, Rocio San Miguel, Carlos Juilo Rojas, Edward Oscariz, Kennedy Tejera, Henry Gómez.
Civil society and the UN have raised alarm over the unprecedented crackdown on civil society and aid workers in Yemen. Until its discontinuation in 2021, the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen investigated and reported on ‘enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, including sexual violence, and other forms of ill-treatment’ committed by all parties to the conflict, in many cases, targeting ‘persons who are perceived as opposed to a particular party to the conflict, including human rights defenders and journalists’.
In light of the adoption of its Universal Periodic Review, we also reiterate the recommendations for Yemen to ratify and implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Justice for Yemen Pact, a coalition of ten Yemeni civil society organisations, decried the inaction of the international community and urged States to take every possible action to facilitate the release of detained individuals, including through diplomatic efforts, and increase support to civil society.
Following the grave deterioration of the situation, civil society reiterates that technical capacity is not enough and urges States to call for the effective investigation of human rights abuses and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, by establishing a long overdue ‘independent international criminally focused investigative mechanism on Yemen’.
In addition to the plethora of human rights violations, in 2023, the coalition members documented 309 grave violations against children, including cases of killing and maiming, child recruitment, attacks on schools and hospitals, abduction, denial of humanitarian access, as well as sexual and gender-based violence. Accountability is essential for a human rights based transitional justice.
On August 27, the OHCHR released a rare statement marking the two-years release of its 2022 Xinjiang report that found possible crimes against humanity committed by the authorities against Uyghurs and other Muslim peoples. Against regular attempts by Beijing to present the Xinjiang report as an isolated initiative, the OHCHR statement puts the Xinjiang report front and center of its overall engagement with the government, not only on the Uyghur region (Xinjiang), but also Tibet, mainland China and Hong Kong, and points to the need for ‘tangible progress in the protection of human rights for all in China’.
Worryingly, the High Commissioner’s Office stressed that ‘many problematic laws and policies remain in place’ and that allegations of human rights violations ‘including torture’ remain to be ‘fully investigated’. To this date, the Chinese government maintains widespread and systematic restrictions, including through laws, policies and practices described in the OHCHR report, that severely impact the intergenerational transmission of culture, language and religion of Uyghurs and Tibetans
The OHCHR reported obstacles to its monitoring mandate ‘posed by limited access to information and the fear of reprisals against individuals who engage with the UN.’ These elements, together with the growing number of UN findings on China and a higher rejection rate of UPR recommendations, are the latest evidence of Beijing’s unwillingness to cooperate in good faith with UN bodies and engage in meaningful reform. This warrants a sustained attention by the Human Rights Council, including through the creation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism, as repeatedly called for by over 40 UN experts.
States should urgently echo in national and joint statements the OHCHR’s concerns, underscore the mutually-reinforcing nature of the Xinjiang report and recommendations by the CERD, CESCR, and the Special Procedures, and endorse the OHCHR’s renewed calls on China to promptly release all those arbitrarily detained, clarify the status and whereabouts of those disappeared, and fully review its legal laws and policies on counter-terrorism, national security and minority rights.
States should further urge for the prompt release of individuals arbitrarily detained or disappeared, including feminist activist Huang Xueqin and labour rights activist Wang Jianbing – recently convicted to 5 and 3.5 years in prison – , human rights lawyers Ding Jiaxi – convicted to 10 years in prison –, Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan – to be imminently tried behind closed doors in Suzhou – and Uyghur doctor Gulshan Abbas – completing her sixth year incommunicado.
Member States elected to the HRC pledge to ‘uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights’ and to cooperate fully with the Council and its mechanisms. Saudi Arabia’s human rights record does not fulfill this criteria. Saudi Arabia has been included in the Secretary-General’s reports on reprisals multiple times.
Civic space is closed, with the government systematically obstructing free speech, peaceful assembly, and any form of protest. Violations of women’s rights, criminalisation of women human rights defenders, arbitrary detention and the application of the death penalty (196 judicial executions in 2022), including for child defendants are among the many human rights abuses perpetrated by the State. Additionally, the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen has found Saudi Arabia to be the perpetrator of crimes that may amount to war crimes in Yemen. We call on all States at the General Assembly not to vote for Saudi Arabia, and on States at the Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution mandating an independent international monitoring and investigative mechanism to address the human rights violations perpetrated in and by Saudi Arabia.
During the organisational meeting held on 28 August, the Council President presented the programme of work. It includes 6 panel discussions and States announced at least 33 proposed resolutions. Click here to read the reports presented this session.
At the organisational meeting on 28 August the following resolutions were announced (States leading the resolution in brackets):
Furthermore, according to the voluntary calendar for resolutions, it is possible that more resolutions could also be presented at this session. Read the calendar here.
During this session, the Council will adopt the UPR working group reports on New Zealand, Afghanistan, Chile, Cyprus, Uruguay, Yemen, Vanuatu, North Macedonia, Comoros, Slovakia, Eritrea, Viet Nam, the Dominican Republic, and Cambodia.
ISHR supports human rights defenders in their interaction with the UPR: we publish and submit briefing papers regarding the situation facing human rights defenders in some States under review and advocate for the UPR to be used as a mechanism to support and protect human rights defenders on the ground.
This session of the Council will provide an opportunity for Comoros to accept recommendations made in relation to the protection of human rights defenders, as proposed in ISHR’s briefing paper.
ISHR will also be following the UPR working group report on Afghanistan, to continue to draw urgent attention to the ongoing gender persecution in Afghanistan by the Taliban, and the institutionalised framework of gender apartheid, as set out in its joint briefing paper.
The President of the Human Rights Council has proposed two, out of the four, mandate holders to be appointed:
In view of the pending appointments, it is relevant to recall that in appointing mandate holders, the President of the Council is required to give particular attention to the need to avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest on the part of candidates.
Mandate holders should be genuinely committed to the independence and effectiveness of the special procedures system, and have a demonstrated commitment to civil society engagement and participation.
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Read here the three year programme of work of the Council with supplementary information.
Read here ISHR’s recommendations on the key issues that are or should be on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council in 2024.
Contact: Salma El Hosseiny at [email protected]
Candidate States to the Human Rights Council presented their pledges and responded to questions by civil society on their human rights records, while elaborating on their vision to improve the work of the Council at ISHR’s and Amnesty International’s annual event.
We are celebrating longstanding and collective efforts in supporting human rights defenders. Join us and find out more!
A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, issued today a rare public statement on his Office’s work on China, marking two years since the release of its groundbreaking report on the grave human rights situation in the Uyghur region (Xinjiang).
