Following substantial negotiations, UN Member States once again found common ground and reiterated their commitment to providing a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders in the Third Committee's adoption of this biennial resolution by consensus.
Over a dozen organisations share reflections on the key outcomes of the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the missed opportunities to address key issues and situations. A shortened version was delivered at the Council. Full written version below.
The 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, from 19 June to 14 July 2023, will consider issues including sexual orientation and gender identity, violence and discrimination against women and girls, poverty, peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations including in Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Israel and oPt, Russia, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
On Environmental Day, ISHR submitted a petition to the UN Secretary-General signed by 492 individuals to support Nicaraguan Indigenous and environmental defender Anexa Alfred Cunningham who was forcibly exiled after participating in a UN meeting.
States at the UN Human Rights Council have approved a two-year extension of a monitoring and reporting mechanism tasked with investigating grave human rights violations that have taken place in Nicaragua since 2018.
The 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, from 27 February – 4 April 2023, will consider issues including the protection of human rights defenders, freedom of religion or belief, protection and promotion of human rights while countering terrorism, the right to food and adequate housing, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations in States including Nicaragua, Venezuela, China, Syria, South Sudan, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Myanmar, Eritrea, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
As protests continue across Peru and at least 50 lie dead, States have called on Peru to stop the use of excessive force to quell unrest and to respect the rights of those exercising fundamental freedoms.
Earlier today the Third Committee of the General Assembly adopted a resolution on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, including strengthened language on human rights defenders and a reference to sexual orientation and gender identity.
The 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council (12 September - 7 October), will consider issues including intimidation and reprisals, arbitrary detention, systemic racism, enforced disappearances, climate change, water and sanitation, the rights of indigenous peoples and people of African descent, and colonialism, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations in States including Afghanistan, Burundi, China, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria and Venezuela, among many others. Here's an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
Nicaragua is once again a key topic of concern on the agenda of the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The newly-appointed ‘Group of Experts’ created by the Council in March begins its investigation of serious human rights violations in the country, as international condemnation remains strong.
