United Nations Human Rights Council
The Sub-Commission was composed of 26 elected human rights experts whose mandate was to conduct studies on discriminatory practices and to make recommendations to ensure that racial, national, religious, and linguistic minorities are protected by law.Examples provided by the UNHRC of cases that would be considered consistent patterns of gross human rights violations include alleged deterioration of human rights of people belonging to a minority, including forced evictions, racial segregation and substandard living conditions, and alleged degrading situation of prison conditions for both detainees and prison workers, resulting in violence and death of inmates.On 3 April 2009, South African Judge Richard Goldstone was named as the head of the independent United Nations Fact-Finding Mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the Gaza War.[102][103][104] The mission called for referring either side in the conflict to the UN Security Council for prosecution at the International Criminal Court if they refuse to launch fully independent investigations by December 2009.[105] Goldstone has since partially retracted the report's conclusions that Israel committed war crimes, as new evidence has shed light upon the decision making by Israeli commanders."[106] On 3 July 2015, UNHRC voted Resolution A/HRC/29/L.35 "ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem".[107] It passed by 41 votes in favor including the eight sitting EU members (France, Germany, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Latvia and Estonia), one against (the United States) and five absentions (India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Paraguay and the Republic of Macedonia).[109][110][111] On 21 March 2022, Lynk submitted a report,[112] stating that Israel's control over the West Bank and Gaza Strip amounts to apartheid, an "institutionalised regime of systematic racial oppression and discrimination".[114] Following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis,[115] the council voted on 27 May 2021 to set up a United Nations fact-finding mission to investigate possible war crimes and other abuses committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.[117] Unlike previous fact finding missions the inquiry is open ended and will examine "all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity."[122] Former president of the Council Doru Costea, the European Union, Canada, the United States and Britain have at various times accused the UNHRC of focusing disproportionately on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and Israel's occupation of the West Bank."Supporters of a Palestinian state must avoid the kind of inflammatory rhetoric and actions that this session represents, which only stoke tensions and erode the chances for peace", he added.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu castigated the UNHRC's decision stating, "He represents an organization that indiscriminately targets children and grown-ups, and women and men.Alejandro Wolff, US Deputy Permanent Representative at the United Nations, accused the council of "a pathological obsession with Israel" and also denounced its action on Cuba and Belarus.][153] At its Second Special Session in August 2006, the Council announced the establishment of a High-Level Commission of Inquiry charged with probing allegations that Israel systematically targeted and killed Lebanese civilians during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.Before and after the vote several member states and NGOs objected that by targeting the resolution solely at Israel and failing to address Hezbollah attacks on Israeli civilians, the Council risked damaging its credibility.The members of the Commission of Inquiry, as announced on 1 September 2006, were Clemente Baena Soares of Brazil, Mohamed Chande Othman of Tanzania, and Stelios Perrakis of Greece.[156] The Eritrean Foreign Ministry responded by describing the Commission's report as "wild allegations", "totally unfounded and devoid of all merit", and countercharged the UNHRC with "vile slanders and false accusations".[159] In August 2018, the UNHRC released a research report concluding that six generals in Myanmar armed forces should be prosecuted for war crimes as related to the genocide against the Rohingya Muslims.[177] In September 2015, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, was elected Chair of the UNHRC Advisory Committee, the panel that appoints independent experts.[182][183] UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said: "It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year [2015] than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel.[191] The original draft resolution from the United States noted the UNHRC "concern that the LLRC [Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission] report [did] not adequately address serious allegations of violations of international law".[197] As finally submitted, the U.S. resolution was co-sponsored by 33 countries, including three other members of the U.N. Security council at that time (the UK, France, and Germany), and four other European nations (Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland).State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We will work closely with partners in the international community to encourage the council to address serious cases of human rights abuse in countries such as Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Burma, Sudan, and North Korea".[204][205] On 31 March 2009, the administration of Barack Obama announced that it would reverse the country's previous position and would join the UNHRC;[206] New Zealand indicated its willingness not to seek election to the council to make room for the United States to run unopposed, along with Belgium and Norway for the WEOG seats.[211] In July 2019, UN ambassadors from 22 nations, including Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, and Japan, signed a joint letter to the UNHRC condemning China's mistreatment of the Uyghurs and other minority groups, urging the Chinese government to close the Xinjiang internment camps.[212][213] In response, UN ambassadors from 50 countries including Russia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, UAE, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Angola, Algeria, and Myanmar signed a joint letter to the UNHRC praising China's "remarkable achievements in Xinjiang" and opposing the practice of "politicizing human rights issues".[222] The UNHRC expressed grave concern over ongoing human rights violations against the Papuan people in Indonesia, citing a lack of accountability and transparency in investigations, hindering reparations for victims.[227] A Reuters report in 2008 said that independent human rights groups say that UNHRC is being controlled by some Middle East and African nations, supported by China, Russia and Cuba, which protect each other from criticism.[229] The UNHRC was criticized in 2009 for adopting a resolution submitted by Sri Lanka praising its conduct in Vanni that year, ignoring pleas for an international war crimes investigation.
United Nations human rights organization (disambiguation)Emblem of the UNHRCPalace of NationsGenevaSwitzerlandUnited Nationshuman rightsregional groupUnited Nations Office at GenevaUnited Nations member statesfreedom of associationassemblyfreedom of expressionfreedom of belief and religionwomen's rightsLGBT rightsrights of racial and ethnic minoritiesUnited Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations Commission on Human RightsOffice of the High Commissioner for Human RightsEconomic and Social CouncilList of members of the United Nations Commission on Human RightsstaggeredUnited Nations regional grouping systemAfrican StatesEastern European StatesLatin American & Caribbean StatesWestern European & Other StatesCyprusMarshall IslandsSouth KoreaThailandDR CongoEthiopiaGambiaCzechiaNorth MacedoniaBoliviaColombiaMexicoIcelandIndonesiaKuwaitBurundiIvory CoastMalawiAlbaniaBulgariaBrazilDominican RepublicFranceNetherlandsBangladeshKyrgyzstanMaldivesVietnamAlgeriaMoroccoSouth AfricaGeorgiaRomaniaCosta RicaBelgiumGermanyCameroonEritreaThe GambiaSomaliaKazakhstanMalaysiaUnited Arab EmiratesLithuaniaMontenegroArgentinaHondurasParaguayFinlandLuxembourgUnited StatesCôte d'IvoireSenegalPakistanUzbekistanRussiaUkraineCzech RepublicUnited KingdomMauritaniaNamibiaArmeniaPolandVenezuelaBurkina FasoBahrainPhilippinesBahamasUruguayAustriaDenmarkAngolaNigeriaAfghanistanSlovakiaAustraliaRwandaTunisiaSaudi ArabiaCroatiaHungaryRepublic of KoreaMongoliaSloveniaEcuadorPanamaBotswanaLatviaEl SalvadorPortugalFormer Yugoslav Republic of MacedoniaRussian FederationSierra LeoneEstoniaIrelandUgandaMoldovaGuatemala