The Human Rights Council this afternoon heard a presentation by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of her annual report, and started an interactive dialogue with her.
In her presentation Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said 2013 was a landmark year for her Office as it was the twentieth anniversaries of the Vienna Declaration and the establishment of the High Commissioner's mandate. The High Commissioner announced that the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights was today travelling to Ukraine, and called for an investigation into human rights violations that had taken place in recent months in Ukraine. She also recommended that the Council establish its own international inquiry mechanism into human rights violations in Sri Lanka. This was her final report as High Commissioner, Ms. Pillay said, and her mandate had seen a number of major accomplishments, grappled with both unexpected and long-lasting challenges, and witnessed some of the most pitiless and implacable brutality that any human being could imagine. Ms. Pillay said her most heartfelt wish was that the Council, with the support of her Office, could find a way to galvanize the international community to act decisively to end the burden on the conscience of humankind.
In the interactive dialogue that followed speakers said work undertaken under the guidance of the High Commissioner ensured that human rights had become one of the pillars of the United Nations system. Speakers shared the High Commissioner’s concerns regarding the lack of efforts to protect economic, social and cultural rights. The international community should commit to put individuals and their dignity at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda, which should include clear and measurable objectives, several speakers said.
The conflicts around the world stretched the common capacity to respond and it was stressed that dialogue and conciliation should always be promoted in order to avoid violence. Several speakers voiced extreme regret that the report did not address continued crimes by Israel, the occupying authority of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and astonishment that there had been no mention of the grave violations committed by the Syrian regime. The world was standing helpless in the face of that regime and it was an imperative for the international community to address the situation. Other speakers spoke about the situation of Muslims in Myanmar, expressed alarm about the continued reports of sectarian violence in Central African Republic and agreed that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka required the Council’s attention. The situation in Ukraine was also raised.
Speaking in the interactive dialogue were Ethiopia on behalf of the African Union, Costa Rica on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Iran on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Yemen on behalf of the Arab Group, European Union, Argentina, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Togo, Sudan, South Sudan, Brazil, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, China, Malta, Uruguay, Chile, Germany, Uzbekistan, Australia, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Portugal, Cuba, United States, and Iran.
Ukraine spoke in a right of reply.
The Human Rights Council will resume its work tomorrow, Friday, 7 March, at 9 a.m. when it will observe International Women’s Day and continue the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner on her annual report. At midday it will convene a high-level panel on the sixty-fifth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide. And in the afternoon the Council will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng.
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Извор: Канцеларија на Обединетите Нации во Женева – 06.03.2014
