Human Rights Council
6 June 2011
Concludes General Debate on Reports by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner and on the Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights
The Human Rights Council this morning heard the presentation of the report of the second session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communications procedure, which was followed by a general debate on its agenda item on human rights bodies and mechanisms. The Council also concluded its general debate on its agenda items on thematic reports by the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner and on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
Drahoslav Stefanek, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Open-ended Working Group of the Human Rights Council on an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to provide a communications procedure, said that the text of the draft Optional Protocol was a result of a compromise, on which the Working Group agreed by consensus after an intense and thorough effort by all those involved. He noted that it might not initially fully meet expectations but that it constituted an instrument through which increased protection for the rights of children could be provided for under the Convention. The text drew on similar existing instruments, especially the most recent ones, using wherever possible and appropriate agreed language in order to ensure consistency and coherence within the treaty body system. The fact that the Working Group was able to complete this work in such a short time did not mean that the issues at stake were not given serious consideration.
Speakers in the general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms said that the Optional Protocol on a communications procedure would fill an important legal gap and provide complimentary means of redress in case of violations of the rights contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, thus offering children an equivalent level of protection to that extended by other core human rights treaties that already had such mechanisms. A speaker noted that there were still some issues to be clarified concerning the Optional Protocol before the end of this session. Several delegations noted that the focus of the last round of negotiations had been on reaching a quick agreement rather than exploring ways to ensure that the new mechanism was child-friendly and child-sensitive. On the draft resolution 14/3 on the draft Declaration on the Promotion of the Rights of People to Peace, some speakers expressed their reservations and said they could not support it because of the omission that the absence of peace could not justify failure to respect human rights and believed that the issues were better dealt with in other fora. Many speakers agreed that the Special Procedures were among the most effective, responsive and flexible mechanisms and that cooperation of States with mandate holders should be strengthened. Also, speakers recognized the need for a greater degree of transparency in the funding of Special Procedures.
Speaking in the general debate on human rights bodies and mechanisms were Hungary on behalf of European Union, Nigeria on behalf of the African Group, Slovenia on behalf of the Cross Regional Group (Austria, Chile, Germany, Kenya, Uruguay, Thailand, Slovakia, and the Maldives), China, Cuba, Argentina, Thailand, Maldives, Republic of Moldova, Slovakia, Algeria, Germany, Turkey, Holy See, Austria and Morocco.
Also speaking were the following national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations: International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions, SOS Kinderdorf International, International Service for Human Rights, International Commission of Jurists, Verein Sudwind Entwicklungpolitik, Indian Council of South America, International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and International Catholic Migration Commission.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Council concluded its general debate on agenda item two on the annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, and agenda item three on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development. During the discussion, speakers expressed appreciation to the High Commissioner for the mention of climate change in her report and urged her to support the overwhelming expression of civil society at the Social Forum calling for a Special Procedure on climate change. Concerning the denial of the right to self determination, several speakers noted human rights violations against the people in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the denial of the right to development and the right to survival of indigenous peoples, and the situation of the Sahrawi people in the Polisario camps. Speakers welcomed the report and recommendations by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and noted the violation of this right in several countries around the world, including the excessive use of force against demonstrators, arbitrary arrests, imprisonment, prosecution of dissidents and journalists and others.
The following speakers addressed the Council in the general debate on agenda items two and three: North-South XXI, International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations, World Muslim Congress, International Peace Bureau, International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, Recontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de L’Homme, Society for Threatened Peoples, Union de l’action feminine, Asian Legal Resource Centre, Indian Council of South America, Action internationale pour la paix et le développement dans la region des Grand-Lacs, Verein Sudwind Entwicklungpolitik, Human Rights Watch, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Cairo Institute for Human Rights, Agence internationale pour le développement, Centrist Democratic International, World Union for Progressive Judaism, Press Emblem Campaign and United Nations Watch.
China and Thailand spoke in the right of reply.