Change Through Action: GICJ’s Involvement in the HRC So Far
By Carolina Atlee / GICJ
It is halfway through the five-week-long 57th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which began on Monday, 9 September 2024. This article provides a comprehensive summary of GICJ’s participation at this HRC session thus far.
GICJ has worked closely with various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and member states and has provided reports, presentations, oral and written statements on human rights violations. Colleagues have attended and participated in General Debates (GD), Interactive Dialogues (ID), and Side Events.
Some of GICJ’s members attended the opening session of this HRC. The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, provided an overall summary of the situation of human rights worldwide. He began with a thought-provoking statement: “We can and must make a different choice.” This raised awareness of the continual discrimination and persecution that occurs worldwide.
The same day, during an ID on a report by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, GICJ’s Marisa Were made a joint Oral Statement with EAFORD (International Organisation for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination). She commended the importance of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and the vital evidence provided to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. However, she raised concerns about Myanmar’s lack of accountability regarding the surge of violence, including suppression of protests, unlawful detentions, and sexual violence. Marisa called for accountability from the Myanmar military.
Carolina Atlee continued this conversation in a joint Oral Statement with Meezaan Centre for Human Rights and Immigration during an ID on human rights in Myanmar on 24 September 2024. Based upon the High Commissioner’s report, which focused on the impact of rights violations on mental health in Myanmar, Carolina – on behalf of GICJ and Meezaan – called for increased accountability in Myanmar. Further, she requested that States consider viable options for funding mental health provisions for both current inhabitants of Myanmar and refugees.
On 12 September 2024, Easha Madappa attended the ID on Truth, Justice, and Reparation. The Special Rapporteur for Truth, Justice and Reparation – Bernard Durheim – called on Member States to strengthen their transitional justice mechanisms. Easha wrote a media post on this session and how the Special Rapporteur urged the international community to move beyond a strict legal interpretation of the three pillars of truth, justice, and reparation and instead adopt a holistic and intersectional approach.
On the same day, Inès Najeh attended the ID with Tomoya Obokata, the Special Rapporteur, on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences. She concluded that modern slavery still occurs regularly in our society and focused on incarcerated individuals. On behalf of GICJ, her written statement acknowledged that poverty is recognised as one of the fundamental causes of modern slavery across many countries. It urged that States provide incarcerated individuals with at least the national minimum wage to prevent exploitation and uphold their human rights.
Also, on 12 September 2024, Julius Schmitz attended an ID with the Working Group on Mercenaries. He acknowledged in a written post that there is a direct correlation between number of weapons and civilian casualties. As a representative of GICJ, he called for Member States to stop their support of mercenary groups and for the international community to increase regulation. Julius then attended the ID on the Secretary-General’s analytical study on climate change on 13 and 16 of September. He highlighted the severe detrimental effects of climate change on human rights, urging governments to take responsibility for their actions contributing to climate change.
Along the same lines, Inès discussed the ID with the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation on 13 September 2024. The Special Rapporteur highlighted the urgent need to prioritise water, which is essential for life, as a fundamental human right. She highlighted GICJ’s position of halting water privatisation, which disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.
On 18 September 2024, Mildred Asiimwe wrote about the ID with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which urged States to end arbitrary detention and release all detained individuals. On the same day, Cheong H. Chan discussed the ID with Expert Mechanism on the right to develop. Overall, this media post emphasised that the right to development is a human right and must be sustainable.
At the close of the second week, on 20 September 2024, Milagros Begoña Cano Cernuda called for international accountability during her summary of the ID with the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela. Chair and Member of the Mission, Marta Valiñas and Francisco Cox, discussed Venezuela’s systematic persecution of opposition figures and civilians, especially after the July 2024 elections. The session highlighted that the “Venezuelan Government has taken its repression to unprecedented levels”, and GICJ called for international accountability mechanisms.
The same day, Yazan Hamid wrote about Humanitarian Atrocities in Burundi. Mr Fortuné Gaetan Zongo, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burundi, discussed Burundi’s hostile political landscape and voiced concern for grave human rights violations in the lead-up to the 2025 legislative and municipal elections. The Special Rapporteur then discussed that corruption is rampant within the government, particularly referencing a dangerous paramilitary group – The Imbonerakue Militia – protected and endorsed by Burundi authorities.
Also on 20 September 2024, Inès made a joint Oral Statement with the Association Ma’onah for Human Rights and Immigration in GD on Item 4. She spoke about how Yemen is undergoing an extreme humanitarian crisis, highlighting the severe restrictions on humanitarian aid imposed by the Houthi militia and climate crisis. She specifically noted that women and girls are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence. Inès called for the international community to immediately hold the militia group accountable. She developed this on Wednesday 25 September 2024, in another joint statement on Item 4; this time, she spoke on the topics of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention in both Iraq and Yemen. She ended by urging the Council to intensify its efforts to document the enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions occurring in Iraq and Yemen, and the international community to work towards holding perpetrators accountable.
Gautier Boyrie gave a joint oral statement with InternationalLawyers.Org on 26 September on Item 4 in GD, furthering the discussion on Iraq. He addressed the silencing of Iraqi inhabitants, particularly of human rights defenders, lawyers, and academics. He discussed how the Ministry of High Education has been prohibiting university professors from presenting their views on laws within the country, as well as the Iraqi Bar Association suing lawyers for speaking out against various policy proposals of the government. He urged the appointment of a Special Rapporteur to Iraq.
For this session, GICJ has submitted three joint written statements, drafted by Gautier, Marisa and Inès. Gautier provided insight into Item 3, specifically human rights violations in Iraq including enforced disappearances, the death penalty, arbitrary detentions, and torture. He advised the use of independent investigative committees in Iraq, closer international monitoring of the human rights situation, and technical and financial funding for Iraqi civil society organisations as a means of combatting these rights violations.
Inès produced a statement on Item 7. She noted the urgency of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, highlighting the need for humanitarian aid and increased support for UN agencies, as well as the initiation of investigations into Israel’s war crimes.
Marisa wrote a statement on Item 9, discussing the interaction of Artificial Intelligence and far-right ideologies. She considered how these lead to increased societal divisions and rights violations, and provided suggestions on how States can reduce these detrimental effects.
We extend many thanks to Hind Raad Gathwan for translating many media posts and articles over the past two and a half weeks. Publications in French can be viewed via the following link: Read in French
Across the past three weeks, GICJ members have called for accountability and for sustainable measures to be adopted by Member States to ensure the promotion, protection, and regulation of international human rights. We are prepared for the second half of this HRC, and ready to continue fighting for justice.
