53rd session of the Human Rights Council
19 June – 14 July 2023
Agenda Item 2: Presentation of the High Commissioner on Human Rights Annual Report
19 June 2023
By Luísa Barbosa/GICJ
On the 19th of June 2023, the Human Rights Council opened its 53rd Session. Speaking first, the High Commissioner on Human Rights, Mr. Volker Turk, began his statement by recalling that human rights are the cornerstone of the United Nations. He mentioned that States have created a cooperative ecosystem of human rights mechanisms that collectively work toward the protection of rights but remarked his regret that we are currently at a critical juncture after 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where some States remain selective in respecting only part of their international obligations. Mr. Turk highlighted his concern that the Sustainable Development Agenda is dangerously off track. He reminded States that selective cooperation weakens the lifeline and international cooperation is vital to advance the human rights agenda and that poor cooperation leaves states adrift.
The High Commissioner commended countries such as Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Senegal and Kenya for their enhanced and continued engagement with the High Commissioner's Office, extending the OHCHR’s mandate in their own countries and cooperating towards achieving justice, the rights of minorities, and protection of the environment. In contrast, Mr. Turk called out certain States for their lack of cooperation with human rights mechanisms. As an example, he expressed his deep regret that Uganda chose not to renew the mandate of the OHCHR in the country following the passing of legislation that further criminalizes homosexuality. He also urged Mali, the Russian Federation, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, and Belarus to cooperate with the OHCHR and its field offices, as well as Special Procedures and Treaty Bodies. In addition, the High Commissioner remarked that some states have refused to issue visas for the human rights workers, such as Israel, or have not accepted visits by UN experts to their territories, such as Australia, Nicaragua, and Syria. He specifically expressed concern over the human rights situations in Afghanistan and in Palestine, the latter of which has seen a scenario of excessive use of force, unlawful killings and extrajudicial killings by Israeli authorities, expansion of settlers, and settler violence. In an innovative manner, Mr. Turk confronted the fact that even present members of the Council still do not accept requests for country visits. As an example, he cited Eritrea, which has not accepted any Special Rapporteur visit and has not engaged with other human rights mechanisms despite being a current member of the Council.
Mr. Turk highlighted the establishment of 59 special procedure mandates and of 14 investigative mechanisms within the OHCHR. To increase the effectiveness of these mechanisms, he called states to step up their implementation efforts, especially of UPR recommendations, which have often been rolled over and repeated from previous sessions. The High Commissioner also brought forward the need for state action on the gender composition of human rights mechanisms - a discussion sparked by the fact that only two women are in the running for the next election at the Committee Against Torture.
On the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OHCHR is establishing a campaign for greater ratification of human rights treaties and their protocols. Mr. Turk urged the USA to ratify the CRC, for example. He also remarked on the situation of human rights Treaty Bodies, stating that “regular reporting to treaty bodies is a key part of each state’s commitments and it does not require a high GDP.” On this subject, the High Commissioner commended Senegal for ratifying all core human rights treaties and being up to date on its reporting duties despite having relatively fewer resources and unlike many other states, which alarmingly constitute the figure of 601 overdue state reports to Treaty Bodies. Mr. Turk called on States to take action to continue interacting with the treaty bodies and to engage with the rationalization process to create a more sustainable and cost-effective system.
The High Commissioner concluded the presentation of the Annual Report by celebrating the presence of its 101 field offices in 95 countries, which was noted as a positive demonstration of cooperation with the Office and a vital source to help sharing good practices toward the protection of human rights worldwide. Yet, he expressed his concern over the limitations of the Annual Report, which does not reflect the full picture due to numerous attacks against civil society actors for simply interacting with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this respect, he raised the dire outcome of the Report on Intimidations and Reprisals by the Secretary-General, which cataloged over 700 cases of incidents of reprisals in 42 countries during 2022, 12 of those States being current members of the Council. The High Commissioner reminded States that international cooperation is vital to the protection of human rights and asked for further political and financial support to scale up the presence and action of the OHCHR, which aims to establish a presence for the first time in China and India, for example. He also asked for support for the “Human Rights Advisor Project,” which would require doubling the budget of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in an effort to establish one office of the OHCHR in each State toward the creation of a healthy and well-resourced human rights ecosystem.
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) supports the work of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and welcomes the Annual Report presented. We join the High Commissioner’s call for decisive action from states in the implementation and effective protection of human rights. We urge all States to step up their efforts in engaging with human rights mechanisms, demonstrating their support for the whole process of human rights monitoring and implementation. We call on States to abide by their obligations with human rights Treaty Bodies comprehensively and in due time toward greater protection of human rights worldwide.
Human rights, high commissioner, united nations, HRC53, human rights council
