34th Session of the Human Rights Council: An Overview before the Opening
Photo by The Independent
Next Monday, 27 February 2017, the thirty-fourth Session of the Human Rights Council will be inaugurated in Geneva by its new elected President, Ambassador Joaquín Alexander Maza Martelli. The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006. The theme of the panel is “The contribution of human rights to peacebuilding through the enhancement of dialogue and international cooperation for the promotion of human rights”. In light of the Security Council resolution 2282 (2016) of 27 April 2016 and General Assembly resolution 70/262 of 27 April 2016, this session will look into the current human rights situation in over 45 countries and develop recommendations for longer-term solutions in the framework of the United Nations system. As for every session, the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) will be participating in the session and is co-organising with the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT) a side-event on 16 March 2017 entitled "In the Shadow of the Silk Road: Economic Exploitation and Human Rights Violation in Balochistan". The session will conclude on 24 March 2017.
The Agenda of the Session can be found here.
Below is an article published by OHCHR:
During the course of the four-week session, over 100 reports will be presented by some 30 human rights experts and investigative bodies on a wide range of issues addressing over 40 human rights themes and the human rights situations in more than 45 countries. The themes to be addressed include torture, freedom of religion or belief, peaceful assembly, child rights, countering terrorism, the right to privacy, human rights defenders, the rights of persons with disabilities, and the right to privacy, among others.
The Council will also hold 10 interactive panel discussions focussing on multiple issues, including the death penalty, climate change and human rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, the rights of the child, access to medicines, maternal mortality, racial profiling, and arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances in Syria for which Syrian victims and witnesses will share their stories.
The composition of the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session is as follows: Albania, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, China, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, and Venezuela.
