As the UN Human Rights Council concludes its 56th session, the ICJ warns that political deadlock and waning commitment by some States to long agreed human rights objectives continue to limit the Council’s effectiveness in fulfilling its mandate to protect and promote human rights around the world.
Despite these larger trends, the Council was able to demonstrate it remains an indispensable global institution for advancing human rights by taking important action, including on a range of initiatives to advance gender equality and the realization of the rights of women, girls and LGBTIQ+ persons. The Council adopted without a vote resolutions on HIV-AIDS, on menstrual hygiene management, on the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, and on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. The Council also renewed the mandate of the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement (without a vote).
While welcoming the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, all too many States sought to shield that country with among the direst of human rights records from international scrutiny. In the end, the mandate was renewed in a contested vote (20 in favour, 8 against, and 19 abstentions).
Yet once again, attempts to undermine human rights universality, and to restrict the engagement of civil society were producing great strains on the world’s main human rights intergovernmental body.
Certain States, many of which themselves have poor human rights records, invoked disingenuous arguments of “double-standards”, selectivity, partiality and interference in internal affairs to question the legitimacy of the HRC‘s action on country situations. Some sought to undermine affirmations by the Council of human rights universality and the principle that human rights must be enjoyed by all people on an equal and non-discriminatory basis, irrespective of status, spuriously invoking the spectre of threats to traditional and moral values.
The ICJ, for its part, remained active in advocacy on a number of fronts, including in the area of independence of judges and lawyers, women’s human rights and gender justice, and the country situations of including Belarus, Colombia, Libya, Myanmar, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, and Venezuela.
Independence of judges and lawyers
The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, reported to the Council and stressed that the many contemporary threats to democracy and democratic institutions were simultaneously undermining judicial independence and the free and independent work of legal professionals. The ICJ, in its comments to the Council on the report, pointed to a trend of a rise in authoritarian regimes accompanied by attacks on independent judiciaries and legal professionals, including in Tunisia, India and Guatemala. In addition, the ICJ warned that the tendency to attack judicial institutions also extended to the International Criminal Court, whose personnel had been threatened with retaliation for performing their professional duties.
In this connection, the ICJ organized a side event on 25 June with several organizations representing judges and lawyers, with the participation of the Special Rapporteur, featuring speakers on the situations in Tunisia, Peru, El Salvador, and Poland. The event also considered global trends related to attacks on bar associations and their independence.
In terms of Council action, a resolution adopted without opposition and led by the core group of Hungary, Botswana, Maldives, Australia and Mexico, focused on the many challenges posed by the growing use of artificial intelligence for the independence of judges and lawyers and for the administration of justice and the need for compliance with international human rights law and standards. While this resolution is welcome, the Council needs to do more to address what will become an increasing challenge to human rights.
In the course of negotiations of this resolution as in other resolutions, several States attempted to weaken the achievements of the Council through questioning well-established international human rights standards. Most notable were attacks around gender issues by the Russian Federation, the members of the group of Arab States and of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Questioning established and universal human rights standards
Indeed, in negotiations of texts to advance the right to peaceful protests, human rights in the context of HIV-AIDs, and the elimination of discrimination against women and girls, to name only a few, certain States sought to turn back the clock on progress achieved over many years made in the international protection of human rights. They questioned the legitimacy of the commentary and jurisprudence of the principal UN human rights institutions – the UN treaty bodies, Special Procedures mechanisms and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – as running counter to their cultural, moral or religious values, and their national laws and “sovereignty”. Consequently, they sought to delete language included in Council resolutions based on those sources. This approach negates the raison d’être of the UN Human rights system and spits on the needs and aspirations of the most discriminated against and marginalized rights-holders and of victims and survivors of human rights violations.
Discrimination against women and girls and other resolutions around gender issues
In particular, the resolution on the elimination of discrimination against women and girls has been the subject of fierce attacks, even in respect to long-standing agreed language. Seven amendments were tabled: one by the Group of Arab States aimed at deleting the reference to comprehensive sexuality education, and several others by the Russian Federation contesting concepts such as bodily autonomy, comprehensive sexuality education, gender-based violence, and sexual and reproductive health. These regressive and human rights-averse positions are made under the pretext of protecting cultural and moral values, but at their core are an attack on the universality of human rights.
Fortunately, the resolution could eventually be adopted without a vote. However, the ICJ joined delegations that deplored the growing polarization at the Council that is detrimental to long-standing progress achieved in the protection of women and girls’ rights, including the advancement of gender equality. These retrogressive tendencies extend also to the rights of others who are particularly discriminated against and marginalized on status grounds, such as LGBTIQ+ persons, ethnic or religious minorities, and indigenous peoples.
Belarus
The ICJ participated in the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Belarus, and reinforced her assessment that the erosion of human rights protections and the rule of law in the country had continued unabated. The ICJ deplored in particular the ongoing attacks on lawyers, including arbitrary detention and spurious prosecutions and disciplinary cases against them that often result in disbarments, which severely undermine their ability to carry out their professional duties. The work of the Special Rapporteur is more than ever critical, despite the strong rejection by Belarus and its political allies of this mandate.
Colombia
The Council considered the High Commissioner’s report on technical cooperation in Colombia. The ICJ agreed with the High Commissioner that, despite some significant efforts, impunity for gross human rights violations and serious international humanitarian law violations arising from the decades-long armed conflict persists. The ICJ also expressed concern about initiatives underway that would give jurisdiction to the military criminal justice system to investigate human rights violations allegedly committed by State agents in the context of social protests. The ICJ further condemned attacks against human rights defenders and social leaders and urged the authorities to take the necessary preventive and protective measures, and ensure an enabling environment for the exercise of their fundamental freedoms.
Libya
On Libya, the Council heard the OHCHR report on technical assistance in the country, which, while useful, is hardly a replacement for sustained international accountability. It has been a year since the final report of the Council-mandated independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) mandated to investigate human rights violations and abuses by all parties since 2016. The mandate of the FFM was regretfully terminated in 2023 despite the fact that the situation in the country was dramatically aggravating.
The situation has continued to worsen and the ICJ, among other national and international civil society groups, stated that the existing resolution on technical assistance in Libya failed to recognize the gravity of the current situation, as well as the lack of any effective prospect for accountability at the national level for past and ongoing violations constituting crimes under international law. The ICJ continued to call on the Council to establish a robust independent international accountability mechanism.
Myanmar
The Council adopted without a vote a resolution on the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities. The ICJ joined several delegations in opposing language promoting, without condition, the repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar, in spite of a severe human rights deterioration and extreme violence, as exemplified by the recent events in Rakhine State.
The ICJ once again sought to focus the Council’s attention to the overall appalling humanitarian and human rights situation in the country, by presenting our latest report: “Unseen and Unheard: Violations of Women’s Rights in Myanmar”, documenting the dire situation of women in detention in the country. This report echoed the work by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar on the gender consequences of the coup in the country. The ICJ participated in two side-events on this work and on the impunity for the egregious violations of human rights in the country.
Palestine/Israel
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel presented its report examining violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and possible international crimes committed by all parties between 7 October and 31 December 2023. The ICJ commended the report of the Commission in which it concluded that the Israeli authorities, members of the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian armed groups as well as Palestinian civilians committed serious crimes under international law, including sexual and gender-based violence, in Israel and the Gaza Strip. The ICJ deplored Israel’s obstructions of the Commission’s investigations into these events, both in Israel and in the OPT. The ICJ further deplored the complete disregard for relevant UN Security Council’s resolutions and orders of the International Court of Justice. The ICJ called States to give effect to the Commission’s recommendations.
Venezuela
The High Commissioner on Human Rights presented his report on the situation in Venezuela. The ICJ, in remarks to the Council, denounced the expulsion of the OHCHR officials on the ground, the most recent example of the Venezuelan authorities’ lack of commitment and effective cooperation with the Council’s mechanisms. It also condemned the practice of “short-term” enforced disappearances, by which people are arbitrarily deprived of their liberty without contact with the outside world, particularly in the context of the upcoming elections. In this connection, the ICJ has documented the Prosecutor’s Office’s lack of independence from political authorities, as reflected by its unwillingness to prosecute most human rights violations so as to foster widespread impunity.
The ICJ urged the High Commissioner and the Council to strengthen monitoring of the human rights situation in Venezuela, particularly in the context of the upcoming elections, and to maintain a focus on the international accountability mechanism it created, irrespective of the election results. The ICJ joined forces with others to provide space for Venezuelan civil society to express their concerns and expectations on the international community on “10 years of persecution in Venezuela”
Additional Side-events
The ICJ joined forces with civil society and States on a number of other country situations and themes:
- Importance of Coordinated Accountability Strategies for Women’s and Girls’ Rights in Afghanistan (19 June 2024)
- Commemoration of the 35th Anniversary of the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (24 June 2024)
- In Defense of Free Expression and Peaceful Protest for Palestinian Human Rights (26 June 2024)
Oral statements
Full list of ICJ’s statements during the 56th session: