Statement attributable to President of the Human Rights Council, 9th cycle, Ambassador Joachim Ruecker (Germany) - 21 December 2015

“Human Rights Council should be a primary organ of the UN”

“Council underscored its capacity to respond to emerging and urgent crises and to effectively address country and thematic issues”

“Council came to grips with its agenda”

“Huge challenges remain - no room for complacency”

21 December 2015

As my Presidency of the Human Rights Council in its 9th cycle is coming to an end, I wish to take stock of achievements and shortcomings throughout 2015, and point to some of my conclusions.

The Human Rights Council is the main political body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of Human Rights around the globe. Its ultimate purpose is to protect the right holders, to help victims of Human Rights abuses through its decisions and mechanisms on thematic issues and on country situations.

In my view, at the next institutional review in 2021, mandated by the General Assembly, UN member States should make it a primary organ of the UN, because politically – that was visible throughout the year - it has somewhat “outgrown” its current role of a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly. This way, all three pillars of the UN, namely Peace & Security, Development and Human Rights would be on an equal footing.

Throughout the year, not least in December when another informal with the High Commissioner on a wide range of situations and a special session on Burundi took place, the Council underscored its capacity to respond to emerging and urgent crises effectively.

Also, the Council’s Bureau underscored its capacity to deal with new issues like increasing requests from Heads of State to address the Council outside regular sessions. The Bureau took the position to strongly discourage such visits in the future.

Country situations. On substance, the Council addressed numerous country situations throughout the year, including Syria for which the Council has maintained a steady focus since the conflict erupted in 2011 (in particular through its Commission of Inquiry, laying the groundwork for accountability of perpetrators); the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (through the first country specific panel debate ever); and Sri Lanka (through a consensus resolution providing a road map for the long needed peace and reconciliation process).

Thematic issues. Throughoutthe year the Council also addressed numerous thematic issues including climate change, sustainable development, the right to privacy, terrorism and migration. As one result, human rights are part and parcel of the COP 21 final document and of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. The Council also established two new mandates on the right to privacy (in the digital age) and on the rights of persons with Albinism.

Three overarching priorities. When taking office a year ago, I identified three overarching priorities where we would try to make progress in 2015: Geneva-New York relations, Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Council. I also underscored the importance of protecting the space for civil society within the Council and its mechanisms (“not a nice to have, but core to our work”).

Geneva – New York relations. With regard to Geneva- New York relations, I believe that as a result of visits and interaction with key fora (like the General Assembly, the Third and the Fifth Committee) and interlocutors (like the President of the GA, Committee chairs, the Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary General, Civil Society), the Council’s work has become more visible and audible in the entire UN system and the three UN pillars have become more connected. Nonetheless, the UN Human Rights pillar, standing next to Peace & Security and Development, remains severely underfunded. I continue to advocate that he international community needs to increase the funding for the human rights pillar, also to allow the High Commissioner to fully implement his independent mandate.

Efficiency. When it comes to efficiency and the challenges of the hitherto ever increasing “inflation in our agenda”, thanks to the discipline of States and increased multi-annualization of initiatives we saw the first sustained quantitative contraction in the output of the Council, i.e. the number of texts, since its establishment in 2006.  However, there was a slight increase in the number of country-specific resolutions which can be attributed to emerging and protracted crises, pointing to the Council’s responsiveness. The number of Panel Debates also dropped slightly. In June, the Council adopted – by consensus – a President’s Statement on “Enhancing the Efficiency of the HRC”, deciding inter alia to have a better overview of our work (improved voluntary calendar), also in relation to the Third Committee of the General Assembly, where much duplication happens, and to develop a more distinguishable website for the Human Rights Council. All in all, the Council seemed to come to grips with its agenda as opposed to being overwhelmed by it. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain, especially with regard to smaller delegations, and it remains to be seen whether the trend to curb the inflation can be sustained.

Effectiveness. Efficiency, of course, is not an end in itself, but a means to better focus on the substance of the Council’s mandate, a means to be more effective. More effectiveness means more time to respond to emerging and urgent crises, more opportunities to improve our impact on the ground, beyond Room XX. In this regard, I am proud that this year we were able to introduce and find the time for some new formats of work, including holding informal conversations with the High Commissioner. A first round of informal discussions on how to further improve the impact of the Universal Periodic Review on the ground, ahead of its third cycle, has also begun.

Civil Society. Civil Society and the global community at large also help us to stay responsive and relevant. In today’s interconnected world, universal access to information means that people know better what they want; and people want their human rights. Their engagement reminds us to remain faithful to the vision for which the Human Rights Council was created at the World Summit in 2005. Civil Society provides a mirror and keeps our eyes and ears focused on early warning signs of impending crises. Undeniably, a strong Civil Society can help the Human Rights Council to have strong impact on the ground.  Reprisals or intimidation against those that seek to cooperate or cooperate with the Council and its mechanisms are therefore unacceptable. I have followed up to all cases that were brought to my attention and I have documented each case. I have also forwarded them to the Secretary-General for inclusion in his annual report on cooperation with the UN. But also the media have an important role to play, to help the Council be heard and be effective. Our common interest should be to have a strong Human Rights Council.

Looking at the world today, the challenges to human rights remain huge and there is absolutely no room for complacency. We all – Presidency, delegations, Civil Society, the Secretariat - have a responsibility to keep the Council a functioning, efficient and effective body. Especially States and in particular the past, present and future members of the Human Rights Council have a decisive role to play in securing impact beyond Room XX - and in “naming the shame” that happens throughout the world, in order to better protect the right holders, to better help victims of human rights abuses. This is what the Council is all about.

It was an honour and a privilege to serve the Council and the cause of human rights. The Bureau and I are very grateful to delegations and civil society who managed to maintain, throughout the year, an atmosphere of cooperation, transparency and trust, regardless of differences on substance. I am very much looking forward to 2016, when we will be able to mark the 10th anniversary of the Council, and can continue on this track.