United Nations Human Rights Council

For similarly named entities, see United Nations human rights organization (disambiguation).

United Nations Human Rights Council
Formation15 March 2006; 18 years ago (2006-03-15)
TypeSubsidiary organ
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersGeneva, Switzerland
President
 Omar Zniber
Parent organization
United Nations General Assembly
WebsiteHRC at the ohchr.org
  African States (13)

  Asia-Pacific States (13)

  Eastern European States (6)

  Latin American and Caribbean States (8)

  Western European and Other States (7)

"All victims of human rights abuses should be able to look to the Human Rights Council as a forum and a springboard for action." — Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, 2007[1]

The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in the Palace of Nations in Geneva.

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)[a] is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world.[3] The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis.[4] The headquarters of the Council are at the United Nations Office at Geneva in Switzerland.

The Council investigates allegations of breaches of human rights in United Nations member states and addresses thematic human rights issues like freedom of association and assembly,[5] freedom of expression,[6] freedom of belief and religion,[7] women's rights,[8] LGBT rights,[9] and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities.[b]

The Council was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006[c] to replace the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR, herein CHR).[10] The Council works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and engages the United Nations special procedures. The Council has been strongly criticized for including member countries that engage in human rights abuses.[11][12]

  1. ^ "United Nations Human Rights Council". Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Conseil des droits de l'homme". 9 March 2019. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ "About the Human Rights Council". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Archived from the original on 11 March 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  4. ^ "OHCHR | HRC Sessions". www.ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  6. ^ "HRC Freedom of Opinion and Expression Resolution". Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  7. ^ "USCIRF Welcomes Move Away from 'Defamation of Religions' concept". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  8. ^ UNOG. "Human Rights Council Establishes Working Group On Discrimination Against Women in Law And Practise". Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Council establishes mandate on Côte d'Ivoire, adopts protocol to child rights treaty, requests study on discrimination and sexual orientation". 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2013. and "UN publishes first global report and recommendations to tackle gay rights abuses". 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  10. ^ "UN creates new human rights body". BBC. 15 March 2006. Archived from the original on 26 December 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  11. ^ Gladstone, Rick (14 October 2021). "U.S. Regains Seat at U.N. Human Rights Council, 3 Years After Quitting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  12. ^ Piccone, Ted (25 February 2021). "UN Human Rights Council: As the US returns, it will have to deal with China and its friends". Brookings. Retrieved 5 December 2021.


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