Conference primer: Human Rights Council: 2022 - HRC50

7 June 2022

10 May 2022

UN News (audio), 6 April 2022

Approved by the HRC on 1 April 2022

Information on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) segment of the Human Rights Council
(Not an official UPR website)

The discussion will be organized in a format of keynote statements and interventions by representatives of Governments, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations and other stakeholders, followed by a general discussion. The topics for discussion will be based on decision VII/9 and the key issues addressed through the work of the Task Forces and Working Group of the Parties. Programme for the Round Table is available on this page.

The Working Group is expected to review the progress in implementing the current work programme and discuss a number of items, including progress achieved in promoting access to information, public participation and access to justice, and in ratification of the Convention's amendment on genetically modified organisms; financial matters; and promotion of the Convention and relevant developments and interlinkages.

The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25th June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus at the Fourth Ministerial Conference in the 'Environment for Europe' process.
Together with its Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, it protects every person’s right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being. They are the only global legally binding global instruments on environmental democracy that put Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development in practice.

The UNGA adopted the resolution on 28 July 2022, by a recorded vote of 161 in favor and zero against, with eight abstentions.
In an interview ahead of the UNGA vote, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment David Boyd noted that while not legally binding, UNGA resolutions can serve as catalysts for action.
IISD, 3 August 2022

It’s been an eventful, agenda-packed 50th session for the United Nations Human Rights Council. With various conflicts, pressing human rights atrocities, new challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis all at top of mind, the Council had much to digest and discuss.
Geneva Solutions, 3 July 2022

Dossier spécial, plus de 15 articles disponibles
Justiceinfo.net, 1 juillet 2022

The decision to reverse Roe v. Wade — a 50-year-old law protecting the right to abortion in the United States — has reverberated around the world. In Geneva, many within the international community have already condemned the US Supreme Court’s ruling.
Geneva Solutions, 1 July 2022

Demain, le 1er juillet, la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) fêtera ses 20 ans. A cette occasion, l’avocat défenseur des droits humains Reed Brody revient sur les résultats de cette Cour qui n’a condamné aucun responsable étatique pour crimes graves. Si cet anniversaire est marqué par un extraordinaire « momentum Ukraine », l’auteur prévient : si le bureau du procureur de la CPI ne veut pas risquer d’être considéré comme un simple bras judiciaire de l'Otan, il doit concevoir une réponse tout aussi robuste pour les autres situations sur lesquelles il est censé enquêter.
Justiceinfo.net, 30 juin 2022

The Human Rights Council will discuss women and girls rights in Afghanistan, as the country reels from two deadly earthquakes in a week.
Geneva Solutions, 27 June 2022

After being appointed the UN’s first special rapporteur on human rights and climate change in March, Ian Fry outlined before the Human Rights Council this week the key issues he will focus on over the next three years of his mandate.
Geneva Solutions, 27 June 2022

Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council on Monday that this would be her last session, signalling she would not seek reelection as UN human rights commissioner.
Geneva Solutions, 20 June 2022

Le Monde, 16 June 2022

Palestine criticises US involvement in conflict
A contentious agenda item about an independent commission of inquiry report on Palestine and Israel was at the heart of the first day of the UN Human Rights Council’s 50th regular session. But when the time came for Israel to comment, its representative was nowhere to be seen.
Geneva Solutions, published 13 June 2022, updated 15 June 2022

South China Morning Post / Agence France Presse, 15 June 2022

United Nations experts appointed to investigate human rights violations in Ukraine on Wednesday said that information they have gathered so far “may support claims” of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Geneva Solutions, 15 June 2022

The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) will hold its 50th session in Geneva from 13 June to 8 July 2022. As this latest session begins, APC reiterates the importance of supporting and strengthening the Council as a key mechanism for advancing human rights online. APC considers the HRC sessions an important opportunity to influence the setting up of international standards on human rights in digital contexts and to raise awareness regarding violations of human rights online in specific countries.
Association for Progressive Communication, 10 June 2022

The Conversation, 15 June 2022

Geneva Solutions, 12 june 2022

The Conversation, 4 June 2022

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, urge you to call for and support an urgent debate at the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council regarding the women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan. We further urge you to support a resolution responding to this crisis.
NGO: Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 1 June 2022

The 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council, from 13 June to 8 July 2022, will consider issues including sexual orientation and gender identity, violence and discrimination against women and girls, poverty, peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of expression, among others. It will also present an opportunity to address grave human rights situations including in Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Eritrea, Israel and OPT, Russia, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela, among many others. Here’s an overview of some of the key issues on the agenda.
International Service for Human Rights, 31 May 2022

Dès les premiers jours du conflit, les armes du droit ont été mobilisées par l’Ukraine et la Cour pénale internationale a « pris les armes » aux côtés de celle-ci. La juriste et militante Céline Bardet rappelle le précédent historique libyen et s’interroge sur la capacité de la CPI et de la justice ukrainienne à poser en temps de guerre des gardes fous clairs afin de juger en toute indépendance.
JusticeInfo.net, 30 mai 2022

Geneva Solutions, 25 May 2022, updated 30 May 2022

Geneva Solutions, 12 May 2022

Reuters, 10 May 2022

Passeblue.com, 26 April 2022

Geneva Solutions, 11 April 2022

SEVENTY-SIXTH SESSION,
UN General Assembly Coverage, 97th meeting (AM) GA/12437, 28 July 2022

With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions*, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right.
28 July 2022

On 28 July 2022, UN General Assembly votes on a draft resolution (co-sponsored by Switzerland) recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable #environment, following the adoption of a similar resolution by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2021.
UN News, 22 July 2022

The deaths of at least 23 migrants seeking to reach Spanish territory from Morocco should be investigated urgently by both countries, the UN rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday, reacting also to reports overnight of of least 50 migrants found dead in a truck in southern Texas.
UN News, 28 June 2022

UN News, 27 June 2022

24 June 2022

OHCHR, 24 june 2022

UN News, 24 June 2022

“The plight of internally displaced persons is more than a humanitarian issue. It takes an integrated approach – combining development, peacebuilding, human rights, climate action and disaster risk reduction efforts.”
Launched 24 June 2022

UN independent human rights experts have deplored the recent violent crackdown on civil society in Iran, calling on Wednesday for independent investigations into excessive use of force against protestors.
UN News, 15 June 2022

The Afghanistan people are experiencing some of “the darkest moments” in a generation the UN human rights chief told Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
UN News, 15 June 2022

OHCHR, 14 June 2022

UN News, 13 June 2022

War in Ukraine continues to cause mayhem and “destroy the lives of many”, and it is everyone’s responsibility to limit the global food, fuel and financial crisis” that it has sustained, the UN’s top rights official told the Human Rights Council on Monday, in her last session as High Commissioner.
UN News, 13 June 2022

OHCHR, 10 June 2022

UN Geneva News, 10 June 2022

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the death sentence handed down to three foreign fighters in Ukraine by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
UN News, 10 June 2022

Strengthening accountability and justice for serious violations of international law, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, was the focus of debate in the UN Security Council on Thursday, 2 June 2022
UN News, 2 June 2022

At the end of her official visit to China, the first such trip in 17 years, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet announced new areas of engagement between her office and the Chinese Government on rights issues, and summarized the many rights issues raised during her six-day May mission.
UN News, 28 May 2022

UN News, 26 avril 2022

• #Ukraine crisis: interview with WFP’s Abeer Etefa (pictured) @UNDP
• #Yemen aid appeal: @antonioguterres @UNOCHA
• #HRC49 #Myanmar #Tatmadaw ‘war crimes’ alert: @mbachelet

Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (A/HRC/47/39/Add.2 - 22 June 2021)

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan (13 April 2021)

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights - 10th anniversary, 16 June 2021
UN human rights standards for business reach 10-year milestone: time to gear up for new decade of action

UN Geneva News, 16 June 2021

An OHCHR database containing all recommendations issued by the human rights mechanisms, searchable by SDGs

Making the link between human rights and development
By the Danish Institute for Human Rights