HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS FIFTEENTH SESSION FROM 13 SEPTEMBER TO 1 OCTOBER 2010

The Human Rights Council will hold its fifteenth regular session from 13 September to 1 October at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

On the morning of Monday, 13 September, the Council will hear an update by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, to be followed by a general debate. Under this item, which covers the reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General, the Council will have before it a number of reports, including the High Commissioner’s report on the elimination of discrimination against women; the consolidated report of the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner on the right to development; the report of the High Commissioner on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights; the report of the High Commissioner on the protection of journalists in situations of armed conflict; and the report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty.

Concerning the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, the Council will review reports by and hold interactive dialogues with Special Procedure mandate holders on issues concerning human rights obligations related to access to safe drinking water and sanitation; contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; the adverse effects of the movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes on the enjoyment of human rights; the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination; and human rights and international solidarity.

The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on extreme poverty on Wednesday, 15 September and the following day the Council will hear the report of the Working Group on the right to development. On Friday, 17 September there will be an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the Sudan on the human rights situation in that country.

On 20 September, the Council will focus its attention on issues related to indigenous peoples. It will hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people and will consider the report of the Expert mechanism on indigenous peoples.

The Council will be holding two panel discussions at this session: a half-day discussion on women’s equality before the law and its annual discussion on women’s rights, which will focus on the integration of gender perspective into the work of the Human Rights Council.

On Monday, 27 September, the Council will have before it the report of the independent international fact-finding mission which was tasked with investigating violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance to Gaza on 31 May. Similarly, the Committee of independent experts to monitor investigations concerning the Gaza Conflict will present its report.

On racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, the Council will have before it the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, on all manifestations of defamation of religions, in particular the ongoing serious implications of Islamophobia for the enjoyment of all rights by their followers. The Special Rapporteur will also present a report on the implementation of General Assembly resolutions dealing with certain practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The Council will also engage in a dialogue with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, which will present its report to the Council on its mission to the United States.

As for technical assistance and capacity-building, the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Burundi will address the Council and present a report of his predecessor’s activities since September 2008 and following his own visit to the country. The Council will also hold an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia on the implementation of his mandate in that country.

On Tuesday, 28 September, the Council will hear a presentation by and hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia and on the status and implementation of technical cooperation in the country. This interactive dialogue will be followed, on Wednesday, 29 September, by a stand-alone interactive dialogue on effective measures to improve the human rights situation in Somalia and to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations support in the promotion and protection of human rights.

Also at this session, the Council will consider the final outcomes of Universal Periodic Reviews undertaken on the human rights situations in Armenia, Belarus, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. Following its consideration of the reports, the Council is expected to officially adopt those documents, which include observations and recommendations to concretely improve the human rights situations in those countries.

At the end of its session, the Council will decide on two Special Procedures’ appointments: the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons.

For more detailed information about the work of the Council at this session, including with regard to documentation, please refer to the annotated agenda of the session A/HRC/15/1, as well as the Human Rights Council website at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/15session/.

Composition of the Council

The Council is made up of the following 47 Member States. The mandates conclude on 18 June of the year indicated between parentheses. The Member States are: Angola (2013); Argentina (2011); Bahrain (2011); Bangladesh (2012); Belgium (2012); Brazil (2011); Burkina Faso (2011); Cameroon (2012); Chile (2011); China (2012); Cuba (2012); Djibouti (2012); Ecuador (2013); France (2011); Gabon (2011); Ghana (2011); Guatemala (2013); Hungary (2012); Japan (2011); Jordan (2012); Kyrgyzstan (2012); Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (2013); Malaysia 2013); Maldives (2013); Mauritania (2013); Mauritius (2012); Mexico (2012); Nigeria (2012); Norway (2012); Pakistan (2011); Poland (2013); Qatar (2013); Republic of Korea (2011); Republic of Moldova (2013); Russian Federation (2012); Saudi Arabia (2012); Senegal (2012); Slovakia (2011); Spain (2013); Switzerland (2013); Thailand (2013); Uganda (2013); Ukraine (2011); United Kingdom (2011); United States (2012); Uruguay (2012); and Zambia (2011).

The President of the Council is Sihasak Phuangketkeow (Thailand); Vice-Presidents are Arcanjo Maria Do Nascimento (Angola), Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez (Cuba), and Fedor Rosocha (Slovakia); and the Vice-President and Rapporteur is Bente Angell-Hansen (Norway).


For use of the information media; not an official record

HRC10/088E