EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Report of the Human Rights Council
Check against delivery
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina* align themselves with this statement.
The European Union warmly thanks Ambassador Jürg Lauber for presenting the Council’s annual report to the UN General Assembly. We commend your excellent leadership of the Human Rights Council.
This has been a particularly challenging year for the Council due to new and existing human rights violations and abuses, while also facing significant budget cuts, as a consequence of the current liquidity and financial crisis of the United Nations.
Human rights violations and abuses are repeatedly amongst the root causes of conflict, and, alongside poverty, food insecurity and the effects of climate change, seriously challenge the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. Advancing human rights is therefore also an investment in sustainable development and peace and security.
Mr. President,
The Human Rights Council plays a vital role in promoting and protecting human rights around the world. It provides a global platform where all countries can address human rights concerns, but also progress, through dialogue, cooperation and accountability. With its system of Special Procedures, the Universal Periodic Review, and other mechanisms, the Council shines light on human rights violations, provides a platform for cooperation to achieve tangible progress, gives voice to victims, promotes justice and accountability, and supports countries in building stronger institutions.
The EU and its Member States reaffirm their steadfast commitment to the Human Rights Council and firm conviction that all human rights are equally important and interlinked.
This year, the EU welcomed the adoption of several important thematic resolutions on economic, social and cultural rights – including the omnibus resolution on economic, social and cultural rights, the right to education, the right to food, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance remain an affront to human dignity. We therefore supported both the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Racism and of the International Working Group on the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
We led the work on the resolution on freedom of religion or belief and supported several other resolutions on civil and political rights, such as the resolution on freedom of opinion and expression and peaceful assembly and association. These human rights are necessary for an open, democratic and resilient society.
As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action and the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and Security agenda, the EU continued promoting gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. We supported resolutions seeking to eliminate violence and discrimination against women and girls, and female genital mutilation, as well as new initiatives to advance women in diplomacy and to accelerate women’s economic empowerment.
Based on our long-standing commitments and priorities, we advocated for the resolution on the question of the death penalty, which was adopted with unprecedented support, as well as resolutions on arbitrary detention, safety of journalists, civil society space, and human rights defenders. The EU also welcomed the resolution on new and emerging digital technologies, which addresses the risks posed by artificial intelligence, surveillance, and disinformation. We remain committed to ensuring that digital transformation respects human rights and democratic values.
Mr. President,
The EU continues to protect and promote human rights both at home and abroad. We recognize that no country has a perfect human rights record, and that we all have work to do. For our part, we are open to constructive criticism, dialogue and learning from others. This includes cooperating fully with the UN human rights mechanisms. All 27 EU Member States have issued a standing invitation to the UN Special Procedures, and we urge other states to do the same.
For the same reason, the EU cannot turn a blind eye to serious human rights violations and abuses taking place in other parts of the world. The principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in internal affairs of the UN Charter do not free states from their obligations under international human rights law. Invoking state sovereignty cannot be used by governments as a shield from scrutiny for how they are treating persons within their territory and upholding respect for the UN Charter and other international law obligations.
In that vein, the EU continued to engage actively to ensure that the Council fulfills its responsibility to respond to situations where attention to grave human rights violations is needed. We are pleased to note that the majority of the resolutions were adopted by consensus.
This was the case for the EU-led resolutions on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, which established a new important mechanism to investigate violations of human rights in the country, as well as the resolutions on the situations in Myanmar and DPRK.
For the first time, the resolutions on the situation in Georgia and Syria were also adopted by consensus, the latter actively supported by the concerned country, marking an extraordinary turn of events and reflecting how the Council can accompany developments on the ground.
The EU also led initiatives in the Council to address the grave human rights situations in Belarus, Burundi and Eritrea, renewing important mandates.
With the support of countries across the world, a group of EU Member States led the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in the Russian Federation, where the substantial deterioration of human rights, of the state of democracy, and of the rule of law justifies continued monitoring.
All EU Member of the Council also supported the renewal of the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Ukraine, stemming from the Russian illegal war of aggression.
Mr. President,
In the current global context, it is imperative that the Human Rights Council remains equipped to perform its functions and that its mandates are adequately staffed and resourced.
While the EU supports the UN80 initiative, as an opportunity to ensure that the UN is stronger, and more effective and efficient in responding to today’s global challenges, the reform process must ensure that the UN human rights pillar is strengthened, not weakened, especially given its critical role and modest share of the UN budget, which accounts for only 1% of UN spending and is already severely underfunded. We recall that UN Member States, in the Pact for the Future, explicitly requested an increase in the human rights budget. UN80 reforms should ensure more effective implementation of all the commitments in the Pact, and not undermine or ignore them.
We call upon the UN Secretary General to ensure sufficient funding from the regular budget for the human rights pillar, and on all States to fulfil their financial commitments. As we undergo the UN80 process, we emphasize the critical need to strengthen the UN human rights system, including OHCHR.
Mr. President,
We welcome work already undertaken by the Human Rights Council to ensure efficiency of its working methods and to rationalize initiatives, and thank the co-facilitators Spain and Thailand for their work. We applaud the establishment of a new mandate on contemporary forms of slavery and trafficking in persons at the 60th Council session, merging two mandates to enhance coherence and impact in addressing these interconnected issues.
Over the years, the EU and is Member States have made major efforts to streamline initiatives and mandated tasks, including by biannualizing or triannualizing resolutions and reducing requests for reports and meetings. We strongly encourage all to participate in those efforts and stand ready to collaborate further in this vein, across all UN pillars.
Reducing redundancies is crucial to improving the efficiency of the Human Rights Council and addressing the concerns with the growing workload of the Third Committee. Two examples of redundancies that must be addressed are the unnecessary duplication of this very debate, and the adoption of the report of the Human Rights Council also in the Third Committee – even though the Council is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and, as such, should report directly to General Assembly.
The EU also welcomes increased coordination by the bureaus of the Council and the Third Committee this year to ensure synergies of these bodies’ work. While fully recognizing that the activities of the two bodies has grown, decisions on working methods should always be taken in an inclusive, consensual and carefully considered manner. As part of our joint responsibility to safeguard the system, we must ensure efficient use of our limited resources, and ensure that the resolutions we pass are effectively implemented for the benefit of the people on the ground that we are here to serve.
Mr. President,
In closing, last month the General Assembly elected new members of the HRC. Serving as a Council member entails important responsibilities. We congratulate the new members and look forward to cooperating and addressing all human rights concerns that come before the Council on their merits, while also recalling the need to give due importance to the human rights situation in every country represented in the Council and fully cooperate with its mechanisms.
We pledge to engage constructively, to uphold the highest human rights standards, and to strengthen the effectiveness of our shared institutions, and are eager to cooperate with all states to reach these goals for the betterment of our joint humanity.
* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.