International human rights standards must translate to programmes on ground

International human rights standards “can and must” be translated into programmes on the ground, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, pointing to gender-related killings in Central America, massive migration from Myanmar to Bangladesh and ongoing tragedy in Syria.

“The world’s people are crying out for more justice, greater accountability, more respect for civil, cultural, economic, social, and political rights as well as the right to development,” said Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, presenting his annual report.

In that context of rising turmoil, he said the Office had assisted national authorities, democratic institutions and civil society in upholding human dignity and rights. To tackle femicide in Central America, it recently set up a virtual training in Argentina, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama of a Model Protocol developed to investigate gender-related deaths of women.

To ensure migrants’ rights, he said the Office had organized monitoring missions to European border and transit locations such as Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to assess protection needs. It had also published a report of “shocking” abuses suffered by migrants in Libya.

In Bangladesh, two rapid expert teams had been sent to interview refugees from Myanmar’s Rohingya community and report on violations. While they had been refused access by Myanmar authorities, his Office would continue to seek accountability for any such abuses, and coordinate with Bangladesh to ensure the integration of rights into humanitarian operations.

Faced with Syria’s refusal to enable access, he said the Office had established a Syrian Team — essentially virtual country offices in Beirut, Gaziantep, Amman and Geneva — that included monitoring and human rights advisors. In a similar lack of access, it had set up a team to conduct remote monitoring of the human rights situation in Venezuela, given recent countrywide demonstrations.

In the ensuing dialogue, delegates affirmed their commitment to upholding human rights obligations, and asked a range of questions — from how the High Commissioner had increased representation of developing countries in his Office, to how States could work with the United Nations to ensure sufficient space for civil society. Delegates from Switzerland and the United Kingdom asked how Member States could work with the Office to prevent human rights abuses from taking place, while representatives of Latvia and the United States pointed out that countries with grave human rights abuses should not be on the Human Rights Council. They asked what measures could be taken to improve the Council’s credibility.

Venezuela’s delegate said indivisible and progressive respect for all human rights was enshrined in its Constitution, which was among the reasons it had been elected to the Human Rights Council. He pressed the Office to comply with its General Assembly mandate to conduct its work on the basis of non‑politicization, transparency and non‑application of double standards, stressing that its report had omitted facts about crimes by armed groups.

Singapore’s representative asked why the Office had not presented a report to the General Assembly this year and requested clarity about its reporting responsibilities, a point echoed by Egypt’s representative.

There was growing understanding among States about the Office’s mandate, which must proceed without groundless accusations spread through false information, added the representative of the Russian Federation. Despite current trends, the Office was not supposed to be a human rights arbiter.

Original source: UN General Assembly.
Posted on 16 October 2017