The Human Rights Council concludes its 11th session.

The UN Human Rights Council held its 11th session on 2-18 June 2009, thus concluding its third year since its creation. It is unfortunate that this third year finished on a negative tone due to the efforts of some countries not to let this body assume its role of promoting and protecting human rights around the world. This attitude led to multiple attacks against the UN’s independent experts on human rights (the so-called “special procedures”) and increased restrictions for NGOs to participate, among other things.

Three weeks after the shameful Special Session on Sri Lanka, where the Council “commended” the government for the measures taken to address the crisis – a crisis that had led to the death of thousands of civilians and the displacement of hundreds of thousands persons, who lacked the most basic assistance in government camps – it took the same body a very tight vote to prorogate the mandate of the expert on Sudan, a country that is experiencing some of the most serious human rights violations in the world.

The adoption of some reports under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) proved to be disappointing; in particular regarding those States that used their State-sponsored NGOs to take the floor, avoiding independent NGOs from expressing their concerns.

Franciscans International (FI) continued to be actively engaged in the Human Rights Council, submitting several oral or written statements in close coordination with our grassroots. All FI statements can be read on our website following this link. Franciscans International intervened on:

Country situations:
- Sri Lanka and West Papua (Indonesia): Human rights situation (Joint statement with Pax Romana and Dominicans for Justice and Peace)
- Benin and Zambia: Rights of the Child (written statement)
- Adoption of the UPR report of Cameroon and Canada

Thematic issues  -

Extreme Poverty:

- Draft Guiding Principles: call to continue developing the Principles, appoint the Independent Expert as drafter and adopt the Principles by 2010
         -Joint written (with 14 other NGOs) and oral (with 8 other NGOs) statements
- Interactive Dialogue with the Independent Expert on the issue of Cash Transfer Programs

Migrants and asylum-seekers
- Detention of irregular migrants and asylum seekers (Joint statement with Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers) and Human Rights Council of Australia)

Postponement of a Resolution on Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty

Franciscans International has been part of a group of NGOs strongly advocating for the continuation of the drafting process of Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights. These Principles are intended to become a tool that will contribute to the monitoring and implementation of the human rights of those living in extreme poverty.

Considering that extreme poverty is severely affecting the human dignity of over a billion people worldwide, Franciscans International considers that this topic should have been dealt with by the Council as a priority matter. This drafting process started more than 8 years ago. During the last two years, two consultations and one seminar involving States, international organizations, experts, NGOs… were held, in order to collect the views of the relevant actors. Franciscans International thus considers it is high time to move towards the finalization of the text.

It has been particularly frustrating to witness how, for some unknown reason – maybe for the active role of the Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty denouncing the human rights situation of the civilian population in the conflict of Sri Lanka – a number of delegations changed their position over the last five months. Notably Brazil, who originally supported the idea of mandating the Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty to work on a new draft (see report A/HRC/11/32, §59), now actively opposes it. This kind of attitude and the resistance from certain States such as South Africa, has led to postponement of the adoption of the resolution, which was to decide the continuation of this drafting process.

Franciscans International will continue to work for a more constructive spirit in the negotiation process, starting in the September Session of the Council. Three months have been lost; and during this time tens of thousands of people have died every day because of circumstances related to extreme poverty. More will die during the following months. The Council cannot wait any longer.

Franciscans International hopes that the fourth year of the Council will follow a different path. The Council should fully abide to its responsibility of “promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all” and effectively “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon” as it was its original mandate (A/RES/60/251).