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Five international Christian bodies this week expressed expectation that the newly elected UN Human Rights Council will grant a "truly open space" for NGO participation on behalf of victims of human rights violations, as well as address the shortcomings of its predecessor and bring to completion pending issues, particularly in the field of standard-setting initiatives.
In welcoming the establishment of the new organ, the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, Franciscans International, Dominicans for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International expressed optimism, and affirmed that "on paper", the new UN body "may have some additional potential" for implementing human rights standards - a task in which the former UN Commission on Human Rights accomplished "too little and often too late".
In their first written submission to the new body, the five Christian organizations expressed "their support for a strong, independent and adequately resourced system of special procedures" that both addresses the shortcomings of its predecessor while it ensures the promotion and implementation of international human rights standards.
The five Christian organizations hope that during its first session, the Council will "extend for at least one year all of the mandates inherited from the Commission, in order to avoid 'protection gaps' and procedural lapses during the review period" of the system of special procedures.
In addition to considering and acting upon pending reports of the Commission's five intergovernmental working groups, the Christian organizations expect the Council to adopt the draft international convention on enforced disappearances and the draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples. "This would bring to a successful conclusion the pending standard-setting initiatives," the written submission affirms.
"We expect that the Human Rights Council will ... offer a truly open space for NGOs and for the voices of the victims of human rights violations, the poorest and the most vulnerable," the five organizations affirm, surpassing the "important precedents" established in this regard by its predecessor.
The five nonetheless highlighted the significant "contributions to the struggle for human rights" of the former UN Commission on Human Rights, particularly in creating foundational human rights instruments that contributed to the development of international law and global governance.
The full text of the joint written submission is available at:
