United Nations Human Rights Council

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is in the United Nations System. The UNHRC took the place of the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR). It was established by the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The General Assembly made the UNHRC on 15 March 2006. This was to replace the previous CHR. People did not like the CHR because they allowed countries with poor human rights records to be members.[1][2]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson have not liked that the council acts for politics instead of human rights. Several people have said the council focuses too much on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[3][4][5] The United States did not take part in the Council when George W. Bush was president. They changed when Barack Obama became President.[6]

On 18 June 2007, the UNHRC made a plan for future work. They will assess the human rights in all 192 UN Member States. They will also allow people and organizations to bring complaints about human rights violations to the attention of the Council.

Presidents
  • Mr. Luis Alfonso de Alba (Mexico) 19 June 2006 to 18 June 2007.
  • Mr. Doru Romulus Costea (Romania) 19 June 2007 to 18 June 2008.
  • Mr. Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi (Nigeria) 19 June 2008 to 18 June 2009.
  • Mr. Alex Van Meeuwen (Belgium) 19 June 2009 to 18 June 2010.[7]
  • Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow (Thailand) 19 June 2010 to 18 June 2011.[7]
  • Laura Dupuy Lasserre (Uruguay)19 June 2011 to current.

References
  1. "UN creates new human rights body". BBC. 15 March 2006.
  2. http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=A/60/PV.72&Lang=E
  3. Secretary-General urges human rights activists to ‘fill leadership vacuum’, hold world leaders to account, in address to international day event, UN Department of Public Information 8 12 2008
  4. UN's Ban faults rights council over Israel, Reuters (reprinted in Ynet News 21 06 2007
  5. Human Rights Council president wants reform, SwissInfo 29 09 2007
  6. Lynch, Colum (1 April 2009). "U.S. to Seek Seat on U.N. Human Rights Council". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  7. "Human Rights Council – Membership of the Human Rights Council". .ohchr.org. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.


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