Switzerland organises a third seminar in Lausanne on the UN Human rights Council
Berne, 28.08.2006 - On 28 August 2006, Switzerland organised another seminar on the subject of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The purpose of the seminar was to discuss the issue of how the Council should address the human rights situation in individual countries as well as the implementaion of an innovative mechanism of universal periodic reviews. All countries were invited to participate in these informal discussions. Over 250 participants from 140 countries attended the meeting together with international human rights experts. The President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Luis Alfonso De Alba, and representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also participated.
The objective of the seminar was to conduct a substantive and cross-regional discussion on the important subject of dealing with the human rights situation in individual countries as well as on the implementation of a mechanism of universal periodic reviews. This mechanism, which is one of the main innovations of the Council in comparison with the former Commission on Human Rights, will enable the Council to review the situation in every country over the course of a cycle, the duration of which remains to be determined. The definition of this mechanism has been the subject of discussion within a special working group of the Council since the month of July.
The seminar also prvided an opportunity for Prof. Walter Kälin and Ms Andrea Aeby of the University of Bern to present the Universal Index of Human Rights, which has been developed with the support of the DFA. The Index is an online data base giving instant access to information within the UN system concerning human rights in every country.
The meeting, which took place ahead of the Council’s second ordinary session scheduled to begin on 18 September 2006, aimed to promote a less confrontational and selective functioning of the Council than that of the former Commission on Human Rights. The establishment of clear and fair rules on addressing the human rights situation in all countries is considered to be one of the keys to achieving this objective.
Switzerland has committed considerable resources to the creation of the Human Rights Council and has been elected as one of its 47 members. The DFA organised similar meetings in June 2005 and May 2006 in Lausanne.
For further information:
DFA, Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, Raphaël Saborit, Tel. 079 335 76 14, e-mail: raphael.saborit@eda.admin.ch
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