UN Human Rights Council Opens 63rd Session in Geneva

The 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opened at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, beginning five weeks of reviews, dialogues and resolutions.

The Council’s 47 member states are scheduled to hold 37 interactive discussions with independent experts and adopt dozens of resolutions. On the opening day, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk will present an updated overview of the global human rights situation.

The session will address crises in Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar and Sudan. The Council will discuss a report on Belarus on Sept. 18. On Sept. 21, it will hold dialogues on human rights in Russia, an international fact-finding mission on Iran and an inquiry into Ukraine.

On Sept. 28, the High Commissioner will report on implementation of a resolution concerning Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan. A general debate on Palestine and other occupied Arab territories is also scheduled.

The agenda extends to Haiti, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Cambodia and Yemen. Independent experts will address older people’s rights, access to safe water and sanitation, contemporary slavery, hazardous waste, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, the rights of peasants and rural communities, mercenaries and private military companies.

The Council will also examine how unilateral sanctions imposed outside the UN framework affect access to food, medicine and medical care. Thematic discussions will cover economic, social and cultural rights amid rising inequality, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and gender integration in the Council’s work. Other reports will focus on resources for climate measures and reprisals against people who cooperate with the United Nations.