Human Rights Council

[UN Observance] International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust

Each year on January 27, the United Nations officially recognizes the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The UN Charter endeavors that the human rights violations that occurred throughout World War II and the Holocaust must never be repeated, yet we know that they continue to be perpetrated today all over the world. Stay apprised of 2021 events to join us in honoring the memory of victims lost to the Holocaust and lifting up the critical message of peace, security, and human rights for all people here.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit  facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org.

High-Level Webinar: 10 years of protecting freedom of assembly and association

Webinar banner

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. In a High-Level Webinar with Ministers and other prominent speakers, the Special Rapporteur calls for an assessment of the progress made and renewed commitments from States and civil society. Please join us on 12 November 2020 (9 AM New York time) for an exciting event to support the protection of freedom of assembly and association!
You will find the link to sign-up directly in the flyer or click here to register. Simultaneous French and Spanish interpretation will be provided.
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High-Level Webinar: 10 years of protecting freedom of assembly and association

Celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

High-Level Webinar with:
Clément Voule – Special Rapporteur
Tomáš Petříček – Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic
Linas Antanas Linkevičius – Foreign Minister of Lithuania
Nada Al-Nashif – Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
Eamon Gilmore – EU Special Representative for Human Rights
Hina Jilani – The Elders, pioneering lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner
Mireille Tushiminina – Cameroon Women’s Peace Movement
Claudia Virginia Samayoa- Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Guatemala

Moderator:
Douglas Rutzen – President of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law

• In 2010, the Human Rights Council created the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. The year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the mandate. The current Special Rapporteur, Clément Voule, wants to use this opportunity to take stock and look forward.

• Over the course of the last ten years, the mandate has guided and contributed to many achievements in the protection of FoAA rights as well as civic space globally.

• Human rights in general and FoAA specifically are at a watershed in today’s difficult global context. The Covid-19 crisis, which has engulfed the world in 2020, has clearly exposed the detrimental effects that global crises, including public health ones, can have on an already battered civic space.

• This high-level webinar seeks to take stock on the first decade of the work of the mandate and initiate discussions with a view for the promotion and protection of the rights to FoAA around the world. The 10 year anniversary of the mandate provides a unique opportunity to build the next 10 years and beyond with renewed energy and commitments.

Nov 12, 2020 03:00 PM in Zurich

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CoNGO Notes: 1. For information about the engagement of non-governmental organizations with the Human Rights Council, see: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NgoParticipation.aspx. 2) For information about how CoNGO’s engagement with the issue of human rights and with the Human Rights Council, contact the NGO Committees on Human Rights in Geneva and New York. 3) See also https://www.giplatform.org/events/human-rights-council-45th-regular-session

Nuclear Weapon Free World: Global civil society commemoration of the UN Day for Nuclear Abolition

September 26, 2020, will be the 7th International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Join people around the world in celebrating the vision of a nuclear weapons free world, raising awareness and calling on their leaders to advance nuclear disarmament.

Organised by #WeThePeoples2020, an initiative of over 100 participating organizations, to promote and engage in the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and key UN days and events.

The Nuclear Weapon Free World event takes place in two parts:
Part 1: Timed to suit people in Asia and the Pacific
Part 2: Timed to suit people in the Americas, Europe and Africa

Registration:

  • Click here to register for Part 1: Asia/Pacific event
  • Click here to register for Part 2: Americas/Europe/Africa event

Each part will have three sessions:

Session 1: 10-12 presentations on nuclear disarmament issues
Session 2: Practical workshops on key approaches to nuclear disarmament, including using the arts, how to move the nuclear weapons budgets/investments to better things, how to engage and empower women and youth, how to engage your legislators (mayors, parliamentarians)…
Session 3: A panel discussion followed by Q&A on how to achieve nuclear disarmament, how to move the nuclear-armed states to relinquish nuclear deterrence, the role of non-nuclear states, how to build on the connections between nuclear disarmament and other key UN issues.

PROGRAM:

Moderators:

  • Part 1: Vanda Proskova (Czech Republic), Deputy Chair of the PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security, PNND Program Director for Women, Peace and Security;
  • Part 2: Kehkashan Basu (UAE/Canada), Youth Ambassador for the World Future Council, former United Nations Environment Programme Global Coordinator for Children & Youth, and winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize.

Opening comments:

  • Part 1: Yuriy Kryvonos (United Nations), Director of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific;
  • Part 2: Izumi Nakamitsu (United Nations), UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

Presentations, messages and panels with:

Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), President of the 73rd UN General Assembly (2018-2019), former Ecuador Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence and a poet; Mani Shankar Aiyar (India), Chair of the Rajiv Gandhi Action Plan Group for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free and Nonviolent World Order and former member of the Indian Parliament; Yasmeen Silva (USA), Partnerships Manager for Beyond the Bomb; Solomon Yeo (Solomon Islands), Co-founder of World Youth for Climate Justice; Prof Azza Karam (Netherlands), Secretary-General of Religions for Peace; Gareth Evans (Australia), Chair of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network or Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and Co-convenor of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament; Dr Hedy Fry MP (Canada), Special Representative on Gender Issues for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE); Rev Emma Jordan-Simpson (USA), Executive Director of Fellowship of Reconciliation USA; Karipbek Kuyukov (Kazakhstan), Artist, second generation victim of nuclear tests and Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project; Jeremy Corbyn (UK), Vice-President of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and former Leader of the UK Labour Party; Kathleen Burkinshaw (USA), Daughter of a Hiroshima nuclear bomb survivor and Author of The Last Cherry Blossom;  Mikyung LEE (Republic of Korea), President of the Korea International Cooperation Agency; John Hallam (Australia), People for Nuclear Disarmament and the Human Survival Project; Jackie Cabasso (USA), Director of Western States Legal Foundation and North America Coordinator for Mayors for Peace, Fabian Hamilton MP (UK), Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament; Douglas Roche (Canada), Former Senator, Member of Parliament and Canadian Disarmament Ambassador; Marzhan Nurzhan (Kazakhstan), Convenor of the Abolition 2000 Youth Network, PNND Coordinator for CIS (former Soviet) Countries; Bill Kidd (Scotland), Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Nuclear Disarmament; Ela Gandhi (South Africa), Founder of the Gandhi Development Trust; Kelly Slater (USA), 11 times world surfing champion; Cynthia Lazaroff (USA), Founder, NuclearWakeUpCall.Earth, Antony Owen (UK), Poet and Patron of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Sooyoung Hwang (South Korea), Disarmament Program Manager, Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, General Bernard Norlain (France), Vice-President, Initiatives pour le Désarmement Nucléaire. Former Air Defense Commander and Air Combat Commander of the French Air Force; and more to come.

Event outline and program: Click here for the event flyer and program outline with session times. Click here for the full program. Click here for guidance on taking specific action.

For further information contact vanda@pnnd.org or  info@unfoldzero.org.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

 

[In-session Virtual Meeting] of the HRC President with NGOs

The NGO Liaison Office of the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council is pleased to invite you to join the in-session virtual meeting of the President of the Human Rights Council with NGOs, which is going to take place on Thursday, 9 July from 1:30 to 2:30 PM (Geneva time) through WebEx.
NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC and with active Geneva designations are invited to accredit themselves through INDICO (https://indico.un.org/event/34637/).
Registration will remain open until Wednesday, 8 July at 1 PM (Geneva time). Approved participants will receive the invitation link to join the meeting.
For additional information, do not hesitate to contact hrcngo@ohchr.org.

Urgent Debate: UN Human Rights Council — “Race-based human rights violations, systemic racism, police violence against persons of African descent, and violence against peaceful protests”

THE DEBATE CAN BE VIEWED AT UNTV: webtv.un.org

The UN Human Rights Council will be holding an urgent debate on “race-based human rights violations, systemic racism, police violence against persons of African descent, and violence against peaceful protests.” This unprecedented meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 17 at 3:00pm Geneva time (9:00am New York time).

Last Friday, the African Group (which represents the 54 African countries in the United Nations) submitted a request for an Urgent Debate during this week’s Council session which resumed after it was suspended in March due to COVID-19. While the request for an “Urgent Debate” (which is technically equivalent to a special session) is not specific to the U.S., it is very clear that racism and impunity for police killings of people of African descent in the United States including recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery were the impetus for the request.

George Floyd’s tragic murder has sparked what appears to be an unstoppable global movement demanding concrete and bold actions to end racist policing practices and impunity for police violence.

While there is a  recognition that the global nature of racism and police violence, there is now an invitation to encourage governments, especially members of the UN Human Rights Council, to ensure that the Urgent Debate and its outcome, are focused on efforts to hold the United States accountable. The recommendation is the creation of an independent international accountability mechanism to document and investigate extrajudicial killings of unarmed Black men and women, and police violence against protesters and journalists.

We are encouraged to contact foreign embassies in Washington D.C. that are members of the UNHRC (see list here) especially U.S. allies and urge them to support international accountability for police killings in the U.S. This is a call made by families of victims of police killings in the United States and over 660 groups from 66 countries to mandate an independent Commission of Inquiry.

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