UN Irrigation Project Supporting Mali Farmers ©UN Photo/Marco Dormino
It pains me that the basic rights of so many people were violated or remained unfulfilled in the past year. The rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants were a top concern. Thousands lost their lives during journeys in search of safety, protection and a more dignified life. Refugees and migrants were faced with alarming levels of discrimination and abuse in countries of origin, transit and destination and inadequate respect for human rights standards. The forced displacement of people being at levels higher than at any time since the founding of the Organization, this became a pressing global issue. Cooperation between States on migration, greater sharing of responsibility for refugees, and gender-responsive, human rights-based policies and laws on migration must improve significantly if we are to protect basic human rights and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In recognition of the gravity of the situation, the Human Rights Council held an enhanced interactive dialogue on the human rights of migrants in February. I issued a report in May (A/70/59) urging protection for refugees and migrants and calling, among other things, for a global compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees, the development of another global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration and a global campaign against xenophobia. I call on Member States to take decisive steps forward at the high-level meeting on these challenges to be held in September 2016.
Racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance go beyond the issue of migration. They remain too common all over the world. The United Nations endeavoured to enhance equality and counter all forms of discrimination, including on the grounds of indigenous or minority identity, gender identity and sexual orientation, age, disability, income and albinism. The International Decade for People of African Descent was launched in 2015. Discrimination against women continues in law and in practice, many women suffering multiple forms of discrimination. Accelerating progress will require the universal ratification and full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; removal of discrimination in the law; increased investments in gender equality and women’s human rights; strengthened accountability mechanisms; participation by women in all levels of decision-making; and addressing inequalities.
The impact on human rights of growing inequalities, both within and between States, remained of grave concern to me. In view of the 2030 Agenda’s core objective of reducing inequalities and realizing human rights for all, the past year featured intense efforts to integrate human rights in development and the economy. The United Nations endeavoured to keep human rights concerns front and centre of discussions on monitoring, review and accountability and on financing for development. This focus extended to the United Nations early warning efforts, in the form of initial steps towards an early warning system that recognizes links between conflict and violations of economic, social and cultural rights. Indeed, these elements are at the core of the Rights Up Front initiative that, in consultation with the General Assembly, has been implemented further. The initiative seeks to achieve existing United Nations mandates for prevention and early warning by bringing the three pillars of United Nations action — peace and security, development and human rights — together, through cultural change, operational change and strengthened engagement with Member States. The recent adoption of substantially identical resolutions by the General Assembly and the Security Council on the review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture further strengthened this approach by recognizing that sustaining peace should flow through all three pillars of the United Nations engagement at all stages of conflict.
The past year saw appalling disrespect for the protection of fundamental human rights and basic tenets of international humanitarian law in the context of conflicts around the world. Disregard for the core principles of distinction, proportionality and humanity in conflict situations by both States and non-State actors led to immense suffering, including in the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen and Iraq. Nevertheless, important progress was made in integrating a human rights perspective in our peace and security work. The Security Council members increasingly called upon human rights experts to brief them, and included human rights analysis in their decision-making processes. The resolutions adopted on the review of the peacebuilding architecture encouraged Member States participating in the universal periodic review to consider the human rights dimensions of peacebuilding. The High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations underscored the importance of human rights and the protection of civilians in peace operations. In follow-up, the United Nations took steps to ensure regular public human rights reporting, to strengthen human rights training for peacekeeping personnel, and to consolidate specialized protection functions within human rights components of missions. Our commitment to early warning and protection materialized through rapid responses to human rights crises. Steps were taken to swiftly deploy multidisciplinary teams to countries where crises were developing or risked developing. The renewed commitment of the United Nations to conflict prevention is also an acknowledgment of the important role that human rights analysis can play in identifying tools for preventive action.
With respect to the principle of responsibility to protect, I call on Member States to ensure that legal obligations are fully upheld in practice and that the highest possible standards of respect for human rights are maintained.
Member States continued to look to the United Nations to provide independent, impartial and authoritative assessments of situations of concern, through human rights commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions. The Human Rights Council mandated missions relating to Boko Haram, Libya, the Syrian Arab Republic, Eritrea and South Sudan. Combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law remained a leading priority. Member States worldwide requested United Nations support on constitutional and legislative reforms, administration of justice and law enforcement, gender-sensitive reparations, witness protection measures and transitional justice initiatives and in relation to measures taken to prevent and counter violent extremism and to combat terrorism. This support enabled Governments and their civil society partners to align legal and judicial systems with States’ human rights obligations. The abolition of the death penalty remained a human rights priority. The Organization’s efforts to reach this objective included the biennial high-level panel at the Human Rights Council on regional efforts.
As the actors with primary responsibility for fulfilling human rights obligations, Governments must act on their duties. Guaranteeing space for civil society to fulfil its complementary role is fundamental. It was thus very worrying that, during the reporting period, the global trend continued of limiting space for civil society organizations. The freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly were seriously challenged in many countries and in all regions. There were egregious reprisals against those who cooperated with the United Nations. Challenges frequently emerged during elections, campaigns by human rights defenders, social movements and political protests and in relation to counter-terrorism measures. The United Nations firmly defended the public freedoms that characterize democratic societies through advocacy and legal advice at the global, national and local levels.
The Human Rights Council addressed chronic, emerging and ongoing human rights crises in the reporting period. These included the dialogue on migrants and two special sessions to address the atrocities committed by Boko Haram and to prevent further deterioration of the human rights situation in Burundi. During its three regular sessions, the Council took action to prevent further deterioration of human rights violations, including against Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, and in Ukraine, South Sudan, the Sudan, Yemen and Libya, while monitoring situations in the Central African Republic and Côte d’Ivoire on a regular basis. The universal periodic review maintained full participation in the course of its second cycle. The Council’s independent special procedures mandate holders increased in number, new mandates being established concerning albinism and the right to privacy. Mandate holders conducted 76 country visits in 2015. The human rights treaty bodies benefited significantly from the additional meeting time endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 68/268, resulting in the review of 173 State party reports; the adoption of views and decisions on over 160 individual communications; eight country visits by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and national-level activities in more than 40 countries.
The General Assembly, at its seventieth session, adopted 48 human rights-related resolutions, 30 of which were adopted without a vote. I regret that a number of resolutions traditionally adopted by consensus were voted upon at that session, including those on the rights of the child; strengthening the role of the United Nations in enhancing periodic and genuine elections; and human rights defenders, while other resolutions traditionally enjoying widespread support required unprecedented levels of political compromise to be finally adopted without a vote, for example, the resolution on prevention of torture.