Dr. Arvind Kumar*
Human rights reflect shared values and apply to every human being regardless of the specific laws that their country may hold. Such values also apply to human beings of any race, religion or any other identity marker. But is it being upheld in countries? With the Palestine, Israel conflict even the basic human rights like right to water, medicine, food etc is also thwarted. Human rights are a necessary means of protection against oppressors and allow speaking up and advocating through the legal system. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination. To strengthen these Human Rights the United Nations has defined a broad range of internationally accepted rights, including civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. It has also established mechanisms to promote and protect these rights and to assist states in carrying out their responsibilities but how far has it been successful?
The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It is the world’s peak multilateral human rights body comprised of 47 Member States and meets at least three times per year in Geneva. It is mandated to strengthen the global promotion and protection of human rights, and to address human rights violations and situations of concern. To delve on these the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council is being organized in Geneva from 26th February to 5th April 2024. At the opening session Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of United Nations reiterated his longstanding concerns about the UN Security Council (UNSC), which he said was “often deadlocked, unable to act on the most significant peace and security issues of our time.”
55th session of UNHRC
The key issues under lens at the 55th session of UNHRC at Geneva will be right to food, housing, cultural rights, economic rights, freedom of religion, privacy, rights of persons with disabilities, rights of children, rights of human rights defenders, persons with albinism, youth, minority issues, terrorism, climate change, right to clean and safe environment etc. The situation in Iran, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine and also the periodic reviews of Turkmenistan, Burkina Faso, Cabo, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Tuvalu, Germany, Djibouti, Canada, Bangladesh, the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Cameroon and Cuba. India is a country which believes in peace and non violence and has been calling for de-escalation of the situation between Ukraine and Russia and now between Palestine and Israel. It stresses on creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations towards a two-state solution to the Palestine issue as mentioned in the statement of Dr. S Jaishankar Minister of External Affairs of the Government of India at the 55th session of UNHRC. India was elected for a sixth term at the United Nations Human Rights Council and will now be among the body’s 47 members for the next three years along with Qatar, Malaysia, UAE and Kazakhstan. India bagged 184 out of 193 votes in its favour. After this overwhelming endorsement India should be committed to work with fellow members towards the goal of global promotion and protection of human rights.
Since climate change is one of the key issues to be discussed at the 55th session, there is an urgent need of addressing climate change by implementing an effective carbon price, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and ensuring developed countries fulfill their financial commitments to developing economies, including doubling adaptation funding by 2025 and establishing the Loss and Damage Fund with significant contributions The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict has cost the lives of nearly 30,000 civilians, and left close to 2 million people displaced. It falls upon the entire international community to protect the human rights of all ethnic groups and all people in a fair, equal and effective way. The US again vetoed a UNSC resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, after circulating its own deal linking a temporary cease-fire to the release of Israeli captives. The third veto on February 20 has left itself in isolation from the international community. The Council’s lack of unity on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s actions in Gaza has severely undermined its authority. There is a need to reform the Council’s composition and methods and the Summit of the Future in September is an ideal opportunity for Member States “to step up and re-commit to working for peace and security rooted in human rights. As rightly mentioned by High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Volker Türk the UN has become a lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and a scapegoat for policy failures. This includes misinformation aimed at UN humanitarian organizations, UN peacekeepers, and his Office. He labeled this influence as “profoundly destructive” and insisted it “callously betrays” those who rely on the UN’s work.
Way Ahead
The world we live in today is vastly different to the world we were born into. And the future we look towards portends even more rapid change. The past three years have been defined by crises on a global scale. Conflict is at its highest since the Second World War. From Gaza to Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar, people’s right to live without fear is being undermined. Climate change, brought about by humanity’s own actions, is stripping away the right of our children to a healthy and prosperous future. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to stark light the value of the right to health for all. Three-quarters of a century on, we are at an important inflection point, where we must recalibrate and reconnect with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights if we want to shape a future that lives up to its vision. In the next 25 years, building resilience to biodiversity loss and climate change will be key to the realization of all human rights – including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. This is because biodiversity loss is closely intertwined with climate change and human rights. We have to help protect the substantive and procedural rights for implementing the right to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment and develop an environmental and social management framework that guides natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. By adapting to our present and future realities, while keeping aspirations for a freer and fairer world as our guiding light, we stand the greatest chance of shaping a better world – based on human dignity and equality for us and future generations.
*Editor, Focus Global Reporter
