The United Nations Human Rights Council: Issues for Congress

Abstract

On March 15, 2006, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution replacing the Commission on Human Rights with a new Human Rights Council (the Council). The U.N. Secretariat and some governments, including the United States, view the establishment of the Council as a key component of comprehensive U.N. reform. The Council was designed to be an improvement over the Commission, which was widely criticized for the composition of its membership when perceived human rights abusers were elected as members. The General Assembly resolution creating the Council, among other things, increases the number of meetings per year, reduces the number of Council seats from 53 to 47, and introduces a universal periodic review process to assess each Member State's fulfillment of its human rights obligations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 31, 2008
Accession Number
ADA486052

Entities

People

  • Luisa Blanchfield

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Rights
  • Congress
  • Correctional Facilities
  • Department Of State
  • European Union
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Human Rights
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • Terrorism
  • United Nations
  • United States

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Strategic Security Studies