The Human Rights Council this morning adopted four resolutions on child early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights, the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, and the question of the death penalty.
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council's forty-eighth regular session can be found here.
The Council will next meet at noon to continue to take action on draft resolutions and decisions.
Action on Resolutions under the Agenda Item on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to Development
In a resolution (A/HRC/48/L.7/Rev.1), on Child, early and forced marriage in times of crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, adopted without a vote (as orally revised), the Council decides, in order to increase understanding about the concept of forced marriage, to request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize a two-full-day workshop focusing on the adverse impact of forced marriage on the full and effective enjoyment of all human rights by all women and girls, and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to submit a report on the workshop in an accessible format to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-second session.
Before the Council adopted the resolution, it voted on and rejected three amendments: L.31 and L.61-62.
In a resolution (A/HRC/48/L.8) on the Negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights, adopted by a vote of 27 in favour, none against and 20 abstentions as orally revised, the Council calls for Member States, relevant United Nations bodies, agencies and other relevant stakeholders to take concrete steps to address the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights and decides to convene a panel discussion at its fifty-first session to identify challenges in addressing the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on human rights, and to discuss ways forward.
Before the Council adopted the resolution, it adopted two amendments: L59-60.
The results of the vote were as follows:
In favour (27): Argentina, Armenia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Somalia, Sudan, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Against (0):
Abstentions (20): Austria, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.
In a resolution (A/HRC/48/L.13) on the Promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, adopted by a vote of 30 in favour, 14 against and 3 abstentions, the Council takes note of the report of the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order; and requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to provide all the human and financial resources necessary for the effective fulfilment of the mandate by the Independent Expert.
The results of the vote were as follows:
In favour (30): Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Eritrea, Fiji, Gabon, India, Indonesia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
Against (14): Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Marshall Islands, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Abstentions (3): Armenia, Brazil and Mexico.
In a resolution (A/HRC/48/L.17/Rev.1) on the Question of the death penalty, adopted by a vote of 29 in favour, 12 against and 5 abstentions, the Council calls upon States that have not yet acceded to or ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, to consider doing so. The Council further decides that the upcoming biennial high-level panel discussion to be held during the fifty-second session of the Human Rights Council will address human rights violations relating to the use of the death penalty, in particular with respect to limiting the death penalty to the most serious crimes, and requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize the high-level panel discussion and to liaise with States, relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, treaty bodies, special procedures and regional human rights mechanisms, as well as with parliamentarians, civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and national human rights institutions with a view to ensuring their participation in the panel discussion, and to make the biennial panel discussion fully accessible.
Before the Council voted on L.17 Rev.1, it voted on and rejected amendments L.63-66.
The results of the vote were as follows:
In favour (29): Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany, Italy, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Namibia, Nepal, Netherland, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
Against (12): Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, India, Japan, Libya, Mauritania, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan.
Abstentions (5): Eritrea, Indonesia, Malawi, Philippines and Senegal.
