The Human Rights Council at 15: How (Not) to Promote Human Rights in Times of Growing Political Polarization

Abstract

The Human Rights Council is the principal forum for the discussion of human rights issues in the United Nations (UN) system. It has replaced the Human Rights Commission which had been highly successful in the codification of human rights norms and standards, but less so in monitoring their effective implementation. This failure was due in part to the Commission’s design as a body representing Member State governments and the lack of transparent criteria for membership selection. The reforms which led to the replacement of the Commission by the Human Rights Council in 2006 were intended to address these shortcomings but turned out to be compromise solutions which have produced only limited change in the outlook and in the working methods of the Council in comparison to its predecessor. As ideological and political divisions within the international community and the Council have intensified, this has increased the risk of partisanship undermining the credibility of the latter’s work, thus calling into question the Council’s role as an effective instrument for human rights promotion and protection.