Human Rights Council Concludes its General Debate on Human Rights Situations that Require the Council’s Attention
Format
15 March 2021
The Human Rights Council this morning concluded its general debate on human rights situations that require the Council's attention.
Some speakers said civil space was shrinking across the world as human rights defenders, protestors and journalists were facing ever-more hostile environments. Some speakers emphasised that the promotion and protection of human rights must comply with the principles of State sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs of States. Certain rights were regrettably given more importance by some discourses, rejecting national particularities of each country. The right to development was universal and must be addressed within a global context through a non-politicized process, avoiding the practice of naming and shaming. In order to ensure this process was constructive, concerned States must be able to define the parameters of their cooperation with the Human Rights Council. Some speakers said Western States were hypocritical: they gave themselves the right to evaluate others yet concealed their own violations, such as their treatment of refugees, Islamophobia, racism of non-white people and police violence against protestors.