--- title: "The 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council" slug: "the-46th-session-of-the-united-nations-human-rights-council" post_type: "post" published_at: "2021-04-26T12:55:33+01:00" modified_at: "2026-04-30T08:33:56+01:00" author: "CIHRS" url: "https://cihrs.org/the-46th-session-of-the-united-nations-human-rights-council/?lang=en" category: - "International Advocacy Program" - "United Nations Human Rights Council" causes_and_rights: - "Accountability" - "Arbitrary Detention" - "Segregation and racial discrimination" - "Humane Treatment and Protection from Torture" - "Counterterrorism" country: - "Algeria" - "Egypt" - "Libya" - "Palestine" - "Syria" - "Yemen" field: - "Regional and International Protection and Advocacy" interest: - "Statements and Positions" protection_and_advocacy: - "United Nations Human Rights Council" --- # The 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council # HRC counters human rights violations in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria with resolutions and actions, while cautioning against deteriorating human rights situations in Algeria, Libya, and Yemen From 22 February to 24 March 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council held its 46th session. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of this year’s activities had to be shifted to an online format. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) in partnership with regional and international organizations issued a joint statement on the challenges of remote participation, particularly its continuing negative and disproportionate impact upon civil society. The organizations underscored that effective civil society participation in the sessions is vital to the Council’s mandate and a fundamental principle of its work, and must be ensured regardless of the challenges of remote participation. --- ▸Civil society calls on states to ensure people’s full and inclusive participation in decision-making processes, including during Covid-19 crisis[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Item-8-GD-statement-civil-society-participation-1.pdf) - 46th session of the Human Rights Council - Item 8 General Debate - Joint oral intervention\[1\] - 19 March 2021 - Delivered by: Mr. Juan Jaime Pardo **Civil society calls on states to ensure people’s full and inclusive participation in decision-making processes, including during Covid-19 crisis** Thank you, President. In the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, States committed to “the real and effective participation **of the people** in decision-making processes”\[2\] and reaffirmed the interdependence of human rights, development and democracy, “based on the freely expressed will **of the people** to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.”\[3\] They also called for “the elimination of all socially determined barriers, be they physical, financial, social or psychological, which exclude or restrict full participation” of persons with disabilities.\[4\] Today we ask the Human Rights Council: are you really ensuring people’s full and inclusive participation in your decision-making processes, including during this COVID-19 crisis? How can States be accountable to the people for their commitments, statements, positions and votes, if they restrict civil society scrutiny over negotiations of resolutions, if webcast archives are only understandable to English speakers, and if the vast majority of HRC discussions take place without accessibility measures such as closed captions and sign language interpretation? “Efficiency,” “rationalization” and resource constraints arising from the systematic underfunding of OHCHR are not acceptable justifications for these barriers which call into question States’ commitment to human rights. In addition, these measures seem to be pretexts for further restricting civil society space rather than effective tools for streamlining the work of the Council. Where is the accountability for the repeated erosions of civil society space, which disproportionately impact defenders from the Global South and persons with disabilities? Difficult access to negotiations of resolutions; the renewal of ‘efficiency’ measures for another year and removal of general debates in June despite their impact on civil society participation; and the capping of general debate statements this session, all add to pre-existing barriers such as ECOSOC status requirements, reprisals, the high costs of getting to Geneva, travel restrictions, and discriminatory visa regulations. While we welcome some important advances such as the possibility for NGOs to make video statements, we see that civil society continues to be disproportionately affected by the move of proceedings online. We object to the removal of access details for online informal negotiations from Sched without explanation or justification, effectively restricting CSO access to negotiations by leaving that decision to individual core groups, and favoring CSOs based in Geneva or with existing contacts with diplomats. Civil society participation is core to the Council’s mandate\[5\] and an essential principle of any human rights-based approach. It cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the HRC efficiency process, and the UN budget crisis. **NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US!** \--- \[1\] Sexual Rights Initiative, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Latin American and the Caribbean Women’s Health Network, Autistic Minority International, the International Service for Human Rights, CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality, CIVICUS, Child Rights Connect, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and the Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights. \[2\] [Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action](https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx), operative paragraph 67. \[3\] [Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action](https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx), operative paragraph 8. \[4\] [Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action](https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/vienna.aspx), operative paragraph 64. \[5\] [UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251](https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/60/251): Human Rights Council, operative paragraph 5(h). --- During the 46th session, CIHRS partnered with over 170 local, regional, and international organizations, addressed 27 written and oral interventions before the Council, and deliberated upon the human rights situation in six Arab countries: Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Algeria, Yemen, and Libya. In parallel to the session, CIHRS organized two online seminars on the human rights situations in Palestine and Syria. CIHRS also joined two oral interventions denouncing state responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and calling for an equitable distribution of vaccines. Worldwide, state responses to the pandemic have reinforced race, class, and gender based inequalities within and between countries. Three resolutions on Palestine were adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council during the session. One of the resolutions was on accountability for human rights crimes committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while the other two resolutions addressed illegal Israeli settlements and the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. Many European Union member states responded to [civil society calls ](https://cihrs.org/civil-society-urge-eu-member-states-to-support-resolutions-on-palestine-in-upcoming-human-rights-council-session/?lang=en) to support these three resolutions, including Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. The Council also adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, highlighting the commission's recommendations regarding accountability and support for victims, survivors, and their families, including psychosocial support and identification of missing and disappeared persons. The session also featured a [ joint statement](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/HRC46-JST-on-Egypt-item-4.pdf) signed by 32 countries condemning the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt, a collective international response to civil society’s unwavering pressure and calls for the international community to publicly condemn the Egyptian government’s worsening human rights record. The last similar [international declaration](https://fngeneve.um.dk/en/news/newsdisplaypage/?newsID=EB280696-2F4F-427A-A721-5963916F2CB2) condemning Egypt’s human rights situation was signed by 26 countries. # Egypt: Drastic deterioration of country’s human rights situation condemned by international community in joint declaration --- --- In a [joint statement](https://cihrs.org/states-break-silence-to-condemn-egypts-abuses-at-un-rights-body/?lang=en), CIHRS together with Egyptian, regional, and international human rights organizations, welcomed 32 countries’ condemnation, in a joint international declaration at the United Nations, of the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt. Finland delivered the declaration, which highlighted *“the restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly, the constrained space for civil society and political opposition.”* It also condemned the use of counter-terrorism laws to punish peaceful critics, and called for an end to attacks against human rights defenders, women's rights defenders, journalists, and LGBTQ+ activists. The declaration further called on Egypt to end the following violations and illegitimate practices: due process violations; excessive use of pre-trial detention, often prolonged beyond the legal two-year limit; “recycling cases,” a practice in which detainees, often political prisoners, are charged under new cases after completing the term of a previous sentence, as a means keeping them detained indefinitely. Bahey eldin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, said “*The March 12 declaration ends years of a lack of collective action at the UN Human Rights Council on Egypt, despite the sharply deteriorating human rights situation in the country.*” Hassan called for countries to “*continue to make it clear to the Egyptian government that it will no longer have a carte blanche to arbitrarily imprison, torture or violate the right to life or unlawfully kill people.”* In an intervention, CIHRS commended the UN’s joint international declaration, on behalf of a human rights coalition comprising over 100 non-governmental organizations. The coalition expressed its hope that the declaration will mark the long-awaited beginning of sustained and robust interest on the part of the Council in Egypt’s human rights crisis. The Council and its members urged Egypt to move forward with the demands to begin immediately releasing all arbitrarily detained persons, including human rights defenders, journalists, academics, artists, lawyers, and politicians, in addition to those whose cases have been addressed by Special Procedures and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. --- ▸Civil society calls for the council to take action on arbitrary detention in Egypt[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRC.46.Joint_.OI_.Item_.4.GD_.CIHRS_.pdf) - United Nations – Human Rights Council 46th Session - Agenda Item 4 – General Debate - Joint Oral Intervention[\[1\]](#_ftn1) - Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) - Delivered by: Jeremie Smith **Civil society calls for the council to take action on arbitrary detention in Egypt** As NGOs from around the world we welcome the joint declaration made by states under this Agenda Item condemning the widespread human rights violations being carried out by the Egyptian government - and view this declaration as the beginning of a long overdue process to ensure strong and consistent attention at this Council on the human rights crises in Egypt. Earlier this year more than 100 NGOs from around the world [wrote to UN member states](https://cihrs.org/egypt-human-rights-council-countries-should-take-bold-action/?lang=en) to warn them that the Egyptian government is attempting to [annihilate](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/egypt-ngo-law-threatens-to-annihilate-human-rights-groups/) human rights organizations and [eradicate](https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/20/egypt-ruling-risks-eradicating-human-rights-work) the human rights movement in the country through sustained and systematic attacks. Such attacks have occurred in the context of an “[increasingly brutal](https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/egypt/report-egypt/) crackdown on human rights defenders and civil and political rights more broadly,” often carried out under the guise of “counterterrorism.” The message today to the Egyptian government is clear: you will no longer be given *carte blanche* to imprison, torture, violate the right to life, or murder peaceful critics. Going forward, we urge this Council and its members to demand that Egypt begins to immediately release and provide remedy to all those [arbitrarily detained](https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/27/egypt-hundreds-arrested-nationwide-crackdown), including human rights defenders, journalists, academics, artists, lawyers, and politicians, as well as those whose cases have been raised by the Special Procedures and OHCHR. \------ \[1\] This statement is delivered by the CIHRS in cooperation with: Access Now, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), Amnesty International, Arab Network for Knowledge about Human Rights, L’Association Arts et Cultures des deux Rives, L’association Création et Créativité pour le Développement et l'Embauche (C.C.D.E.), L’association Citoyenneté, Développement, Cultures & Migrations Des Deux Rives, L’Association Solidarité Laïque Tunisie, L’Association Tunisienne pour la Lutte contre la Torture, L’Association Tunisienne pour la Défense des Libertés Individuelle Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine), CIVICUS, Le Comité pour le Respect des Libertés et des Droits de l’Homme en Tunisie, Committee for Justice, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Centre de Tunisie pour la Liberté de Presse, DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project), Dignity, The Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF), Electronic Frontier Foundation, English PEN, EuroMed Rights (The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network), Feminist Alliance for Rights (FAR), Fondation Hassan Saadaoui pour l’Egalité et la Démocratie, Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux, Freedom House, The Freedom Initiative, Global Focus, humanrights.ch, Initiative franco-égyptienne pour les droits et les libertés (IFEDL), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Humanist and Ethical Union, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, Lawyers for Lawyers, The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), MENA Rights Group, Minority Rights Group, Pan Africa ILGA , PEN International, People in Need (Czech Republic), Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), Rafto Foundation for Human Rights, Réseau des Organisations de la Société Civile pour l'Observation et le Suivi des Élections en Guinée (ROSE), The Tunisian Human Rights League, Tunisian Forum for Youth Empowerment, Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA), Vigilance pour La Démocratie et l’Etat Civil, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. --- In an oral intervention before the Council, CIHRS welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, submitted to the Council during this session. The report clearly warned that defenders in Egypt were exposed to serious threats amounting to death threats. At the conclusion of the intervention, CIHRS called on the Council to take urgent action against these grave threats to human rights activists, and to civil society as a whole, in Egypt, rather than becoming complacent and simply issuing a warning of the situation’s gravity without taking any action. --- ▸Human Rights Council is obligated to act on deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRC.46.CIHRS_.OI_.SR_.HRDs_.pdf) - United Nations – 46th Session of the Human Rights Council - Oral Intervention - Agenda Item 3 - ID with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders - Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) - 5 March 2021 Delivered by: Jeremie Smith **Human Rights Council is obligated to act on deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt** Thank you, Madam President, CIHRS welcomes the Special Rapporteur’s report entitled “Final Warning: Death Threats and Killings of Human Rights Defenders.” Earlier this year more than 100 NGOs from around the world wrote to member states of the UN to provide a similar warning concerning the situation in Egypt. We note that Egypt had the second most communications last year by your mandate – a strong indication that the situation for Egyptian rights defenders is at a critical juncture. For years NGOs have warned that the Egyptian government is attempting to [annihilate](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/egypt-ngo-law-threatens-to-annihilate-human-rights-groups/) human rights organizations and [eradicate](https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/20/egypt-ruling-risks-eradicating-human-rights-work) the human rights movement in the country through sustained, widespread, and systematic attacks. Such attacks include prolonged arbitrary detention, torture, death threats, disappearances, travel bans, repressive NGO bylaws, trumped up criminal charges and other [increasingly brutal](https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/egypt/report-egypt/) tactics. The government typically invokes “counterterrorism” to justify these abuses. In such [a severely repressive environment](https://www.hrw.org/tag/egypt-crackdown-civil-society), many human rights organizations have been forced to [close](https://euromedrights.org/publication/egypt-closure-office-nazra-feminist-studies/), scale down their operations, operate from outside the country, or work under constant threat. Human rights defenders held in prolonged pre-trial detention [include](https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25457), Mohamed al-Baqer, Esraa Abdlefatah Solafa Magdy, Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, Patrick Zaki, and many more. Madam Special Rapporteur, the survival of the Egyptian human rights movement is at stake. Faced with these repeated warnings, do you believe the UN Human Rights Council has a responsibility to act on the case of Egypt? Thank you. --- --- In early 2021, over one hundred prominent human rights groups from around the world wrote a [ letter to member states of the UN](https://cihrs.org/egypt-human-rights-council-countries-should-take-bold-action/?lang=en), warning that the Egyptian government is seeking to “[annihilate](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/egypt-ngo-law-threatens-to-annihilate-human-rights-groups/)” human rights organizations and “[eradicate](https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/20/egypt-ruling-risks-eradicating-human-rights-work)” the country’s human rights movement through widespread, continuous and systematic attacks. The [groups called on member states](https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/09/human-rights-council-countries-should-take-bold-action-egypt) to adopt a resolution establishing a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Egypt . Palestine: International condemnation of Israel’s apartheid practices amid efforts to ensure accountability for its crimes --- --- CIHRS and a number of Palestinian and international human rights organizations [sent five joint written submissions](https://cihrs.org/palestine-cihrs-and-partners-discuss-human-rights-issues-before-the-46th-session-of-the-human-rights-council/?lang=en) on vital human rights issues affecting the Palestinian people to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), prior to the commencement of its 46th session. The five submissions addressed Israel’s reprisals against human rights defenders and its violations against Palestinian prisoners and detainees, while reviewing ongoing developments regarding Israeli’s crimes and violations in the blockaded Gaza Strip and its crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people. The organizations also renewed, in a written intervention, their repeated appeal to ensure the annual update of the United Nations database on corporate involvement in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. In a joint oral intervention before the Council during the session, CIHRS partnered with over 40 organizations to reaffirm the importance of the UN database’s annual update, as a means of deterring corporate complicity with Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. The organizations called on the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) to *“increase transparency around the annual update process and to provide a clear timeline for its publication,”* while underscoring the importance of the update’s inclusivity in providing a complete listing of all businesses involved in illegal settlement activity. This intervention came in response to the alarming [announcement](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Agenda-Item-7.pdf) by the High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet during the session\[1\] regarding budgetary constraints and resource challenges associated with completing the database update. This raises concerns about continued pressure by some countries, especially Israel\[2\], aimed at preventing the High Commissioner and her office from implementing this vital mandate. --- \[1\] “I also specifically noted the question of resource requirements for any further work. It is not possible for the Office to absorb, on an open-ended recurring basis into the future, the substantial resources that updating the database and reporting to the Council would annually imply. Any further work in this area can only be discharged consistent with the Organization’s budgetary process applicable to funding mandates of the Council.” \[2\] In October 2020, in response to the release of the database, Israel stopped renewing work visas for international staff of the United Nations Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, forcing them to leave. --- ▸Civil society calls on OHCHR to provide clear timeline for publication of 2021 update of UN database on businesses involved in Israeli settlements[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/For-co-sponsorship-OI-item-7-database-2-1.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - Item 7 - General Debate - 18 March 2021 Delivered by: Elizabeth Rghebi **Civil society calls on OHCHR to provide clear timeline for publication of 2021 update of UN database on businesses involved in Israeli settlements** Madam President, Due to pervasive impunity, Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise continues to expand while Palestinians are forcibly displaced and transferred, with the support of private actors including business enterprises - all in violation of international law. The annual update of the database, as mandated by HRC 31/36, is essential to deter business engagement with Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, which constitutes a grave breach under international humanitarian law and a war crime under the Rome Statute. Our organizations urge the OHCHR to increase transparency regarding the annual update process for the database and to provide a clear timeline for the publication of the 2021 update. It is important that the annual update is comprehensive by adding all businesses with activities and relationships with Israel’s settlement enterprise. While the world is facing the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel has escalated its illegal demolition of Palestinian homes and properties, hitting a four-year high.\[2\] House demolitions form part of an institutionalized Israeli policy facilitating the expansion of settlements and *de facto* annexation. Demolitions have been carried out using equipment provided by companies, among others, JCB and Hyundai. Between March 2020 and January 2021, Israel has demolished 619 structures, including 262 residential structures, 211 of which were inhabited, resulting in the displacement of 1058 Palestinians, including 524\[3\] children. At the same time, Israel continues to accelerate the expansion of illegal settlements, housing units, and associated infrastructure including transportation, in which Israeli and multinational companies such as the Basque CAF have evidently been involved. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 raised concerns that in the first report of the database “a number of companies with important supply relationships with the settlements and/or the occupation were not included”\[4\]. Indeed, businesses continue to play a critical role in sustaining Israel’s illegal settlements and are contributing to and benefiting from Israel’s persistent and systemic violations against the Palestinian people. We call on Member States to: 1. Support the OHCHR in fulfilling its mandate in its entirety to annually update the UN database and ensure the allocation of the required financial resources. 2. Issue clear guidelines and advisories to private actors and business enterprises - in line with international law - surrounding risks and legal repercussions of involvement in serious violations of international law should they be involved with Israel’s settlement enterprise. 3. Take the necessary measures to ensure that business enterprises listed in the database and located within their territory and/or jurisdiction respect international law. Thank you. \[1\] Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, AL-HAQ, Law in the Service of Man, Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC), The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy- MIFTAH, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, International Accountability Project, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Norwegian People's Aid, The civic coalition for Palestinian rights, European Legal Support Center, Syrians for Truth and Justice - STJ, Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste, Canada, Association Belgo-Palestinienne WB, Bytes For All, Pakistan, La Alianza Global Jus Semper, Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel, Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS, Comhlámh Justice 4 Palestine, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Samidoun, Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Community Action Center, Al-Quds University, European Trade Union Network for Justice in Palestine (ETUN), Finnish-Arab Friendship Society, Trócaire, SOMO (Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations), 11.11.11, CNCD-11.11.11, Union syndicale Solidaires, European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP), Palestina solidariteit, Le Réseau Syndical International de Solidarité et de Luttes, Alternative Refugee Center , Broederlijk Delen, Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) , NOVACT - International Institute for Nonviolent Action, Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine, Entraide et Fraternité, CIG. CONFEDERACIÓN INTERSINDICAL GALEGA, CIDSE, and Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS) \[2\] *See* B’Tselem, “In pandemic, of all times: Number of Palestinians Israel has left homeless hits four-year record,” 4 November 2020, available at: [https://www.btselem.org/press\_releases/20201104\_number\_of\_palestinians\_israel\_left\_homeless\_hits\_four\_year\_record\_in\_pandemic](https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20201104_number_of_palestinians_israel_left_homeless_hits_four_year_record_in_pandemic). \[3\] Figures provided by Al-Haq’s Monitoring and Documentation Department covering the period from 5 March 2020 until 1 January 2021. [https://www.alhaq.org/cached\_uploads/download/2021/01/25/210125-joint-urgent-appeal-on-israels-continued-demolitions-amidst-a-global-pandemic-25-01-2021-1611570818.pdf](https://www.alhaq.org/cached_uploads/download/2021/01/25/210125-joint-urgent-appeal-on-israels-continued-demolitions-amidst-a-global-pandemic-25-01-2021-1611570818.pdf) \[4\] Report A/75/532 of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (22 October 2020), --- --- In a joint oral intervention during the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner, human rights organizations expressed their regret that the OHCHR report on [accountability](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session46/Documents/A_HRC_46_22_AEV.docx), presented during the session, did not address the root or structural causes of repression in Palestine, mainly Israel’s ongoing occupation and apartheid. Instead, the situation was depicted as a dispute between equal parties. This issue was also discussed by Elham Shaheen from the African-Palestinian community, in an oral intervention she gave on behalf of a number of human rights organizations, including CIHRS. The organizations called on the Council to recognize the crime of apartheid imposed upon the Palestinian people and to confront systematic racism, while underscoring the interconnectedness of the anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles all over the world. --- ▸Call on UN member states and OHCHR to accurately characterize situation in Palestine as apartheid[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/OI_Palestine_Item2.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Oral Intervention - Item 2: ID on HC report on OPT (res. 43/3) - 24 February 2021 Delivered by: Nada Awad **Call on UN member states and OHCHR to accurately characterize situation in Palestine as apartheid** Madam President, In order to ensure effective accountability and redress for Palestinians who have endured structural oppression, dispossession, fragmentation and subjugation for decades, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UN member states need to accurately characterize the situation in Palestine. This starts by acknowledging Israel’s “institutionalized regime of systematic domination and oppression” over the Palestinian people, amounting to the crime of apartheid as defined by the Rome Statute of the ICC, in the context of growing recognition of Israel’s apartheid by UN treaty bodies, Special Procedures, Member States, and civil society organizations around the world. We regret that the OHCHR’s recent report on accountability does not address the root causes of the structural oppression in Palestine resulting from Israel’s ongoing colonization and apartheid and addresses the situation as one of a conflict with parties on equal footing. We also regret that the OHCHR failed to note and welcome in its report the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC on 5 February, confirming the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in the OPT. We urge the OHCHR to support the ICC in the opening of an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine, in line with the findings of UN commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions. We call on the UN Member States to take effective measures, including by activating universal jurisdiction mechanisms and supporting existing relevant national and international accountability mechanisms and proceedings. We further urge third States to act upon their obligation to not recognize, render aid or assistance to the apartheid system established by Israel, and cooperate to bring the illegal situation to an end in order to realize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to return. Thank you. --- --- ▸Civil society calls on UN member states to support accountability processes to put an end to impunity surrounding racial oppression globally[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/OI_item-9_Final.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - Item 9 - General Debate - 18 March 2021 Delivered by: Ilham Shaheen **Civil society calls on UN member states to support accountability processes to put an end to impunity surrounding racial oppression globally** Madam President, My name is Ilham Shaheen. I speak to you today as a Palestinian from Jerusalem’s African-Palestinian community. As an integral part of the Palestinian people, our community continues to face Israel’s laws, policies and practices of racial domination and oppression. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Palestinian hospitals are overcrowded with patients, and the occupied territory is facing the devastating effects of the pandemic. As a Palestinian in Jerusalem, I have access to the vaccine while Israel denies lifesaving vaccine to millions of Palestinian in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. This is a stark example of Israel’s fragmentation of the Palestinian people and apartheid policies. Our organizations reiterate the interconnectedness of anti-colonial struggles and the fight against systemic racism around the world and recognize the importance of the Durban declaration in addressing these issues. While the Durban declaration recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, Israel has imposed a regime of racial domination and oppression, amounting to apartheid, and continues to obstruct the Palestinian people’s realization of their collective rights, including through the strategic fragmentation of Palestinians into at least four categories who cannot meet, live together, or exercise their right to self-determination. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Durban Declaration, we call on UN member states to address systemic racism and support accountability processes to put an end to impunity surrounding racial oppression globally. The Council and UN member states should address systemic racism, police brutality, and excessive use of force against Black people and other people of color in the US and worldwide and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. To put an end to the apartheid regime Israel imposes over the Palestine people, we call on the HRC to recognize this reality and take effective measures to put an end to this crime against humanity. \----- \[1\] Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Al Haq, Miftah, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and Community Action Center - Al Quds University --- --- The report of the High Commissioner in turn raised concerns of some member states, including [South Africa](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SOUTH-AFRICAS-STATEMENT.pdf), which declared in a statement that while the OHCHR report “*depicts equal sides of a conflict, with equal obligations and duties under international law, the relation between Israel, the occupying power, and the State of Palestine, the occupied state, is asymmetric. Moreover, equating Israel’s wilful lack of accountability with that of the Government of Palestine further legitimizes Israel’s violations and can be misconstrued as an incentive for Israel and its leaders to continue with their violations.”* South Africa elaborated upon Israel’s systematic perpetration of apartheid: *“Human rights violations in the occupied territories have unabatedly persisted even during a devastating global pandemic. Israel has escalated its illegal demolition of Palestinian homes and properties, at a four-year high, with the aim to continue altering the demographic reality reminiscent of apartheid spatial development policies.”* Pakistan also acknowledged in a statement that *“the Israeli forced evictions and illegal settlements remind us of the policies of apartheid.”* [Namibia](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Statement-by-Ms.-Julia-Imene-Chanduru.pdf) affirmed its solidarity with those “*who are calling for the restoration of the UN Special Committee on Apartheid in order to ensure the implementation of the Apartheid Convention to the Palestinian situation*.” CIHRS and sixteen other human rights organizations [welcomed](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRC46-NGO-End-of-Session-statement-final.pdf) this call. In its statement, Namibia asserted that accountability for human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is key to achieving justice and ensuring that impunity does not prevail for those complicit in violations. In four oral interventions before the Council, Palestinian and regional civil society organizations including CIHRS, continued to focus on the need for criminal accountability for Israel’s crimes. The organizations renewed the call for member states to support an investigation by the International Criminal Court on the situation in Palestine, to end Israel’s impunity, and to support the rights of the Palestinian people. The organizations also called on member states to join the increasing global recognition and acknowledgement of Israel's apartheid, while reminding member states of the principles of the Durban Declaration, which marks its 20th anniversary this year. The Durban Declaration recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. --- ▸Third States must take meaningful action to put an end to Israel’s impunity[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/210224_-HRC46-OI-Item-2_STATEMENT.pdf) - 46th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - Item 2: Interactive dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner on ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem - Date: 24 February 2021 Speaker: Ms. Shahd Qaddoura **Third States must take meaningful action to put an end to Israel’s impunity** Thank you, Madam President. In her accountability report to this Council session, the High Commissioner rightfully referred to Israel’s unlawful and prevailing climate of impunity, stressing that “impunity must be the highest priority.” It is within the context of prolonged refugeehood, 53 years of occupation, 13 years of closure in Gaza, continued maintenance of institutionalised racial domination and oppression over the Palestinian people as a whole, and an ongoing process of displacement, dispossession, and erasure that we continue to address the Council and its Member States, urging them to put an end to Israel’s systematic and widespread impunity. Madam President, The recent decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court affirming that the Court has full territorial jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territory is a crucial first step towards long denied justice. For decades, Israel has shown that it is unable and unwilling to hold itself accountable for human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people. Third States must adhere to their legal obligations and take meaningful and effective steps to ensure that Israel’s impunity is brought to an end and international justice and accountability are achieved without any further delay, including by fully supporting the opening of a full, thorough, and comprehensive investigation into the *Situation in the State of Palestine* before the ICC, including the crime of apartheid. Thank you. \------ \[1\] Al-Haq Organization - Law in the Service of Mankind, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Palestinian Centre for Human Right, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, DCI - Defense for Children International – Palestine, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, Aldameer Association for Human Rights, Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies, Hurryyat - Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights, The Independent Commission for Human Rights (Ombudsman Office), Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Community Action Center (Al Quds University), and Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem. ▸Third States must fully cooperate with ICC and take meaningful action to ensure justice for Palestinian victims[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/210317_HRC46-Oral-Intervention-Item-7_STATEMENT.pdf) - 46th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council - Item 7 – Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - - Date: 18 March 2021 Speaker: Ms. Shahd Qaddoura **Third States must fully cooperate with ICC and take meaningful action to ensure justice for Palestinian victims** Thank you, Madam President, Rooted in the institutionalised oppression, displacement, and dispossession of the Palestinian people since the start of the ongoing Nakba in 1948, Palestinians continue to experience an ongoing reality of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. Just last month, the Israeli occupying forces raided Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa, a Palestinian community located in what Israel has declared as a ‘firing zone’ area, five times. Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa was previously targeted in November 2020, when the Israeli occupying authorities conducted what was [described](https://www.ochaopt.org/content/west-bank-witnesses-largest-demolition-years) as “the largest forced displacement incident in over four years,” [leaving](https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/17579.html) 72 Palestinians, including 38 children, homeless amidst a global pandemic. Madam President, It is high time that the international community recognises the root causes of the prolonged denial of Palestinian rights inherent in Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. We therefore call on the Human Rights Council to establish an independent Human Rights Council fact-finding mission into Israel’s apartheid regime and associated obligations of states, international organizations and business enterprises. Third States must take effective steps to ensure justice for Palestinian victims of Israel’s crimes, and fully cooperate with the ICC, ensuring the arrest and transfer to the Hague of persons suspected of international crimes. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights must ensure the annual update of the UN database on business enterprises involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, and include JCB, CAT and Volvo bulldozers used to demolish Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa. As of time of writing, these calls are supported in a public [petition](https://stopthewall.org/petition/unhrcsavehumsa/?fbclid=IwAR0wOiOJKT0nFDBExjE86kgRFHIxoqEHCQQlq3ZRqGB8030QYjkgB-Vz0gs) of some 1,500 signatures from all over the world to #SaveHumsa, and a joint public statement of over 100 Palestinian, regional and international organisations. Thank you. \[1\] Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Aldameer Association for Human Rights, Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies, and The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC). ▸Civil society calls for HRC to address Israel's systemic oppression, domination, segregation and fragmentation of the Palestinian people[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Al-Mezan-Item-9-GD-HRC-46-1.pdf) - 46th Session of the UN Human Rights Council - Item 9 – General Debate - Joint oral intervention\[1\] - Date: 19 March 2021 Delivered by: Mr. Issam Younis **Civil society calls for HRC to address Israel's systemic oppression, domination, segregation and fragmentation of the Palestinian people** Since 1948, Israel has instituted a series of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices that form the foundation of its institutionalized regime of systemic oppression, domination, segregation and fragmentation of the indigenous Palestinian people. This colonial project against the entirety of the Palestinian people amounts to the crime of apartheid under the ICC’s Rome Statute. Israel’s illegal and discriminatory closure policy and use of military force in the Gaza Strip form part of this campaign and serve as a deliberate attempt to destroy life and divide the Palestinian people. Israel’s systematic extrajudicial killing and arbitrary arrest and torture practices undermine the inherent dignity of the person and violate the right to life and liberty of person. Israel’s water domination, selective vaccine application, and movement restrictions that limit food supply, deny adequate healthcare and destroy family life are also manifestations of the discriminatory policies employed throughout its prolonged occupation. We emphasize that apartheid is prohibited under international law as a peremptory norm and call on the Council and UN Member States to fulfil the duty to cooperate to bring these violations to an end, and to encourage the ICC Prosecutor to investigate Israel’s apparent continuous perpetration of the crime against humanity of apartheid, amongst other apparent crimes committed against Palestinians. \[1\] Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al Haq, Law in the Service of Man, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling. ▸Civil society calls for HRC to support international accountability mechanisms, including ICC'' - Human Rights Council Session 46 - Joint oral intervention\[1\] - Item 7, General Debate - Date: 18 March 2021 **Civil society calls for HRC to support international accountability mechanisms, including ICC** Speaker: Samir Zaqout Madam President, We issue this statement in light of Israel's continued widespread and systematic violations against Palestinians, some of which clearly amount to international crimes, and the international community's continued inaction, including to address Israel’s pervasive impunity. For over 13 years, Israel has maintained an illegal and unilateral closure over the occupied Gaza Strip, amounting to unlawful collective punishment of two million Palestinians. The closure has undermined all aspects of life in Gaza, denying Palestinians the enjoyment of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and affected all basic services, including healthcare. While Israel is leading the global vaccine roll-out per capita, as an Occupying Power, it is failing to meet its legal obligations to supply vaccines to the entire occupied Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, we call on the Council and UN Member States to: - To support international accountability mechanisms, namely the international law- and fact-based HRC resolutions concerning the rights of Palestinians, and support the investigation by the International Criminal Court into suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine, including the crime of apartheid; - To ensure equal and non-discriminatory access to COVID-19 vaccines for the entire occupied Palestinian population; - To call on Israel to fully, immediately, and unconditionally lift the illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, and to address the root causes of all collective punishment and apartheid practices against Palestinians. Thank you. \[1\] Al Mezan Center for Human rights, Al Haq – Law in the Service of Man, and Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies ▸On the Durban Declaration's 20-year anniversary: Civil society calls on UN HRC to recognize Israel's apartheid[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CIHRS_PanelDDPA_22Feb2021.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - Annual high-level panel discussion on human rights mainstreaming - 22 February 2021 Delivered by: Nada Awad **On the Durban Declaration's 20-year anniversary: Civil society calls on UN HRC to recognize Israel's apartheid** Madam President, We welcome the holding of this timely discussion. The principles and recommendations of the Durban Declaration remain as relevant today as they were 20 years ago, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty years ago, the Durban Declaration recognized the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. However, to date, Israel continues to violate the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people with impunity. Israel has imposed and proactively maintains an apartheid regime over the Palestinian people. The strategic fragmentation of the Palestinian people, into at least four legal, political, and geographic domains is the main tool Israel uses to impose its apartheid regime over the Palestinian people. For decades, Israel has institutionalized racial domination and oppression over the Palestinian people through its laws, policies and practices. This has also resulted in longstanding disparities between Israeli and Palestinian access to healthcare, which has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, Palestinian refugees, denied the right to return to their homes and properties are disproportionately affected by the pandemic in neighboring countries. In line with its fragmentation of the Palestinian people, Israel has only provided access to vaccines for Palestinians in Israel and illegally annexed East Jerusalem. Denying access to health care for Palestinians is in violation of Israel’s obligations as occupying power under international law, as underscored by UN human rights experts, “The denial of an equal access to health care, such as on the basis of ethnicity or race, is discriminatory and unlawful.” The CERD reaffirmed that “states have an obligation to ensure equal access to healthcare services, including testing, medicine and medical procedures, and to eliminate discriminatory practices against groups \[...\] protected under the Convention, including migrants and undocumented persons that might obstruct them from accessing healthcare”. Member states of the United Nations should ensure that Israel and countries hosting Palestinian refugees comply with the recommendations of the committee and provide equal access to healthcare and vaccines to all individuals under their jurisdiction. While it is urgent to respond to Israel’s infringement on the right to Palestinians’ health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, member states must address the root causes of the apartheid regime and not only its manifestations. Third States have systematically failed to put an end to Israeli impunity and to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It is time to join the mounting recognition that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid targeting the Palestinian people. We urge UN member states to abide by legal and moral obligations to: - Urgently act to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination and return, by adopting effective measures to overcome the system of apartheid imposed by Israel over the Palestinian people, end the occupation, and ensure accountability and reparation for all grave violations and international crimes within this context. We further call on states to: - Welcome the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and call on the ICC to open an investigation into the situation in Palestine, including the crime of apartheid; - Call for the reconstitution of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and the UN Centre against Apartheid which played a pivotal role in bringing an end to South African apartheid. Thank you. \[1\] Al Mezan, Al-Haq, Habitat International Coalition, MIFTAH, PCHR, WCLAC --- In the context of the global Covid-19 pandemic, human rights organizations, in a joint intervention, also reviewed the swelling danger of Israel’s racist crimes and violations, especially in regards its inequitable and discriminatory distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, which is illegal as it implemented in a racist manner that denies Palestinians their right to health. The public health threat posed by the pandemic is further exacerbated by escalating food insecurity crisis in the Gaza Strip, caused by Israel’s illegal blockade, which has – as noted by the organizations in another joint intervention – deprived two million Palestinians of their right to food. --- ▸Third States must fully cooperate with ICC and take meaningful action to ensure justice for Palestinian victims[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/210318_HRC46-Oral-Intervention-Item-9_STATEMENT.pdf) - 46th Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council - Item 7 – Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - - Date: 18 March 2021 Speaker: Ms. Shahd Qaddoura **Third States must fully cooperate with ICC and take meaningful action to ensure justice for Palestinian victims** Thank you, Madam President, Rooted in the institutionalised oppression, displacement, and dispossession of the Palestinian people since the start of the ongoing Nakba in 1948, Palestinians continue to experience an ongoing reality of Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. Just last month, the Israeli occupying forces raided Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa, a Palestinian community located in what Israel has declared as a ‘firing zone’ area, five times. Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa was previously targeted in November 2020, when the Israeli occupying authorities conducted what was [described](https://www.ochaopt.org/content/west-bank-witnesses-largest-demolition-years) as “the largest forced displacement incident in over four years,” [leaving](https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/17579.html) 72 Palestinians, including 38 children, homeless amidst a global pandemic. Madam President, It is high time that the international community recognises the root causes of the prolonged denial of Palestinian rights inherent in Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. We therefore call on the Human Rights Council to establish an independent Human Rights Council fact-finding mission into Israel’s apartheid regime and associated obligations of states, international organizations and business enterprises. Third States must take effective steps to ensure justice for Palestinian victims of Israel’s crimes, and fully cooperate with the ICC, ensuring the arrest and transfer to the Hague of persons suspected of international crimes. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights must ensure the annual update of the UN database on business enterprises involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise, and include JCB, CAT and Volvo bulldozers used to demolish Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa. As of time of writing, these calls are supported in a public [petition](https://stopthewall.org/petition/unhrcsavehumsa/?fbclid=IwAR0wOiOJKT0nFDBExjE86kgRFHIxoqEHCQQlq3ZRqGB8030QYjkgB-Vz0gs) of some 1,500 signatures from all over the world to #SaveHumsa, and a joint public statement of over 100 Palestinian, regional and international organisations. Thank you. \------- \[1\] Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Aldameer Association for Human Rights, Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies, and The Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC). ▸Civil society calls on HRC to address escalating food crisis in Gaza Strip[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Al-Mezan-ID-SR-on-Food-HRC-46-1.pdf) - 46th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council - Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food - Joint oral intervention\[1\] - Date: 26 February 2021 Speaker: Ms. Giulia Marini, **Civil society calls on HRC to address escalating food crisis in Gaza Strip** Special Rapporteur Fakhri, We welcome your report and draw your attention to the situation of food insecurity in the Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine, where Israel’s illegal closure, military occupation, and apartheid system have prevented two million Palestinians from enjoying their right to food. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, over 68 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza were food insecure, and more than half of the Gaza population was living below the poverty line. This data, already alarming in itself, is expected to worsen due to the pandemic, as Israel continues to implement its unlawful policies amounting to collective punishment of the Palestinians. In August and September 2020, when the most stringent containment measures were in place, Palestinian farmers in Gaza, already vulnerable due to Israel’s restrictions, were left unable to secure fertilizer or seeds, thereby compromising their ability to grow food and earn a living. Food security is further compounded by Israel’s continuous attacks against Palestinian fishers and farmers in the so-called buffer zone. Israeli attacks include the use of lethal or other excessive force, and the destruction of crops and fishing and farming equipment. Notably, the attacks did not stop in the wake of a global pandemic; on the contrary, Al Mezan's documentation shows that 2020 witnessed an increase in Israeli attacks compared to the previous two years. We therefore invite Special Rapporteur Fakhri to investigate this issue and urge this Council and its Member States to promote Palestinian rights, including their right to food, while recognising and addressing the root causes of the escalating food crisis in the Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine. Thank you. \----- \[1\] Al Haq - Law in the Service of Man, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Habitat International Coalition Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, NGOs in a Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. --- In a side event to HRC 46, CIHRS and 14 Palestinian, regional, and international partners held a [public webinar](https://cihrs.org/in-a-side-event-to-hrc-46-israels-health-apartheid-must-be-recognized-and-condemned-by-un-and-member-states/?lang=en) titled “Israeli Health Apartheid during COVID-19.” During the webinar, Palestinian civil society addressed the repercussions of the global pandemic on Palestinians, reviewing Israel's denial of right to health to the Palestinian people, as part of Israel's perpetration of the crime of apartheid. *“As someone who lived and grew up in apartheid South Africa,”* said Dr.Tlaleng Mofokeng the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, *“I don’t have to imagine or read textbook research to understand what’s happening and the urgency of the issues in Palestine.”* --- # Syria: New victim-centered approach and independent UN mechanism to locate missing persons or their remains --- --- CIHRS and its partners welcomed the [report](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session46/Documents/A_HRC_46_55.docx) of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Arbitrary Arrest and Detention in Syria, presented during HRC 46, which recommended the formation of an independent mechanism “to locate the missing or their remains.” The report presents an important recommendation to address detention and enforced disappearance after ten years of conflict in Syria, and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Council unprecedentedly took into account the crucial role of victims, recognizing the importance of centering victims' perspectives and demands for truth and justice in the efforts of the international community in regards to Syria, during the renewal of the commission of inquiry’s mandate. In turn, the High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet [joined](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26867&LangID=E) the commission’s recommendation regarding the mechanism for locating the missing or their remains, saying, “*Enforced disappearance is a continuous crime that has an appalling impact on the individual whose fate is unknown and on their family, causing continuing trauma for them and severely curtailing the enjoyment of their human rights*.” During the interactive dialogue with the investigation committee, CIHRS and a group of organizations participated in a joint oral intervention during which Heba al-Hamed, a member of the Coalition of Families of People Kidnapped by ISIS, presented a personal case study of the crime of enforced disappearance in Syria: that of her own father in 2013. Al-Hamed appealed to the international community to take measures ensuring that the authorities reveal the fate of the disappeared, conduct investigations with ISIS members currently in detention, and establish an independent mechanism to uncover the fate of detainees and the disappeared. Al-Hamed also called on the investigation committee to issue a policy paper on ISIS's perpetration of enforced disappearance that defines the legal responsibilities of the de facto forces in northeastern Syria and their state allies, and provides concrete recommendations. --- ▸Civil society calls for the establishment of an independent mechanism to “to locate the missing or their remains” in Syria[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Final-OI-syria.pdf) UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - ID with the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic - 11 March 2021 Speaker: Hiba Alhamed **Civil society calls for the establishment of an independent mechanism to “to locate the missing or their remains” in Syria** Madame President, My name is Hiba Alhamed. I am the daughter of Dr. Ismaeel Alhamed, a surgeon and dissident critical of the Syrian government and ISIS. He was kidnapped by ISIS on 2 November 2013. Since that day, we have yet to learn of his fate. My family and thousands of others have been left alone in their struggle for truth and justice. We urge the international community to take action to ensure authorities disclose the fate of the disappeared. Investigations should start as soon as possible with ISIS members in custody. The unprofessional exhumations of mass graves in northeastern Syria should be stopped immediately as it can lead to the contamination of graves and the loss of critical evidence. We urge Member States to implement the Commission’s recommendation to establish an independent mechanism to “to locate the missing or their remains” and to support a victim-led design of such a mechanism. We further call on Member States and the United Nations to address our demands in the Truth and Justice Charter launched by Syrian victims' associations in February 2021. Finally, we call on the Commission of Inquiry to produce a policy paper on enforced disappearance by ISIS that identifies the legal responsibilities of de facto forces in northeastern Syria and their state allies and provides concrete recommendations. Thank you. \[1\] CIHRS and the Coalition of Families of Persons Kidnapped by ISIS. --- --- In addition, a comprehensive report was prepared by five Syrian associations for victims, survivors, and family members of victims of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, titled the [ Truth and Justice Charter](https://massarfamilies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Truth-and-Justic-Charter.pdf), in which the families and survivors called for the utmost prioritization of efforts to uncover the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared. CIHRS and charter organizations sent a [written intervention](https://cihrs.org/most-significant-appeals-of-cihrs-to-the-hrc-before-its-46th-session-redress-for-victims-and-their-families-and-accountability-for-perpetrators-in-syria-and-yemen/?lang=en) to the Human Rights Council demanding a victim-centered approach in the pursuit of truth and justice for detained and disappeared Syrians, ensuring the prioritization of the perspectives of victims and their families, the fulfillment of their demands, and the upholding of their rights. The organizations also called for the establishment of an international, independent mechanism *“to investigate information about detainees and the disappeared, with a view to disclosing the fate and whereabouts of those who have been forcefully disappeared or arbitrarily detained and ensuring accountability and redress for victims and their families.”* CIHRS collaborated with a group of organizations in organizing a public [webinar](https://cihrs.org/syria-truth-and-justice-for-the-detained-and-disappeared-must-be-ensured-by-the-united-nations-and-member-states/?lang=en) \[1\] on 8 March 2021 in a side event to HRC 46, titled “Truth and Justice First for Syria’s Arbitrary Detention, Enforced Disappearance, and Torture Victims and their Families.” In her opening remarks, Deputy Permanent Representative of the permanent mission of Canada, Ms. Tamara Mawhinney, said *“much more still needs to be done to bring peace and justice to the Syrian people, and we must emphasize the importance of pursuing accountability and justice with a victim-centered approach.”* Civil society organizations participating in the webinar also called on the UN Member States to adopt a victim-centered approach that ensures meaningful participation when addressing the issue of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, and to implement the UN Commission of Inquiry’s recommendation report on arbitrary imprisonment and detention regarding the formation of an independent mechanism to coordinate and consolidate claims regarding missing persons or identifying their remains. \--------- \[1\] The event was co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of the States; Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands and Sweden, in addition to some civil society organizations interested in monitoring the crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance in Syria are: Taafi initiative, the coalition of the families of those kidnapped by ISIS (Masar), the Caesar Families Association, the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison, Families for Freedom, and the International Service for Human Rights. --- --- # Algeria: Concerns raised about increasing criminalization of public freedoms and retaliation against demonstrators and the media --- --- In conjunction with the second anniversary of the pro-democracy protest movement “Hirak” in Algeria, regional and international human rights organizations, among them CIHRS, have repeatedly called on UN Member States to increase scrutiny of the situation in Algeria and closely monitor the human rights situation in order to protect citizens striving to defend their basic freedoms. In an oral intervention delivered by CIHRS before the HRC 46, the concerns and warnings in regards to the intensified crackdown on Algerian civil society were reiterated. Among these concerns were the increasing arrests of peaceful activists and journalists by the Algerian authorities, a concern previously [expressed by 31 organizations](https://cihrs.org/algeria-intensifying-crackdown-on-civil-society-and-journalists-amidst-covid-19-pandemic-and-before-referendum-a-danger-to-free-speech-and-public-health/?lang=en) prior to HRC 45th session. During the [closing statement](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/HRC46-NGO-End-of-Session-statement-final.pdf) of the current 46th session, CIHRS and fifteen other organizations denounced the failure of UN member states to take action on Algeria, and called on the Council to address the increasing criminalization of public freedoms, in order to protect peaceful protesters, activists, and media personnel. --- ▸On 2 year anniversary of the Hirak: Civil society calls on HRC to increase scrutiny on Algeria[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/OI-Algeria-GD-Item-2.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint\[1\] Oral Intervention - Item 2 - General Debate - 25 February 2021 Delivered by: Nada Awad **On 2 year anniversary of the Hirak: Civil society calls on HRC to increase scrutiny on Algeria** Madam President, In 2021, arbitrary arrests continue in Algeria. During his trial on 1 February 2021, Algerian student Walid Nekkiche declared that he had been subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse during his 14 months in pre-trial detention. Nekkiche was arrested in November 2019 following his participation in a peaceful student march. In 2020, Algerian rights lawyers have reported that about one thousand prosecutions against individuals exercising their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly, including 63 on charges of offense to the President, a charge not used more than four times in the twenty-year presidency of Bouteflika. Legislation adopted in 2020 further infringed on fundamental rights and freedoms. Amendments to the Penal Code adopted in April 2020 allow for the criminalisation of free expression and assembly, and at least thirteen media outlets have been made unavailable on Algerian networks in 2020. The deteriorating human rights situation in Algeria, including the weaponizing of the pandemic against civil society and the unrelenting criminalisation of fundamental freedoms, warrants an urgent response from the Human Rights Council. On the two-year anniversary of Algeria’s largest peaceful pro-democracy movement since its independence - the “Hirak” movement - our organisations reiterate our call for the Council to ensure Algerian authorities abide by their obligations under international law. . We urge the Office of the High Commissioner and UN member states to call on authorities to unconditionally release all arbitrarily-held detainees and cease all judicial harassment and intimidation against activists and members of civil society, trade unions and the judiciary. The council has remained largely silent on Algeria, despite UN Special Procedures on 16 September expressing alarm “at the extent of crackdown on dissent \[…\],” and highlighting that \[…\] “Civil society organisations, human rights defenders and journalists are being increasingly scrutinized and harassed for carrying out their legitimate work.” On the two-year anniversary of the Hirak, and as peaceful demonstrations resumed throughout the country, we call on the council to increase scrutiny on Algeria and closely monitor the human rights situation in order to protect Algerian citizens striving to safeguard their fundamental freedoms. Thank you. \[1\] ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS, FIDH, ISHR --- --- In her oral update before the Council on 26 February 2021, the High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet reviewed ongoing demonstrations in Algeria coinciding with the two-year anniversary of the Hirak movement. She called on the Algerian government to immediately release all detainees held for their peaceful participation in these demonstrations, and to stop the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators. The High Commissioner also called for the opening of prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment while in detention, with those responsible held accountable. She further called for the repeal of legislation and policies used to prosecute people in retaliation for their exercise of the rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. On 5 March 2021 during press briefing notes on Algeria, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert Colville [said](https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26851&LangID=E), *“We are very concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Algeria and the continued and increasing crackdown on members of the pro-democracy Hirak movement.”* During the public debate in the Council, Iceland also expressed concern about *“*[*reports*](https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25707) *of forced closures of Protestant churches and some other places of worship, in addition to the arbitrary application of COVID-19 restrictions.”* With the Algerian government coming under increasing scrutiny, the president of Algeria Abdelmadjid Tebboune [announced](https://www.aps.dz/algerie/117834-tebboune-grace-presidentielle-en-faveur-de-detenus-du-hirak) on 18 February 2021 the release of individuals arbitrarily detained. Thirty-eight prisoners of conscience were released following the announcement, with at least nineteen of them released with conditions. Despite this, the crackdown on civil society continues, with the arrest of at least 1,750 peaceful protesters since the pro-democracy [Hirak](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OI-Algeria-GD-Item-2.pdf) movement resumed on 13 February 2021, according to local statements. # Yemen: Support the Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) and refer situation to International Criminal Court to ensure accountability --- --- CIHRS and partner organization Mwatana for Human Rights, in a [written statement](https://cihrs.org/most-significant-appeals-of-cihrs-to-the-hrc-before-its-46th-session-redress-for-victims-and-their-families-and-accountability-for-perpetrators-in-syria-and-yemen/?lang=en) to the United Nations Human Rights Council, called on UN Member States to urgently to adopt the recommendations of the United Nations Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE). In addition, the two rights organizations called for the creation of an international mechanism that ensures criminal accountability for international crimes committed in Yemen, inclusive of a comprehensive and credible agenda to guarantee accountability and redress. The statement also stressed on the importance of continuing to support the GEE by providing adequate resources to continue its work in documenting and reporting human rights violations and international humanitarian law violations in Yemen, and submitting reports on them to the United Nations Human Rights Council. In an [oral update](https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26800&LangID=e) before the HRC 46, the GEE stated *“Tragically, as the conflict continues, violations of international human rights and humanitarian law continue to be perpetrated at an alarming rate and scale.”* The [GEE’s third annual report](https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/GEE-Yemen/2020-09-09-report.pdf) submitted to the Security Council, also *“supports the establishment of a criminally focused investigation body \[…\], to conduct further investigations and prepare case files to be shared with relevant prosecutorial authorities.”* The GEE recommended that the Security Council refer the situation in Yemen to the International Criminal Court. The report also called on UN Member States to cooperate and conduct trials with international jurisdiction when necessary. In the long term, the GEE encouraged the conducting of further dialogue on the establishment of a specialized court, such as the hybrid court, to prosecute those most responsible for crimes and violations. The GEE also addressed the right of victims to effective reparation, including compensation. For its part, the Core Group\[1\] on Yemen announced in a joint statement with Switzerland, Austria and Germany that *“accountability of the Yemeni people has always been our primary concern.”* Germany also affirmed in this statement that *“violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have grave consequences for the civilian population for years to come, and therefore cannot go unpunished, and that the perpetrators must be held accountable. There is no sustainable peace or justice without accountability. The work of the Group of Experts is one of the very few sources of information we possess from the field, and it is crucial to enable us in holding accountability for all human rights violations.”* In an oral intervention before the Council, CIHRS and Mwatana confirmed that *“the fate of millions in Yemen depends partially on the extent to which the international community responds to the calls of the GEE, and to take appropriate steps in addressing the impunity rampant in Yemen.”* \-------- \[1\] The core group of the Special Resolution for Yemen includes Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. --- ▸Bridge Yemen's acute accountability gap[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Yemen-OI-item-2-.pdf) - UN Human Rights Council 46th Session - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - Item 2: ID on oral update of GEE on Yemen (res. 45/15) - 25 February 2021 Delivered by: Osamah Alfakih **Bridge Yemen's acute accountability gap** Madam President, We thank the Group of Eminent Experts for their recommendations on achieving justice and redress for victims of violations in Yemen, and call on member states to urgently take up the GEE’s recommendations to “help bridge the acute accountability gap”, including by exploring the establishment of international mechanisms aimed at ensuring criminal accountability for international crimes committed in Yemen, and reparations to civilian victims. For over six years, the world has watched as war has torn Yemen apart and devastated its people. Impunity for war crimes and other violations of international law continue to fuel the conflict, creating the world's "largest man-made humanitarian catastrophe". Since October 2020, the immeasurable and prolonged suffering of civilians in Yemen remains unredressed. Enabled by impunity, warring parties continue to commit violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Attacks on Aden airport and on a wedding hall in Hodeida, shelling attacks in Taiz, and the current armed clashes in Marib, are clear indicators that the international community must take urgent and concrete action towards securing accountability and redress for Yemen. We call on states to take effective measures to protect civilians in Yemen, particularly in Marib, home to many of Yemen’s internally displaced people, whose lives are in grave danger as the city is now witnessing significant military escalation following an Ansar Allah attack. We further call on states to respond to the arbitrary detention of journalists, media workers, and activists, and the continuity of unfair trials. Civil society must be enabled to carry out its important work in Yemen, including monitoring and documenting human rights violations. As the warring parties continue to perpetrate serious violations, the fate of millions rests in part upon whether or not the international community will heed the calls of the GEE and take adequate steps to address Yemen’s "pandemic of impunity." We further call on states to continue supporting the GEE, including by providing sufficient resources to continue its work documenting and reporting on human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law in Yemen to the UN Human Rights Council. Thank you. \[1\] Mwatana for Human Rights and CIHRS --- # Libya: Demand for immediate and effective steps to ensure that Libya respects its international human rights obligations --- --- In an oral intervention by CIHRS before the Human Rights Council, in cooperation with the organizations of the Libya Platform coalition, the urgent need for the Libyan authorities to ensure full cooperation with the United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya was reviewed. The organizations also called for immediate steps to be taken to ensure that Libya respects its international human rights obligations and complies with the recommendations submitted to it by UN member states within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of its human rights file before the United Nations. --- ▸Civil society calls on Libya to promptly implement recommendations[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/OI-UPR-Adoption-Libya.pdf) - United Nations Human Rights Council 46th session - Adoption of the Universal Periodic (UPR) outcome of Libya - Joint Oral Intervention\[1\] - 16 March 2021 Delivered by: Nadège Lahmar **Civil society calls on Libya to promptly implement recommendations** Dear Representatives, The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, in cooperation with the Libya Platform coalition of human rights organisations, welcomes Libya’s stated commitment to the UPR process. Human rights and humanitarian law violations have remained widespread in Libya, enabled by the impunity of state-affiliated armed groups. In that regard, we note and reiterate our support to recommendations asking Libya to fully cooperate and ensure access to the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya and the International Criminal Court. However, we note with concern that Libya refused important recommendations relating to the lifting of all existing restrictions on civil society and taking measures to protect human rights defenders, media and legal professionals, relating to the lifting of all reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), as well as recommendations to take immediate measures to adopt asylum legislation and to end the arbitrary and indefinite detention of migrants. Ending the arbitrary detention of migrants, fighting all forms of discrimination and repealing legislation repressing public freedoms, notably the 1972 Press Law, the 2001 Law regulating civil society, the 2014 Counter-terrorism Law, and all related executive decrees, continues to be relevant and urgent. Libyan authorities have continued to enforce legislation restricting the work of journalists and civil society. Repression of public freedoms remains pervasive, as illustrated by the recent military prosecutions of photojournalists Ismail Al-Zway and Abdul Salam Al-Turki in Benghazi, joining at least 33 civilians prosecuted in military courts since 2015. Armed groups have arbitrarily detained thousands of Libyans and migrants without judicial oversight for prolonged periods of time and subjected them to ill-treatment and torture. In that regard, we reiterate our call for Libya to promptly implement recommendations to strengthen the legal protection of migrants; protect journalists and human rights defenders; monitor the location and legal status of all detainees and end arbitrary detention for all. Thank you. \[1\] Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies and The Libya Platform --- --- The authorities had rejected important recommendations during the review process regarding lifting all current restrictions imposed on civil society, and taking measures to protect human rights defenders, the media, and lawyers. Libya also refused to lift its reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), nor did it take any immediate measures to adopt asylum legislation and end arbitrary and indefinite detention of migrants. # COVID-19: Ensuring equality, distribution, and equitable access to the vaccine --- --- In an oral statement to the Council, CIHRS and its partners denounced *“the ways in which countries have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, which have fuelled and reinforced inequalities based on race, class and gender, within and between countries.”* In another oral statement, more than 70 organizations including CIHRS, called on UN member states to support the Interim Agreement on Commercial Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines in a way that guarantees the right to development for all. The organizations also denounced the stalling in the waiver of intellectual property rights related to trade, describing it as profiteering at the expense of human lives. This profiteering includes Israel's attempts to reap political gains by providing surplus stored vaccines. --- ▸Stonewalling of TRIPS waiver proposed by developed countries: Akin to rent-seeking and profiteering at the cost of human lives[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Item-3-Statement-on-access-to-COVID-vaccines-EN.pdf) - 46th Session of the Human Rights Council - Joint Statement - Item 3: General debate - March 11, 2021 Delivered by: Ishita Dutta **Stonewalling of TRIPS waiver proposed by developed countries: Akin to rent-seeking and profiteering at the cost of human lives** President, multilateralism was founded upon the principles of international cooperation and solidarity and with the objectives of ensuring global peace and protection of human rights. The COVID-19 pandemic and its fall out, felt in every country of the world, should have brought a renewed commitment to international solidarity and reinforced the necessity of interdependence between nations. To the contrary, we are witnessing ‘vaccine nationalism’, with a small group of rich countries stockpiling vaccines, and COVID-19 related medical materials at the expense of everyone else. For instance, “per capita imports of the medical goods essential to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic have been about 100 times larger in high-income countries in comparison to low-income countries.\[1\]” The stonewalling of the temporary TRIPS waiver proposal by developed countries in this moment of urgent crisis is akin to rent seeking and profiteering at the cost of real human lives, for instance the attempt by Israel to extort political gains through the provision of excess stockpiled vaccines.\[2\] The extraordinary precarity facing the world today demands that access to COVID-19 vaccines and related medical supplies not be treated like any other value chain issue, subject to market forces. Having the right to life and right to health at stake means that States must have a human rights based response. The Special Procedures in the statement on vaccines highlighted that “Isolationist health policies and procurement are in contradiction with international human rights standards,”\[3\] It is reported that just 10 countries have administered 75% of all COVID 19 vaccines. The countries with the most coverage per capita are: Canada, the United Kingdom, Chile, New Zealand and Australia.\[4\] Now, the human rights council as the body responsible for promotion and protection of all human rights must ask itself, whether it is indeed upholding human rights at all - or protecting corporate interests? It is important for all states, particularly the rich states with means to stockpile vaccines, to be accountable to the people and not corporations and big pharma. In a cruel irony, an estimated 7,5 billion euro of public funds have been used to support big pharma’s vaccine development\[5\], making vaccines truly public goods. Yet, states fail to reign in the pharma monopolies by insisting that they share their science and technology with others to ensure that the global demand can be met. As noted by the UN Secretary General, a COVID-19 vaccine must be seen as a public good. We endorse the call of the People’s Vaccine Alliance calling on governments and corporations to prevent monopolies on vaccine and treatment production by making public funding for research and development conditional on research institutions and pharmaceutical companies freely sharing all information, data, biological material, know-how and intellectual property.\[6\] We demand that the Human Rights Council and all states take a stance against the further proliferation of a neocolonial, neoliberal world order where profits are prioritised over people. We demand that States uphold human rights, to support TRIPs waiver and ensure equitable distribution of vaccines in a manner conducive to the right to development for everyone. Endorsed by: 1. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP) 2. AWID 3. Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) 4. Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) 5. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) 6. Sexual Rights Initiative 7. Egyptian Human Rights Forum 8. Conectas Direitos Humanos 9. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) 10. Synergia, Initiative for Human Rights 11. Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) 12. Habitat International Coalition 13. COC-Nederland 14. Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC) 15. MIFTAH 16. RESURJ (Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice Alliance) 17. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) 18. Federation for Women and Family Planning 19. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) 20. Brazilian Interdisciplinary Association for AIDS (ABIA) 21. Akahatá 22. Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) 23. Latin America Consrtium Agianst Unsafe Abortion 24. Centro de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Sexuales y Reproductivos (PROMSEX) 25. Women & Media Collective (WMC), Sri Lanka 26. Shirkat Gah- Women’s Resource Centre, Pakistan 27. Center for Independent Journalism (CIJ), Malaysia 28. Global Interfaith Network for People of All Sexes, Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities and Expressions 29. Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) 30. Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) 31. Queer Hindu Alliance 32. Mitini Nepal 33. Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka 34. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association 35. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man 36. Al-Rakeezeh Foundation for Relief and Development (Iraq) 37. Dhameer for Rights and Freedoms 38. The Yemeni Observatory of Mines 39. Gender and Development Network (GADN) 40. Foundation for Studies and Research on Women (FEIM) 41. Al-haq for Human Rights (Yemen) 42. CNCD-11.11.11 43. OutRight Action International 44. Fundación Arcoíris por el Respeto a la Diversidad Sexual A.C. Mexico 45. Pacific Women’s Watch- New Zealand 46. Association ESE Macedonia 47. Coalition of African Lesbians 48. International Lesbian and Gay Association 49. Yemeni Observatory for Human Rights (YOHR) 50. Watch for Human Rights (Yemen) 51. AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) 52. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression 53. Growth foundation for development & improvement (Iraq) 54. FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights 55. ESCR-Net - International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 56. Oficina para América Latina de la Coalición Internacional para el Hábitat (HIC-AL) 57. Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights 58. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) 59. Jurists Without Chains 60. Belady Foundation for Human Rights 61. Libya Al Mostakbal 62. Independent Organization for Human Rights 63. Defender Center for Human Rights 64. Al-Aman Organization Against Racial Discrimination 65. FEMENA 66. Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) - New Ways 67. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Organization 68. Naripokkho 69. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales – CELS 70. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) 71. Réseau Ouest africain des Défenseurs des Droits Humains/West African Human Rights Defenders' Network \[1\] https://twn.my/title2/wto.info/2020/ti201025.htm \[2\] https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-set-to-give-nearly-100000-vaccine-doses-to-15-countries/ \[3\] https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26484&LangID=E \[4\] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/17/un-chief-urges-global-plan-to-reverse-unfair-vaccine-access \[5\] https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55170756 \[6\] The People’s Vaccine, https://peoplesvaccine.org/ --- --- ▸State responses to Covid-19 pandemic: Deepened race, class and gender inequalities[Download as a PDF](https://cihrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Item-8-Access-to-Vaccines.pdf) - Human Rights Council, 46th Session - Item 8 General Debate[\[1\]](#_ftn1) - March 19: 2021 Delivered by: Pooja Badarinath **State responses to Covid-19 pandemic: Deepened race, class and gender inequalities** President, In the Vienna Declaration States agreed to develop and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction, and urged the eradication of all forms of discrimination. For over a year, and particularly in the course of this Council session, civil society organisations have repeatedly called on states to use a rights-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have repeatedly drawn attention to the ways in which many states have chosen to use the pandemic to roll-back on rights obligations and commitments and institute harsh laws, policies and penalties against human rights defenders, dissidents, opposition parties and so on. The ways in which states have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic have fed on and deepened existing racialized, classed and gendered inequalities – both within and between states. We are now confronted with obscene displays of vaccine nationalism, vaccine ‘diplomacy’ which are laying bare the collusion between rich states and pharmaceutical corporations and their total disregard for the 90% of the world’s population who will be forced to the back of the queue. During this session, in response to initiatives that sought to pursue a rights-based approach to ensuring equitable access to vaccines, which necessarily requires an end to big pharmaceutical monopolies, and if not an end to TRIPs at the very least the waiver, rich states have chosen to instead defend intellectual property and cite their contributions to the COVAX program as their alibi. We dispute in the strongest terms that the barriers resulting from intellectual property regimes are not an issue requiring scrutiny by the Human Rights Council. Indeed, it appears to us that human rights are universal, indivisible and inalienable, EXCEPT when big pharmaceutical companies have life-saving drugs, medicines and technology. Then human rights are to be bargained away because the profits to be made take precedence over lives. The HRC needs to decide whose side it is on - the side of people (and their rights) or the side of pharmaceutical profits. The decision it takes will send a message to all the peoples of the world. If the HRC is to remain relevant and fulfil its mandate, it must respond to what is and will continue to be one of the greatest human rights challenges of the century. [\[1\]](#_ftnref1) Action Canada, the Sexual Rights initiative, International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. Photo: United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet addresses the Opening of the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, Palais des Nations. 22 February 2021. UN photo by Violaine Martin