Marching On

I hope you’re feeling fit and strong in time for this session. As I don’t have much time for exercise these days, I’ve been trying to get in shape before the Council by pushing my household chores to my physical limit. I’ve managed to improve my  stamina, reactions and speed with new personal bests for double child carrying (with at least 3 bags, and assorted winter paraphernalia), high-pressure nappy changing, and  repetitive bin lifting. And after an unfortunate weekend of child sickness I’ve just managed a marathon 48hr laundry session which has left me ready to take on any professional laundrettes.

I’m sure the training will be worth it. This March session of the Human rights Council looks set to be the most energy-sapping one yet, as the Council’s workload continues its prodigious and inexorable rise. Every day this month will be chock a block. It starts with a ministerial segment for over 100 dignitaries including the UK’s Baroness Anelay and then has to find time for 10 panel discussions and to hear from more than 20 of its Rapporteurs in addition to its other regular work. If you find the time to step outside the plenary there’ll be around 200 extra side events organised by NGOs and governments going on in parallel. While you can see all this activity as something positive, the problem is that there’s simply too much happening for many issues to get the attention they deserve. It’s time for a bit of rethink on all sides about how the Council goes about its work, and hopefully this year will see a bit more self-restraint from delegations from all regions, and from states and NGOs alike,  when considering putting forward their priorities.

Among the biggest issues this session will be how much support there is to renew the Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria. The Commission continues to produce powerful reporting and to gather evidence on the appalling violations by the Assad regime as well as abuses by ISL/Daesh and other  militant groups so that one day those responsible can be held to account. The Council also needs to renew its Special Rapporteurs on Iran, North Korea and Burma where the scale of violations clearly requires ongoing monitoring and attention. Many had hoped that Burma at least would have improved this year to the point where a Rapporteur was no longer needed, but as High Commissioner Zeid’s most recent statement on the country made clear, regrettably it still is.

This will be the first session for the new Council President, German Ambassador Joachim Rucker who has already impressed with his deft handling of some tricky points in preparing the Council’s agenda.  I wish him well. The voting records of the new Council membership will also be under scrutiny with Albania, Paraguay, and El Salvador joining the council for the first time, while Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh, and Bolivia return to the Council after some time away.

One resolution  that won’t be coming up this session is Sri Lanka.  The international investigation which was set up last March by a group of countries including the UK had been due to report on its findings this month. But following Presidential elections in January, the new Sri Lankan government has committed to cooperate with mechanisms of the Council and to move forward  on a domestic process of accountability for violations. In response, High Commissioner Zeid, as head of the international investigation, recommended that the Council take up the Sri Lanka report in September instead. Given the apparent change in approach, it seems right to give the new Government a bit more time and having spent last March working almost entirely on Sri Lanka, I’m happy to see signs of positive commitment. But there is much to do to achieve reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka: as my colleague in Colombo, Laura Davies, saw on a recent visit to the north of country, the scale of the challenges that remain  is enormous.

I wish you all a successful session.  See you on Monday in my squeaky clean clothes.