Human Rights Council: the 58th regular session has started
The 58th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council opened on February 24, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. This session is scheduled to run until April 4, 2025. The opening day featured statements from several high-level officials expressing concern about global challenges to human rights. Key speakers, including Jürg Lauber (President of the Human Rights Council), Philemon Yang (President of the UN General Assembly), António Guterres (UN Secretary-General), Volker Türk (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), and Ignazio Cassis (Swiss Foreign Minister), underlined the profound global challenges that the world is facing and the decline in human rights globally and addressed various pressing human rights issues, including ongoing conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Throughout the six-week session, the Council will examine human rights issues and situations requiring its attention. It will hold panel discussions on topics such as human rights mainstreaming, the death penalty, genocide prevention, HIV response, and rights of persons with disabilities and children. It will examine the human rights situations in specific countries, including Palestine, Eritrea, Sudan, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, and others. It is expected to adopt the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of 14 countries and it will appoint three new members to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
More precisely, during the first week, there will be crucial panel discussions on human rights mainstreaming and the death penalty. The Council will then engage in interactive dialogues on pressing situations in various countries, including Palestine, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and Myanmar.
The second week, starting March 3rd, will include a general debate of the Council on the High Commissioner for Human Rights annual report, and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General. Additionally, the Council will hold interactive dialogues on various thematic issues, including torture, freedom of religion, and the work of human rights defenders. Moving into the third week, beginning March 10th, the Council will shift its focus to disability rights and children’s rights. The Council will also continue its series of interactive dialogues, covering a range of issues from the right to food and privacy to environmental rights. The fourth week, starting March 17th, will be dedicated to examining human rights situations that require the Council’s urgent attention. The week will conclude with the start of discussions on human rights bodies and mechanisms, reflecting on the institutional framework of human rights protection. In the fifth week, from March 24th, the Council will consider the Universal Periodic Review outcomes for 14 countries, a key process in assessing human rights progress globally. This week will also include discussions on the situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.
The final week, beginning on April 1st, will conclude with the adoption of resolutions, the appointment of new members to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the formal closing of the 58th session on April 4th.
This session marks an important milestone in the UN’s human rights calendar, providing a forum for nations to discuss and address human rights challenges on a global scale and reinforcing the interconnection between human rights, peace, security, and sustainable development.