United Nations: Italy elected as member of the Human Rights Council for the period 2011-2013
On 20th May 2011 the General Assembly elected Italy, together with other 14 countries, as member of the UN Human Rights Council. Italy will be part of the 47 members of the Council for 3 years, until the end of June 2014. It is the second mandate for Italy, after its first experience in the period 2007-2010.
The other elected members are Austria, for Europe and other Western States; Czech Republic and Romania, for Eastern Europe; Costa Rica, Peru and Chile, for Latin America and Caribbean; Botswana, Burkina Faso, Congo and Benin for Africa; Philippines, India, Indonesia, and Kuwait, for Asia.
In its candidature letter submitted to the Council (A/65/733), Italy gave voluntary pledges and commitments to the promotion and protection of human rights, among others: strengthening the effectiveness of human rights mechanisms within United Nations; promoting the freedom of religion and protecting religious minorities; eradicating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance through norms, educational programmes and intercultural dialogue; promoting women’s rights, contrasting any form of violence against them; protecting the rights of the child especially in armed conflicts; carrying on with the promotion of the rights of people with disabilities, continuing to support the global moratorium on death penalty, supporting and implementing the fight against terrorism consistently with the respect of human rights; carrying on the fight against the human trafficking by strengthening the role of civil society in planning and implementing programmes and policies on human rights. Finally, Italy committed itself to implement in a timely manner all recommendations accepted in 2010 during the Universal Periodic Review process. Italy accepted 78 recommendations out of 92 received, which refer to: the situation of migrants and asylum seekers, the treatment of Roma and Sinti communities, the independence of judiciary and the administration of justice and, finally, the creation of a National Institution on Human Rights in compliance with Paris Principles.