Author: Reilly Hummell
The Human Rights Council (HRC) of the UN reviews the human rights of individual countries three times a year. This council consists of 47 member states including the Germany, Italy, China, and Saudi Arabia. Each time the HRC is in session, 14 countries are reviewed and then given suggestions on how to improve their situation. However, despite the good intentions of the HRC it has, recently, been under fire for its hypocritical tendencies.
Allegations about bias in the Human Rights Council have been circling since early October when some questionable decisions were made as to what countries would be serving on the council. Countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, and Egypt were the most concerning considering they all have a history with violating human rights. Not only does having these countries on the council sacrifice the integrity of the HRC, but it also begs the question; is the HRC going to be able to fairly evaluate countries in terms of human rights? Many member states of the UN don’t think so, in fact the United States has decided to resign from the Human Rights Council this year in light of the corruption allegations referring to the HRC as, ”a cesspool of political bias.” Of course with this statement the United States is not only referring to the general bias of the council, but more specifically to the council’s treatment of Israel.
The HRC has only one permanent agenda item dedicated to an individual state, that state being Israel, and the agenda item referring to the Israel-Palestine dispute. This item has been a part of the council since 2007, the council having first been created in 2006, and it has created controversy within the UN since. Many claim that the agenda item is inappropriate and actually causes more harm to the situation than it helps, it’s also the cause for many questioning the legitimacy and professionalism of the HRC. In addition to the United States, Britain has also spoken out about the unfair treatment of Israel when saying, “We share the view that the dedicated Agenda Item 7 [the Israel-Palestine dispute] focused solely on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is disproportionate and damaging to the cause of peace, and unless things change we shall vote next year against all resolutions introduced under Item 7.”
If this kind of behavior continues in the Human Rights Council the UN might find itself under investigation. The Office of International Oversight Services (OIOS) is incharge of examining international organisations such as the UN but as of right now the HRC is not under investigation.