Successful conclusion to the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council
Bern, 14.06.2013 - Switzerland makes a positive assessment of the 23rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which closes today. During this session nearly 30 resolutions have been dealt with, and the situation in Syria was again on the agenda. Today, the Council has passed a resolution on the situation in Syria with a large majority. The resolution supports the political process, condemns all use of force, demands accountability for violations of international law, asks all States to increase humanitarian aid and demands that Syria cooperate with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Nearly 30 resolutions were adopted during the 23rd session of the Human Rights Council, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2013. In addition to its commitment to improving the human rights situation in Syria, Switzerland has been active in particular in promoting the protection of women’s rights and in assessing the situation in Belarus.
In an emergency meeting on the events in Qusair at the beginning of the session, the Council reiterated its condemnation of the massive use of force in the country, in particular against civilians. In addition, the Human Rights Council’s Independent Commission of Inquiry, which has been investigating human rights violations in Syria since March 2011, informed the Council about developments in the country and made a sombre assessment of the human rights situation. It reported both an escalation of violence and the fact that violations of international law were going unpunished. The Commission also noted that while both sides used force, the government’s use of force was systematic. Switzerland supports the Commission’s recommendations, calls for an immediate end to the violence, and demands that the situation in Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court. Switzerland stresses that a lasting peace cannot be built without the prosecution of crimes that have been committed.
Today, Friday, Switzerland has supported the resolution on Syria, which was adopted by 37 votes in favour with one against and nine abstentions. Switzerland stressed its concern about a further escalation of the conflict and spoke out against any measures that could lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the country. Convinced that the conflict can only be settled through a political solution, Switzerland expressed its support for the international conference on Syria planned to take place in Geneva.
Women’s rights were a thematic focal point of the 23rd session. Switzerland is active in this context in particular in promoting the rights of women in connection with sexuality, pregnancy, birth and parenthood. The issue of female excision, which rarely features on the Council’s agenda, was also debated. Switzerland welcomes the leading role taken by African States on the issue of female excision, and supported the holding of an event on this theme. With Switzerland’s assistance too, an event was devoted to the situation of women in the Syrian conflict and their role in resolving it.
In addition to Syria, the 23rd session focused on the situation in Belarus. The mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus was extended for a further year with Swiss support. Switzerland called on Belarus to abolish the death penalty (the last European country to apply it), to grant civil society its rights and freedoms, and to cooperate in the future with the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus.
Following its first mandate from 2006 to 2009, Switzerland has been a member of the Human Rights Council again since 2010. This year, the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Alexandre Fasel, is one of the Council’s 11 vice-presidents.
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