UN Human Rights Council establishes a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy
Bern, 27.03.2015 - The Human Rights Council today concludes its annual spring session. The four-week session was opened on 2 March 2015 with Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter in attendance as representative of the host country. The Human Rights Council adopted the mandate for a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy and, for the first time, also adopted a resolution addressing the impact of the world drug problem on the protection of human rights – two new initiatives which Switzerland has been at the forefront of efforts to promote.
The protection of privacy in the digital age has been a subject of debate in the human rights bodies of the United Nations in New York and Geneva since 2013. At the conclusion of this year's spring session, the Human Rights Council decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy with a mandate to study the emerging challenges for the protection of privacy, particularly in view of the rapid pace of technological development and the new possibilities this is creating for the surveillance of private communication. Switzerland has played a formative role in this process from the outset, working actively for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur. Three years ago, Switzerland was also one of the co-initiators of a resolution for the establishment of a mandate for an independent expert to study human rights obligations in their relation to environmental issues. Switzerland thus welcomes the decision to extend that mandate for a further three years as a special rapporteur.
Another new initiative by the Human Rights Council is the resolution, co-initiated by Switzerland, addressing the impact of the world drug problem on human rights issues. Among other things, the resolution requests the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a thematic study on the negative consequences of the drug problem on the enjoyment of human rights. The world drug problem is becoming a topic of increasing importance at the United Nations. The UN General Assembly will be holding a special session on the subject in 2016. Switzerland considers it a matter of high priority that the human rights aspects of the issue be addressed.
Amongst the challenges on which discussions focused at the session was the rise in terrorist activity around the world. From a human rights point of view, this phenomenon is doubly problematic. On the one hand, terrorist groups, particularly in the Middle East and on the African continent, are committing atrocities that violate international humanitarian law and show complete disregard for human rights. At the same time, in the fight against terrorism, many countries are failing to adhere to their international obligations. In his remarks at the opening of the session, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter warned that the battle against terrorism can only be won if human rights are respected and international humanitarian law is upheld.
A commitment to the fight against impunity has been a constant in Switzerland's UN policy. The March session of the Human Rights Council also served as the occasion for publication of a new handbook for members of commissions of inquiry. In recent years, the Human Rights Council has established a growing number of such expert bodies, whose task is to document violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law. The careful documentation of criminal acts is the first step in bringing those responsible to justice. This past week the commissions of inquiry on the situations in Syria and in Eritrea presented their most recent findings before the Human Rights Council. Switzerland supports those commissions and is actively committed to strengthening the role of the International Criminal Court in the legal prosecution of international crimes.
Switzerland will be a candidate in October 2015 for election to a new term as a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2016-2018 period.
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