A joint oral statement was presented by Gitte Dyrhagen at the 8th session of the Human Rights Council on 4 June, urging the human rights body to look into the studies of the former Sub-Commission on discrimination based on work and descent affecting 260 million people globally.

The NGOs urged the Human Rights Council to address at this session the issue of effectively completed studies to ensure appropriate follow-up and avoid further delay of the studies. Such studies should be considered either by the Advisory Committee or by the Council to ensure that UN resources and expertise on this issue are not wasted and protection gaps are addressed in accordance with the Council’s mandate to promote and protect all human rights.

The statement was endorsed by FORUM-ASIA, Asian Legal Resource Centre , Human Rights Watch, International Movement Against Discrimination and Racism, Lutheran World Federation, Minority Rights Group International and Pax Romana–ICMICA/MIIC.

What happened to the studies by the Sub-commission on Dalits?

Joint Oral Statement delivered by Ms. Gitte Dyrhagen on behalf of

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Movement Against Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Minority Rights Group International (MRG) and Pax Romana–ICMICA/MIIC

8th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

Item 3: General Debate / Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Mr. President,

With this statement, the endorsing organizations would like to draw the Human Rights Council’s attention to the lack of transitional arrangements for the pending work of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, which points to a procedural and protection gap in the institution-building process in the Human Rights Council.

While the Council has dealt with most of the transitional arrangements between the Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council, there is still some unfinished business, which requires immediate attention and action by the Council. In the report of the final 58th session of the Sub-Commission, there was a list of pending studies which was be referred to its successor body or, in the absence hereof, the Human Rights Council.

This list contained a number of important studies – some of which have been effectively completed and are now ready for consideration and adoption by the Council. In particular, it included a comprehensive study on discrimination based on work and descent, which, pursuant to resolution 2005/109 of the Commission on Human Rights, was the first occasion on which the UN’s leading human rights body sought to address comprehensively the entrenched form of discrimination that affects more than 260 million people on a global scale.

As mentioned in Louise Arbour’s address to the Human Rights Council on 2 June, this is a form discrimination, which denies equal rights and dignity to millions worldwide. The UN initiative to address such serious form of discrimination, including the identification of best practices and positive steps taken in affected states, should not be hampered by a procedural gap in the transition between the Commission and the Human Rights Council.

Mr. President, We believe that one of the key criteria for judging the success of the reform of the UN’s human rights architecture must be that the achievements of the Commission on Human Rights in promoting and protecting the human rights of victims are not undermined or neglected.

We therefore urge the Human Rights Council to address at this session the issue of effectively completed studies to ensure appropriate follow-up and avoid further delay of the studies. Such studies should be considered either by the Advisory Committee or by the Council to ensure that UN resources and expertise on this issue are not wasted and protection gaps are addressed in accordance with the Council’s mandate to promote and protect all human rights.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

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