UNHRC

About UNHRC

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system.
The Council’s mandate is to promote “universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all” and “address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon.”
It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.
The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006. It replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
The headquarters of UNHRC is in Geneva, Switzerland.

Membership

The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot.
The Council’s Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution.
Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

Why in News?

The U.N. Human Rights Council has voted against holding a debate on alleged abuses in China’s Xinjiang region in a major setback for Western nations.
The United States and its allies last month presented the first-ever draft decision to the U.N.’s top rights body targeting China, seeking a bare minimum of holding a discussion on Xinjiang.
But following intense lobbying by Beijing, countries on the 47-member council in Geneva voted 19-17 against holding a debate, with 11 countries abstaining.
The Xinjiang province in China’s far west has had a long history of discord between the authorities and the indigenous ethnic Uighur population.
Rights activists have said the Xinjiang region is home to a vast network of extrajudicial internment camps that have imprisoned at least one million people, which China has defended as vocational training centres to counter extremism.

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