A/HRC/21/51
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
9 July 2012
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Twenty-first session
Agenda item 5
Human rights bodies and mechanisms
Report of the nineteenth annual meeting of special
rapporteurs/representatives, independent experts and
chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures of
the Human Rights Council (Geneva, 11-15 June 2012)
Note by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Rapporteur: Gabriela Knaul
Summary
The nineteenth annual meeting of special procedures mandate holders of the Human
Rights Council was held in Geneva from 11 to 15 June 2012.
The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Haiti, Michel Forst, was
elected as Chairperson of the meeting and the Coordination Committee. The Special
Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, was elected
Rapporteur and member of the Coordination Committee. The Special Rapporteur on the
human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani, the Special Rapporteur on
the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau, and a member of the Working Group on
the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises,
Puvan J. Selvanathan, were endorsed as members of the Committee. Farida Shaheed, as
former Chairperson, remains an ex officio member for the coming year.
Mandate holders exchanged views with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights and the President of the Human Rights Council. Meetings with a number of
stakeholders were held, including with representatives of States, the African Commission
on Human and Peoples’ Rights, non-governmental organizations and national human rights
institutions. Human rights mainstreaming was among the principal thematic issues
discussed.
Discussions focused on the independence of the special procedures, harmonization
of working methods, and measures to enhance the engagement of mandate holders with
various stakeholders to strengthen their effectiveness. The importance of increasing regular
and extrabudgetary resources for special procedures was stressed. The participants noted
GE.12-15136
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents