A/HRC/19/42 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 14 December 2011 Original: English Human Rights Council Nineteenth session Agenda items 2 and 3 Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Comprehensive study on the negative impact of the nonrepatriation of funds of illicit origin to the countries of origin on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Summary The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 17/23 concerning the matter of non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin. Chapter II describes the main obstacles to the repatriation of funds of illicit origin, the process established for the return of assets by the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the mutual obligations imposed on States involved in the recovery process under the human rights framework. Chapter III discusses how the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin impacts on States’ capacity to fulfil their human rights obligations, in particular with regard to economic, social, and cultural rights. It analyses ways by which a human rightsbased approach to asset recovery enhances existing procedures, by addressing its most problematic issues and existing barriers. The report concludes with policy recommendations directed at improving repatriation processes with a view to enhancing States’ capacity to better fulfil their human rights obligations. GE.11-17366