A/HRC/14/38 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 11/4 on promotion of the rights of peoples to peace, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene, before February 2010, and taking into account previous practices, a workshop on the right of peoples to peace, with the participation of experts from all regions of the world, in order to: (a) further clarify the content and scope of this right; (b) propose measures that raise awareness of the importance of realizing this right; and (c) suggest concrete actions to mobilize States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the promotion of the right of peoples to peace. The Council further requested the High Commissioner to report on the outcome of the workshop to the Council at its fourteenth session. The present report is submitted in accordance with that request and provides a summary of the discussion by the experts. The draft was circulated to the experts for their comments. 2. The expert consultation was announced on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). On 3 December 2009, notes verbales were sent to all permanent missions in Geneva. The expert workshop was held in Geneva on 15 and 16 December 2009. Representatives from 21 Member States of the United Nations: Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Jordan, Philippines, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Viet Nam, as well as a representative from the Holy See and representatives from civil society organizations, attended the workshop. 3. The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights opened the expert workshop. She recalled that peace and human rights were intricately related. She also recalled that the Charter of the United Nations provided that strengthening universal peace and promoting and encouraging respect for human rights without discrimination were among the main purposes of the organization. During the past few decades, the United Nations had worked, with the support of Member States and civil society organizations, towards creating a peaceful environment in which all persons could fully enjoy their fundamental human rights. The existence of armed conflict and other situations of violence had claimed millions of innocent lives and displaced tens of millions of people. 4. The Deputy High Commissioner recalled that the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as a number of human rights treaties stated that respect for human rights and recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family served as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace. In 1984 the General Assembly, through resolution 39/11, had adopted the Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace, which stated that life without war served as the prerequisite for the material well-being, development and progress of countries, and for the full implementation of the rights and fundamental human freedoms proclaimed by the United Nations. The Declaration solemnly proclaimed that peoples had a sacred right to peace and declared that the preservation of the right of peoples to peace and the promotion of its implementation constituted a fundamental obligation of each State. It also stressed the importance of peace for the promotion and protection of all human rights for all. The Commission on Human Rights and the Human Rights Council had further reaffirmed the idea that the preservation of the right of peoples to peace and the promotion of its implementation constituted a fundamental obligation of all States. 5. The Deputy High Commissioner pointed out that human rights treaties also contained references to the importance of peace as a precondition for the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights, as well as to the impact of respect for human rights on the creation of a peaceful society. She recalled that the International Convention on the GE.10-12138 3