A/HRC/25/19
General Assembly. It constitutes an unprecedented effort to detail the complexity, workload
and full cost of this principal axis of the United Nations human rights system.
84.
In 2013, OHCHR facilitated the review of 130 State party reports by the various
treaty bodies, the adoption of views and decisions of more than 100 individual
communications, and six country visits by the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture.
OHCHR continued to provide technical assistance to support reporting, ratification,
institution-building and follow-up to recommendations of treaty bodies, both at
headquarters and through field presences.
2.
Humanitarian funds
85.
As of April 2013, the Special Fund established by the Optional Protocol to the
Convention against Torture is administered by the joint secretariat of the United Nations
Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture and the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery with a view to increasing cost-effectiveness, pooling
expertise and sharing best practices. In 2013, 332 grants were awarded through these funds
in almost 90 countries. While there is tangible impact on beneficiaries as a result of support
from these funds, I am concerned at the decreasing level of contributions made to them.
3.
Human Rights Council
86.
In 2013, the Human Rights Council continued to address various urgent and chronic
human rights situations. It extended further the mandate of the commission of inquiry on
the Syrian Arab Republic and, following an urgent debate, requested in its resolution 23/1
the commission to urgently inquire into the events in Al Qusayr and to report to the Council
at its twenty-fourth session. At its twenty-second session, the Council established a
commission of inquiry on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to investigate the
systematic, widespread and grave human rights violations committed in the country. I
regret to report that neither of these missions has been granted access to the countries
concerned.
87.
OHCHR continued to organize a large number of panel discussions on a broad array
of issues, significantly enriching the Council’s deliberations. In addition to the regular
annual panel discussions, the Council held panel discussions on the impact of corruption,
the contribution of parliaments to the work of the Council and its universal periodic review
mechanism, business and human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the human rights of
children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed, and the twentieth
anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
4.
Universal periodic review
88.
By November, all 42 States to be reviewed in 2013 in the second cycle of the
universal periodic review had undergone the process. This full participation highlighted the
importance attached to the universality of the process, with a welcomed continuation of
high-level participation and interest commensurate to the opportunities that the review
mechanism offers.
89.
The second cycle demonstrated a strong engagement of Member States, most of
which sent high-level delegations to present and discuss their record before the Human
Rights Council. A growing number of States initiated consultations, including with civil
society, to monitor progress in the implementation of their commitments, and a number of
States established permanent mechanisms to lead and coordinate the review process. The
reports under review provided a description of human rights issues and developments, the
progress achieved in the implementation of recommendations made during the first cycle,
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