A/HRC/22/17 of transitions, to identify concrete action, including legislative and institutional reforms. In September, an OHCHR mission visited Sri Lanka to explore possible areas of cooperation. In Colombia, OHCHR supported the implementation of the Victims and Land Restitution Law of 2011, training judges. The first land restitution decision was issued in October. 28. OHCHR supported efforts by States to ensure that respect for human rights and the rule of law lay at the heart of effective counterterrorism strategies. OHCHR organized three regional expert workshops to contribute to the development of guidelines on ensuring due process and the right to fair trial in the context of countering terrorism. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism reported to the General Assembly on the impact of the Office of the Ombudsperson established by the Security Council on the 1267/1989 Al-Qaida sanctions regime and its compatibility with international human rights norms (A/67/396). 29. Demonstrating the impact of the international human rights system on regional systems, the European Court of Human Rights cited assessments by the Committee against Torture and the Special Rapporteur on torture in its judgement Othman v. the United Kingdom as supporting evidence concerning detention conditions and the administration of justice in Jordan, concluding that the applicant’s deportation would be in violation of article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights owing to the risk of admitting evidence obtained by torture of third persons at the applicant’s retrial. 30. In Myanmar, the OHCHR Regional Office in South-east Asia together with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime provided advice on prison reform. The Human Rights Committee held its first day of general discussion, focusing on liberty and security of the person in preparation of a future general comment. 31. OHCHR, in cooperation with the International Bar Association, published Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Facilitator’s Guide on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers, as a training tool to complement the manual for legal professionals. 32. The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association reported on the negative impact of the amendments made in 2011 to the Organic Law on Political Unions of Citizens to the work of political parties and civil society organizations in Georgia. The Special Rapporteur was informed by the Government that, in May, new amendments were adopted after a process of consultations with civil society in order to ease some of the restrictions included in the previous version of the Law. 2. Combating impunity 33. Combating impunity is quintessential to sustainable peace. In recent years, the Human Rights Council has increased the use of commissions of inquiry and fact-finding missions to investigate allegations of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. OHCHR supported the commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic and the fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlement activities on the rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Commission of Inquiry for Libya concluded its work. 34. OHCHR has been conducting a review of its work in supporting the abovementioned mechanisms. I hosted a meeting of former members of mechanisms to seek their views on how to improve their impact and effectiveness, and convened a lessons-learned meeting of former coordinators and secretariat staff. At the review key issues for OHCHR focus were identified, including the formulation of guidelines on methodology, procedures and practice to improve support for members; and increasing the pool of support staff 8

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents