FIDH takes an active part in and around the proceedings of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva on the occasion of its 28th session (HRC 28) held from 2-27 March 2015.
The main United Nations body in charge of human rights promotion and protection, which meets in three regular sessions each year, is expected to adopt a number of thematic and country-specific resolutions.
FIDH facilitates and supports the contribution of local human rights defenders to feed the analysis on their respective country and on various thematic priorities. It further advocates for the strengthening of the protection capacities of the Council and of its various mechanisms.
At the 28th session, FIDH will advocate for appropriate responses to the human rights crises in Bahrein, Belarus, Burma, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Mali, Ukraine, Palestine, South Sudan and Syria. It will further call on the Human Rights Council to show its relevance by addressing attacks against, and challenges to, individual human rights, notably through the creation of a UN Special Rapporteur mandate on the right to privacy. It will raise concerns on attacks against human rights defenders and on the shrinking civil society space. Lastly, in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris and Copenhagen, it will mobilise against restrictions to freedom of expression on the basis of “respect for religion” to the benefit of the promotion of existing international standards.