• Home
• about
• Activities
• Contact
• Programs
• Manual

• Analysis
• Commentary
• Feature
• General Election
• Monthly Report
• News
• PDF Format
• Special Report
• Video Clips

United Nations to hold special session in response to growing concerns with risk to human rights in Myanmar

HURFOM: At the joint request of the United Kingston and the European Union along with the support of 45 other States,  the Human Rights Council of the United Nations will hold a special session to discuss “the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar” on Friday, 12 February.  

The growing number of peaceful protests in Myanmar, while the military junta has shut down or limited telecommunications, continues to arbitrarily detain elected political leaders, arrest pro-democracy activists, and intimidate those supporting a civil disobedience movement, as well as the filing of criminal charges against protest organizers is raising concerns round the world. 

The UN Human Rights Special session will take place in a mainly virtual format starting 10 a.m. Geneva time  and will be broadcast from  the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations.

Those requesting  the special session said it was needed because of “the importance and urgency of the situation”.

A UN General Assembly resolution (60/251), which created the Human Rights Council, enables the  Council “ to hold special sessions when needed at the request of a member of the council with the support of one-third of the membership of the Council”.  This means that the support of one-third of the 47 members of the Council, 16 or more, is required.

The request has gained popular support amongst UN Member States and observers. 

So far, the request has been supported by 19 Member States of the Council: Austria, Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Marshall Islands, Netherlands, Malawi, Mexico, Poland, Republic of Korea, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The request was also supported by another  28 observer States: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States.  

Additional States may express their support up to the date of the meeting. 

The organizational meeting and the special session will be webcast.

Comments