From Commission to Council: Reforming the UN's Rights Body

Mission Brief #3

In 2006 the UN abolished one of its own founding bodies because many members felt it had lost its credibility.

🎯 Your mission

Learn how the rule got made — and who it serves.

⚡ The twist

Not voting is also a vote.

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For sixty years the UN's main political body on human rights was the Commission on Human Rights, created in 1946, which oversaw the drafting of the UDHR. Over time it was widely criticised because states with poor records sought seats on it, partly to shield themselves and their allies from criticism. In 2006 the General Assembly replaced it with the Human Rights Council, a body of 47 member states elected by the Assembly for three-year terms.

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Reformers added safeguards: members need an absolute majority of the Assembly's votes, candidates are expected to uphold high standards, and a member committing gross violations can be suspended by a two-thirds vote. Supporters say the Council is more active and that every country now faces review. Critics, from several directions, argue that membership politics and regional voting blocs still shape which situations it examines and which it ignores.

Key facts

Remember these

1The Commission on Human Rights was established in 1946 and replaced by the Human Rights Council in 2006.
2The Human Rights Council was created by General Assembly resolution 60/251, adopted on 15 March 2006.
3The Council has 47 member states, with seats shared among the UN's five regional groups.
4The General Assembly suspended Libya's Council membership in 2011 and Russia's in 2022.

Timeline

When it happened

1946
The UN Commission on Human Rights is established.
2005
Secretary-General Kofi Annan says the Commission's credibility problems are casting a shadow on the UN.
2006
The Human Rights Council replaces the Commission.
2011
Libya becomes the first state suspended from the Council.

Places to know

Where it happened

Geneva (UN human rights bodies)
46.20° N, 6.14° E

Then & Now

Elections to the Human Rights Council remain closely watched, and candidacies regularly spark public debate about which states deserve a seat.

Mind = blown

Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the Commission on Human Rights in its first years, while it drafted the Universal Declaration.

Question 1 of 3

What was the main criticism that led to the Commission on Human Rights being replaced?

How sure?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Which reform was designed to address that problem in the new Council?

How sure?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

Which statement fairly summarises the debate over the Human Rights Council?

How sure?😐 maybe

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

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From Commission to Council: Reforming the UN's Rights Body

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