RES/12/15 Regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights

GE.09-16682

UNITED NATIONS

A

General Assembly Distr. GENERAL

A/HRC/RES/12/15 12 October 2009

Original: ENGLISH

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Twelfth session Agenda item 3

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS,

INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council*

12/15. Regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights

The Human Rights Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 32/127 of 16 December 1977 and subsequent Assembly resolutions concerning regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights, the latest being resolution 63/170 of 18 December 2008,

Recalling also Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/51 of 9 March 1993 and subsequent Commission resolutions in this regard, and Council resolution 6/20 of 28 September 2007,

Bearing in mind paragraph 5 (h) of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, in which the Assembly decided that the Council should work in close cooperation with regional organizations,

Bearing in mind also the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993, which reiterates, inter alia, the need to

* The resolutions and decisions adopted by the Human Rights Council will be contained in the report of the Council on its twelfth session (A/HRC/12/50), chap. I.

consider the possibility of establishing regional and subregional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights where they do not already exist,

Reaffirming the fact that regional arrangements play an important role in promoting and protecting human rights and should reinforce universal human rights standards, as contained in international human rights instruments,

1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the workshop on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights (A/HRC/11/3), held on 24 and 25 November 2008 in Geneva, including its conclusions and recommendations;

2. Also welcomes the progress made by Governments in the establishment of regional and subregional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights, and their achievements in all regions of the world;

3. Further welcomes the regional efforts made by Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to advance the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Southeast Asian region, as manifested by the establishment of the Association’s Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights;

4. Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to hold a workshop on regional arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights on a regular basis and to convene the next one in the first semester of 2010, within existing resources, to allow further sharing of information and concrete proposals on ways and means to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional arrangements in the field of human rights and the identification of strategies to overcome obstacles to the promotion and protection of human rights at the regional and international levels, with the participation of representatives of the relevant regional and subregional arrangements from different regions, experts and interested States Members of the United Nations, observers, national human rights institutions and representatives of non-governmental organizations;

5. Also requests the High Commissioner to present to the Council, at its fifteenth session, a report on the discussions held at the above-mentioned workshop and on the progress towards the implementation of the present resolution.

30th meeting 1 October 2009

[Adopted without a vote.]