SIXTIETH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO BE HELD IN GENEVA, 15 MARCH – 23 APRIL

SIXTIETH SESSION OF COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO BE

HELD IN GENEVA, 15 MARCH – 23 APRIL

VIENNA, 12 March (UN Information Service) -- The sixtieth session of the Commission of Human Rights will be held in Geneva from 15 March to 23 April 2004.  On the agenda is also the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the follow-up to the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993.

The central importance of the international human rights norms and the rule of law in realizing the United Nations Charter´s vision of a just and peaceful world has never been more apparent than in the light of the events in recent years.  The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights encourages stronger measures of human rights protection -- nationally, regionally and internationally.  The Office appeals to governments, as well as to the United Nations and its human rights treaty bodies, to review its protection mechanisms and consider what can be done to strengthen human rights protection.

Stressing the importance of human rights protection, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said “Human rights defenders stand in the front lines of protection, casting the bright light of human rights into the darkest corners of tyranny and abuse.  They work to safeguard the rule of law, to reduce violence, poverty and discrimination, and to build structures for freer, more equitable and more democratic societies.  It is to them the many victims of human rights violations turn in their hour of need”.

The Commission will focus on supporting the creation of national human rights protection systems to complement the work of the treaty bodies at the international level.  It is at the national level that international human rights norms are of most direct relevance for individuals, providing a framework of protection and promotion of human rights.  The United Nations country teams are working to assist countries in their follow-up activities on the general recommendations of the treaty bodies.

The Commission is composed of 53 States and meets annually in Geneva in March and April for six weeks.  At the session, States and non-governmental organizations present information of concern to them, and the governments involved often submit replies.  Fact-finding groups or experts may be designated and on-the-spot visits may be organized.

The Commission, which had its first session in 1946, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948.  It has also drafted two pillars of the International Bill of Human Rights:  the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  In 1967, the Commission began to enhance its role from promoter to protector of human rights, expanding its procedures to investigate abuses of human rights.

With the International Convention of the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families entering into force on 1 July 2003, the number of human rights treaty bodies increased from six to seven.  Other treaty bodies include the Human Rights Committee, and Committees dealing with elimination of discrimination against women; the protection of rights of the child; the elimination of torture; the elimination of racial discrimination; and economic, social and cultural rights.

Additional information on the treaty bodies and their work can be found at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Web site (www.unhchr.ch) under “Treaty Monitoring Bodies” and, for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, at the following Web site:  www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/committee.htm.

For more information, contact:  United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS), P.O. Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria; tel.:  (+43-1) 26060 4666, fax:  (+43-1) 26060 5899, e-mail:  UNIS@unvienna.org or visit our home page:  www.unis.unvienna.org

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