United Nations Human Rights Council 6th session

The United Nations Human Rights Council suspended its 6th session until 10 December after having, among other things, extended the mandates of the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the Special Rapporteur on human rights of indigenous people and the Independent Expert on human rights in Burundi. The Council also created the post of a Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery to replace the Working Group on contemporary forms of slavery, and set up the Forum on Minority Issues to replace the Working Group on minorities.
The Council selected the countries to be reviewed in the Universal Periodic Review, providing a calendar of work for the Council for the next four years, from 2008 to 2011 (see attached file). The countries selected to undergo the Universal Periodic Review process at the first session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group in 2008 were Bahrain, Ecuador, Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia, Finland, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Philippines, Algeria, Poland, Netherlands, South Africa, Czech Republic, and Argentina.
The United Nations’ HRC has being created in April 2006, by the General Assembly of Unites Nations - A/RES/60/251- Human Rights Council, in substitution of the Commission on Human Rights. The Council is responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner. Furthermore, the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon. It should also promote the effective coordination and the mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system. Please see attached file: provisional agenda