Shaping the Parliamentary Assembly’s relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 15807 | 21 June 2023

Signatories:

Mr George KATROUGALOS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Thórhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Ms Hannah BARDELL, United Kingdom, NR ; Mr Vlad BATRÎNCEA, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Ms Margreet De BOER, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Emmanuel FERNANDES, France, UEL ; Mr Erkin GADIRLI, Azerbaijan, EC/DA ; Mr Paul GAVAN, Ireland, UEL ; Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Lord Richard KEEN, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER, United Kingdom, EC/DA ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Mr Givi MIKANADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Octavie MODERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Ms Agnes Sirkka PRAMMER, Austria, SOC ; Mr Thomas PRINGLE, Ireland, UEL ; Ms Adela RĂILEANU, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Ms Azadeh ROJHAN, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Tommy SHEPPARD, United Kingdom, NR ; Mr Søren SØNDERGAARD, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Davor Ivo STIER, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Andreas Sjalg UNNELAND, Norway, UEL ; Mr Vladimir VARDANYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The United Nations is a major partner for the Council of Europe. The universality of values of the UN Charter is acknowledged by the Council of Europe member States and constitutes the basis for a close co-operation, formalised in the Agreement between the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe and the Secretariat of the United Nations of 15 December 1951 and the Arrangement on Co-operation and Liaison between the Secretariats of the United Nations and the Council of Europe of 19 November 1971. There are Permanent Delegations of the Council of Europe to the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna and the Council of Europe Secretariat has a close co-operation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Resolution A/RES/77/284 “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Council of Europe” adopted by the UN General Assembly on 26 April 2023 explicitly encourages “further cooperation between the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council […] the Office of the High Commissioner and the human rights treaty bodies, and the Council of Europe, along with its Commissioner for Human Rights, with regard to promoting and ensuring respect for human rights […].”

However, there is not any institutionalised mode of interconnection between the Parliamentary Assembly and the Human Rights Council or other UN human rights bodies. The Assembly and especially its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights should have a closer, regular and institutionalised co-operation with the Human Rights Council and its Special Rapporteurs, to promote common understanding for the protection of human rights and to avoid the development of parallel or even contradictory narratives in the Global South and our continent.