Executive Board
Chairperson
Mr. Mohd. Shahrukh Ali
Vice-Chairperson
Ms. Somya Sharma
Rapporteur
Mr. Shubham Malohtra
About Human Rights Council
"Some values must be universal, like human rights and the equal worth of every human being."
-Bjorn Ulvaeus
Promoting human rights since 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body with 47 member states.
A subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly, the UNHRC is vocal about issues including, but not limited to, freedom of religion, women's rights, freedom of expression, rights of racial minorities. Notably, the UNHRC, to considerable success, addressed the Israel-Palestine conflicts and strived for human rights establishment in the war torn states.
The members for the 47 seats are elected by the General Assembly members. Each member holds the seat for a term of three years, and can occupy it for not more than two consecutive terms. The General Assembly holds the final rights to suspend council members for gross violation of human rights during their term.
It is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
Agenda
Agenda: Right to Privacy with special reference to surveillance
Stated explicitly under Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to privacy asserts: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
Despite universal laws governing the right to privacy, governmental organisations such as the NSA, CIA, and GCHQ continue to conduct mass surveillance throughout the world, leading to the privacy laws coming under the scanner. Therefore, argument in favour of privacy is fast gaining critics and has now become a contentious issue worldwide, ever since it acquainted the public with the perceived need of nations to spy on the general population in a bid to maintain their power structures.