Welcoming the formation of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), replacing the existing Commission on Human Rights, country representative of the UN rights body, Ian Martin, has said that the decision would not hamper the mandate of his office in Nepal.

A press statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)-Nepal on Thursday quoted Martin as saying, “I want to make it absolutely clear that the mandate of OHCHR-Nepal is not affected by the creation of the Human Rights Council or the closure of the Commission on Human Rights.”

He further added, “We will continue to operate under the two-year agreement signed in April 2005 between the High Commissioner and the Government of Nepal for the protection and promotion of human rights in Nepal.”

On 15 March, UN’s member states at the General Assembly decided to establish the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Based in Geneva, the Council will start work from 19 June and the 62nd session of the Commission will resume on Monday [20 March], when the agenda will be finalised. The mandate of the Commission on Human Rights will end on 16 June.

Issuing a statement, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, also described the decision as “a historic opportunity to improve the protection and promotion of fundamental freedoms of people around the world.” She said that it responded “to the hope that the global community could come together and create a strong institution at the heart of the international human rights system”.

In addition to retaining some of the best elements of the Commission on Human Rights, such as the system of independent investigators and the broad participation of civil society, the new Human Rights Council will display some significant features, including that candidates for membership will have to make commitments on human rights; elected members will be first in line for scrutiny under a universal periodic review of their human rights records and members that commit gross and systematic violations of human rights may be suspended. Members will also be required to commit to cooperate with the Council and its various mechanisms.

“The method of electing members of the Human Rights Council also represents a major improvement over the Commission on Human Rights. Election to the Council will require an absolute majority of UN member States: of the 191 members, at least 96 must support a state’s membership by secret ballot,” the statement said, adding, “This threshold is much higher than the 28 or fewer votes required by a country to attain membership in the Commission, and will allow countries to block the election of egregious rights violators.”