The Human Rights Council opened its fifty-first session in Geneva on September 12, 2022, which will run until October 7. States, NGOs, and special mandate holders discuss international human rights developments and issued reports, and hold interactive dialogues.
At the opening session, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashef gave an oral update on human rights developments in the world. Al-Nashif welcomed the appointment of the new High Commissioner, Volker Türk, to succeed Michelle Bachelet. She hoped that "his leadership and commitment to championing human rights will be a true asset in defending the rights of everyone, everywhere."
The Deputy Commissioner noted that since the Council's last session in June 2022, many situations around the world have continued to raise serious human rights concerns. Al-Nashef considered that states should use the full range of human rights as measures to solve problems. It is also considered that it should benefit from international human rights mechanisms. She stressed that treaty bodies, the universal periodic review and special procedures are pillars of the international human rights machinery, providing critical oversight and guidance to assist states in moving forward in the protection and promotion of human rights.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights believes that the fifty-first session of the Human Rights Council is held in light of the Saudi government's escalation of its violations of human rights and its disregard for international mechanisms, including the Human Rights Council and its bodies.
ESOHR notes that, despite all the criticism directed at Saudi Arabia, it has continued to arbitrarily issue death sentences, including minors, practice torture and criminalize expression of opinion. It has also issued unprecedented harsh sentences, including imprisonment and travel bans for eight decades, against female activists to impose silence and increase community intimidation.
ESOHR confirms that the Saudi government is still trying to mislead world public opinion and international bodies, including the Human Rights Council, by claiming to cooperate with it. However, the reality shows that it sends false information in its responses to the special mechanisms, and promotes incomplete reforms in its interventions and public words while practising widespread violations of international law and its obligations at home. ESOHR considers that the recently appointed High Commissioner should continue the policy of the former High Commissioner, which did not coordinate with the official Saudi propaganda about her dealings with human rights, and sharply criticized her during her tenure.