The Government are engaging with international partners around the world to build a strong and effective UN Human Rights Council. Positive steps include adoption by consensus of the draft UN Convention on the right not to be subject to Enforced Disappearance, and constructive debate with more than 40 UN Human Rights Rapporteurs. The Council is also building up its new tools; for example the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which will submit all states' human rights records to scrutiny. However, we and others have been disappointed by the Council’s handling of certain issues, such as its disproportionate and unbalanced focus on some Middle East issues, including through three Special Sessions in four months. The Council will meet in Special Session again on 12 December to discuss the situation in Darfur: this will be a key opportunity to demonstrate its readiness to tackle grave human rights situations wherever they occur.
As an intergovernmental body comprised of 47 UN member states, the Council is responsible for its own decisions. The Council reports, where necessary, to its parent body, the UN General Assembly.