Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Subject – IR

Context – The Government on Thursday took strong exception to the UN Human Rights agency’s criticism of the arrest of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez, accusing the Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) of “bias” for referring banned terror organisations in Jammu and Kashmir as “armed groups”.

Concept –

• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
• The office was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 December 1993in the wake of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.
• The office is headed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who co-ordinates human rights activities throughout the United Nations System and acts as the secretariat of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is an ex officio member of the Committee of the United Nations Development Group.
• The mandate of OHCHR derives from Articles 1, 13 and 55 of the Charter of the United Nations, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and General Assembly 48/141 of 20 December 1993, by which the Assembly established the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

United Nations Human Rights Council

• The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.
• The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006. It replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) serves as the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council.
• OHCHR is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly (UNGA).