The United Nations General Assembly has approved the appointment of Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein as Navanethem (Navi) Pillay’s successor to head the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The High Commissioner is the official with the foremost responsibility for human rights activities at the United Nations. See UN General Assembly, Resolution 48/141, High Commissioner for the Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, A/RES/48/141, 20 December 1993, para. 4. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon nominated Prince Zeid for the High Commissioner position and the General Assembly unanimously approved his appointment on June 16, 2014. [UN News Centre]
Jordan’s Ambassador to the United Nations for 10 of the last 14 years, Prince Zeid has said he will be the first High Commissioner to come from the continent of Asia and to represent the Muslim and Arab worlds. [UN News Centre; NYT] As Jordan’s UN envoy, Prince Zeid played a significant role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court, serving as President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute and contributing to the drafting of the elements of individual offenses for the crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. [UN; UNSG.org] In 2007, he was considered as a possible candidate for UN Secretary General, a post currently held by Ban Ki-moon. [ABC News] Earlier in his career, Prince Zeid oversaw an inquiry for then-Secretary General Kofi Annan on sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers. [BBC; NYT]
Civil society groups have welcomed Prince Zeid’s appointment, while recognizing his predecessor’s achievements and commitment, and encouraged the incoming High Commissioner to follow Navi Pillay’s “outstanding example.” [ISHR] Prince Zeid will assume leadership of the OHCHR in September 2014, and the challenges he will likely face include several pressing human rights crises and armed conflicts, as well as the “financial and political constraints” that Navi Pillay alluded to in her final remarks to the UN Human Rights Council. [ISHR; OHCHR: Navi Pillay Address to Human Rights Council]
High Commissioner for Human Rights
The UN General Assembly created the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on December 20, 1993 by Resolution 48/141. The resolution requires that the High Commissioner be a person of “high moral standing and personal integrity” with both human rights expertise and a “general knowledge and understanding” of the world’s cultures. The High Commissioner is expected to perform his or her duties impartially, objectively, effectively, and without selectivity.
The High Commissioner is appointed by the UN Secretary General and approved by the General Assembly “with due regard to geographical rotation.” The High Commissioner holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General and serves for a fixed term of four years, with the possibility of renewal for another four-year fixed term.
Navi Pillay’s Term as High Commissioner for Human Rights
Credit: OHCHR
Navi Pillay, Zeid’s predecessor, is a South African jurist who was first appointed on September 1, 2008. The General Assembly renewed her mandate for two years, rather than the usual four, beginning on September 1, 2012. [OHCHR: Navanethem Pillay; Reuters]
Ms. Pillay’s term as High Commissioner has seen numerous achievements. Ms. Pillay was the first High Commissioner to push the UN to recognize and protect gay rights. [Foreign Policy] In addition to fighting discrimination, she has been a vocal advocate for the abolition of capital punishment in countries that retain it. In 2009, she also initiated a treaty body strengthening process that resulted in a reinvestment in the treaty bodies in the amount of 20 million dollars. [OHCHR: Navi Pillay Address to Human Rights Council] Others congratulated Ms. Pillay’s efforts to increase the OHCHR’s field presence and to mainstream human rights across UN activities. [EU]
Some States had criticized Ms. Pillay for what they perceived as harsher treatment regarding the human rights situations in certain countries, including Israel and Syria. [Reuters] Her shortened second term was reportedly a concession to the United States, which had attempted to block renewal of her mandate. [Reuters]
Ultimately, the manner in which Ms. Pillay has carried out her mandate reflects her vision of the Office of the High Commissioner. She has described it as “a friend that is unafraid to speak the truth.” [OHCHR: Navi Pillay Address to Human Rights Council] Its role is to help countries identify and repair gaps in their human rights protections.
Responsibilities of the Office of the High Commissioner
The Office of the High Commissioner has many duties, including carrying out fact-finding, supporting the work of other UN human rights bodies, developing policies, communicating with governments, monitoring human rights situations around the world, and speaking out about human rights violations.
As part of the Office’s duty to “rationalize, adapt, strengthen and streamline the United Nations machinery in the field of human rights,” the High Commissioner also supports and contributes to the work of the Human Rights Council. The Office prepares reports during the Universal Periodic Review process and assists with Special Procedures by providing research, analysis, and legal expertise. The High Commissioner has also sought to strengthen the human rights treaty bodies. [OHCHR: Navi Pillay Address to Human Rights Council]
For additional information about the United Nations’ human rights activities, visit the United Nations page of IJRC’s Online Resource Hub.