The Human Rights Council convenes for its 58th session between 24 February and 4 April 2025. You can find all our statements delivered during this session below as they become available. Our past advocacy interventions are available here.
Item 5: General Debate – Sri Lanka (21 March)
Despite repeated promises of accountability, critical reports regarding the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks remain undisclosed. Even the number of people killed remains uncertain. Key questions, including why protective measures that were authorized in advance were not implemented, remain unanswered. We urge the Sri Lankan government to publicize all relevant report on the attacks, ensure accountability and reparations for the victims, and cooperate with international initiatives that work toward these goals.
Item 4: General Debate – Guatemala (20 March)
Although the new government in Guatemala shows commitment to the rule of law, the cooption of the justice system by corrupt actors continues to foster a climate of impunity. In 2024, civil society documented the murder of 29 human rights defenders. Over 60 justice operators and 20 journalists have been forced into exile, while others who remained in the country have been criminalized for their work. In a joint statement, we urged the international community to support civil society and closely monitor the selection of magistrates for the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Constitutional Court, and the Attorney General’s Office in 2026.
Item 4: General Debate – Indonesia (20 March)
Indigenous women and children are bearing the brunt of the ongoing conflict in West Papua, that has displaced almost 80.000 people as of mid-March. Many are forced to travel long distances on foot over difficult terrain to access limited healthcare, education and livelihood opportunities. In the absence of international humanitarian aid due to government obstruction, women in West Papua are organizing locally to collect resources and provisions for the internally displaced. In a joint statement, we stressed that Indigenous West Papuan women should be actively involved in decision-making processes and in discussions aimed at building a just, inclusive and sustainable peace.
Item 3: General Debate – Environmental Justice (17 March)
Climate change is an existential challenge for developing countries that are highly vulnerable to climate impacts. However, many of these countries are spending more on servicing debt than on life-saving public services and responding to the climate emergency. In line with the jubilee tradition, we called on the Human Rights Council to support the proposal of the Independent Expert of the effects of foreign debt to cancel unjust and unsustainable debt without harmful austerity conditions and to promote a fairer system of taxation. In this joint statement, we further urged the Council to support a transparent debt restructuring framework and a UN Debt Convention to develop rules on settling debt crises in a fair and accountable manner.
Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the right to a healthy environment – The Philippines (14 March)
Although liquid natural gas (LNG) is seen as a “bridge fuel” in the transition to cleaner energy, its use poses several human rights and environmental challenges of its own. In the Philippines, the development of new LNG infrastructure in the Verde Island Passage is a profound threat to this biodiversity hotspot. Already, toxic cargo spills have had catastrophic consequences for the environment and coastal communities in the area. In our statement, we stressed that fragile marine ecosystems such as the Verde Island Passage should be made off-limits for commercial exploitation and declared as Marine Protected Areas.
Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on violence against children – Uganda (12 March)
Children in Sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be trafficked than anywhere else in the world. In northern Uganda, high rates of poverty have resulted in children being trafficked into urban centres for labor, begging, and sexual exploitation. Girls face further risks, as the entrenched patriarchal social structures deprive them of education and drive early marriages. We called on the Special Representative to dedicate part of her mandate to tackling the interconnected nature of these issues and engage with national authorities to exhort them to implement existing legal frameworks to address violence against children in a holistic manner.
Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing – Brazil (7 March)
Civil society organizations have determined that over 1.5 million people in Brazil have been affected by forced evictions and displacement since 2020, with a disproportionate impact on women, non-white and low-income groups. Together with the Zero Evictions campaign we expressed our concern over a recent push to increase the criminalization of homelessness, led by politically and economically powerful groups. We urged the Brazilian government to repeal laws that criminalize squatting in homelessness and to take action in erecting the appropriate structures to ensure the protections against arbitrary evictions, in alignment with the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur.
Item 2: General Debate – Mozambique (3 March)
Franciscans International called attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Mozambique following mass protests after the October 2024, to which the government responded with excessive force. The demonstrations have diverted attention from the ongoing crisis in Cabo Delgado province, which has recently seen an increase in insurgent attacks. We called on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide regular updates on the situation to the Council and urged the government to ensure accountability for all violations committed by security forces, while also providing sufficient humanitarian assistance to Cabo Delgado.
Item 2: General Debate – Guatemala (3 March)
Despite various efforts by the current government, Guatemalans are still facing structural discrimination and corruption. The co-opting of the judiciary by special interest has not only resulted in the forced exile of justice operators, but the weakened rule of law also enables land grabbing from Indigenous Peoples and peasant farmers. In a joint statement with FIAN International, we called on the council to continue to monitor the human rights situation in Guatemala and support affected communities. We also urged the government to guarantee the right of Indigenous Peoples and rural communities to access, control, and use their lands.
Image by UN Photo / Jean Marc Ferré