HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS
PS2
Efforts to counter terrorism and prevent violent
extremism comply with international law.
As a result of a workshop on human rights and detention in relation to terrorism, which was
conducted by OHCHR, the United Nations Police, the Justice and Corrections Section of
MINUSMA and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in June, 321 detainees were
released who had been illegally detained in facilities under the responsibility of the Pôle
Judiciaire Spécialisé (PJS), the leading entity in the fight against terrorism, money laundering
and transborder criminality in Mali. The objective of the workshop was to strengthen the
capacity of the personnel of the PJS. The workshop facilitated a debate on illegal detentions
in relation to the fight against terrorism, as well as challenges faced by the PJS in handling the
cases of persons arrested during counter-terrorism operations. Participants also explored
possible avenues to improve detention conditions in compliance with international human
rights law and international humanitarian law.
In 2019, the G5 Sahel Compliance Framework was increasingly considered by UN Member
States to be a tool that could help mitigate harm to civilians in the context of conflict and
counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. OHCHR consistently engaged members of the
Security Council, Member States, the African Union (AU) and UN entities at strategic levels
in order to provide consistent political and technical support for its work with the G5 Sahel
countries. In February, the Assistant Secretary-General delivered an informal briefing to
Security Council members, the AU, the G5 Sahel and some permanent representatives from
the European Union (EU) on the Compliance Framework. In March, the High Commissioner
briefed the Security Council on the Compliance Framework during a ministerial meeting that
was organized by Burkina Faso and France on the establishment of the FC-G5S. In coordination
with the UN Department of Peace Operations, UN Human Rights provided inputs to the
Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on the FC-G5S, which was presented to the
Security Council on 16 May. Following the presentation, 11 Security Council members referred
to the Compliance Framework as a positive initiative. Recommendations were put forward to
fully operationalize its measures and mechanisms.
PS3
Strategies to prevent and respond to
conf lict consistently integrate human
rights protec tion.
UN Human Rights partnered with the Department of Peace Operations, Department of Political
and Peacebuilding Affairs, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General
on Sexual Violence in Conflict to draft and sign a new joint United Nations Field Missions
Policy: Preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), which provides
guidance and explains the responsibilities and complementarity of mission components in
peace operations, including the leading role of human rights components in implementing
Security Council mandates on CRSV. The policy entered into force as of 1 January 2020.
UN Human Rights supported the development of a regional UN-wide strategy on sustaining
peace in the Western Balkans. In March, UN Human Rights hosted an expanded retreat and
facilitated human rights briefings for the Western Balkan Inter-Agency Working Group and
Resident Coordinators (RCs) from the region. The adoption by the Secretary-General of a UN
Action Plan for the Western Balkans, in June, created space for UN Human Rights to promote
the application of an HRBA to its implementation and enhance its work in the region, together
with UN entities and other partners. In this regard, UN Human Rights continued to undertake
high-level advocacy on human rights concerns, including through increased engagement with
authorities and an enhanced presence in the region. With the deployment of a Human Rights
Adviser (HRA) to Montenegro, in September, UN Human Rights now has four field presences
in the Western Balkans.
UN Human Rights, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
and the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, provided technical assistance to the
National Civil Police (PNC) of Guatemala, for the integration of human rights standards into the
Shifts:
Climate change
Corruption
Inequalities
New technologies
People on the move
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2019 33
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