The UN Human Rights Council holds its 31st Session

The UN Human Rights Council will hold its 31st regular session at Palais des Nations in Geneva from 29 February to 24 March 2016.  This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Human Rights Council, and there is a heavy programme of work for the session, which includes ten panel discussions and 99 reports to be presented.

Stay up-to-date on all the immigration and detention-related developments by following @IDCAdvocacy and #HRC31 on Twitter.

Annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The High Commissioner for Human Rights will present his annual report to the Human Rights Council during the session. The report gives an overview of the work of his Office from December 2014 to November 2015.

Panel discussions

The following panel discussions are scheduled for this session and will include discussions relevant to refugee, asylum-seeker and migrant detention:

• Russia will lead a high-level panel discussion on the 50th anniversary of the International Covenants on Human Rights: universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights. It will take place on Tuesday 1 March at 9:00. In accordance with resolution 27/21, the OHCHR will prepare a report on the panel discussion.
• The European Union is organizing the annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child on the theme: “Information and communications technology and child sexual exploitation”. The meeting will be held on Monday 7 March, starting at 9:00.

 Reports

The following reports are scheduled for this session and will include discussions relevant to refugee, asylum-seeker and migrant detention:

• Study of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of migrants in transit, including unaccompanied children and adolescents, as well as women and girls
• Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on technical cooperation and capacity-building to promote and protect the rights of all migrants, including women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities
• Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment: Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment
• Annual report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children: Global study on children deprived of liberty

Side-Events

The following is a selection of the events from the draft programme of NGO parallel events and will include discussions relevant to refugee, asylum-seeker and migrant detention.  All side-events take place at the Palais des Nations:

• Effective monitoring of child detention facilities, Monday 07 March, organised by Defense for Children International.  This event is scheduled for 16:00-17:30, Room XXI.
• Working together towards a global study on children deprived of liberty, Thursday 10 March, organised by NGO Panel for the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty. This event is scheduled for 10:00-12:00, Room XXIII.
• LGBTI persons and torture, Thursday 10 March, organised by Association for the Prevention of Torture. This event is scheduled for 13:00-14:00, Room XXIV.
• Migrants in transit, Monday 14 March, organised by OHCHR. This event is scheduled for 14:00-16:00, Room TBC.