Selected Human Rights Instruments

Selected Legal Texts (Excerpts)

Resolution 60/251 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006: Human Rights Council

The General Assembly […]

• 1. Decides to establish the Human Rights Council, based in Geneva, in replacement of the Commission on Human Rights, as a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly; the Assembly shall review the status of the Council within five years;

• 2. Decides that the Council shall be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner;

• 3. Decides also that the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon. It should also promote the effective coordination and the mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system;

• 4. Decides further that the work of the Council shall be guided by the principles of...