On August 31, 2018, the four-year term in office of UN High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein will come to an end. Noting that Zeid has already publicly announced that he is not seeking reappointment to a second term, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights has written to UN Secretary-General António Guterres to stress that the selection of the next High Commissioner is a critical moment for the UN and its human rights programs. Our letter calls on the Secretary-General to openly solicit input from civil society as he seeks to identify the person best suited for this high-level and highly-regarded post, and to seek a capable leader who will be able to effectively:
(1) exercise leadership, by maintaining and defending the independence of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, monitoring and publicly presenting information about emerging human rights crises, and ensuring effective work by human rights field presences;
(2) maintain the UN’s credibility on human rights, by gathering accurate information about human rights conditions, conveying it to relevant UN stakeholders and ensuring that UN officials respond appropriately to the human rights conditions they encounter; and
(3) remain accountable to victims of rights violations, not only by speaking out against the commission of gross human rights abuses, but more generally by acting as well as being seen to act in a way that provides protection for the work of human rights defenders and affirms the principle of “all human rights for all.”
The full letter is available here: JBI Letter to SG Guterres on selection of the next High Commissioner for Human Rights.