Key votes during the 58th UN Human Rights Council

During the 58th UN Human Rights Council, which was held in Geneva from February 24 to April 4, a total of 32 texts were adopted, 20 of them by consensus and 12 after a vote. For the first time since 2011, for example, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria was extended by consensus. Resolutions on Myanmar, Mali, Haiti, North Korea, the role of women in diplomacy, the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment with a particular focus on the oceans, on landmines or the establishment of an open-ended intergovernmental working group tasked to draft an international legally binding instrument on the human rights of older persons were adopted by consensus. However, votes were held on the extension of special rapporteurs and investigative mechanisms for Iran, Belarus, South Sudan, Ukraine, Nicaragua or the Palestinian territories. In light of the immense pressure that the human rights system is currently facing, support was voiced by 71 states who headed the call of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that: "We cannot allow the fundamental global consensus around international norms and institutions, built painstakingly over decades, to crumble before our eyes."