Indigenous Peoples' Center for Documentation, Research and Information

The Human Rights Council was created by resolution A/Res/60/251 dated 3 April 2006 as a replacement for the Human Rights Commission. It is the main UN body for all questions relating to human rights. The Council's secretariat is provided by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, located in Geneva, Switzerland.

The following are the main characteristics of the Human Rights Council :

1. The Council is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly (whereas the Commission on Human Rights fell under the Economical and Social Council);

2. It is composed of 47 member states (as opposed to 53 for the Commission);

3. The Council is permanent. It meets throughout the year and holds three regular sessions per year, which add up to a total of at least 10 weeks; each year comprises one cycle of sessions starting in June;

4. Extraordinary sessions also take place upon the request of one-third of the member states;

5. Each State must submit to a Universal Periodic Rewiev (UPR) examining the fulfillment of its obligations and commitments in the area of human rights.

6. The regional distribution of the State-members ia as follows: Africa: 13, Asia: 13, Latin America and the Caribbean: 8, Western Europe and others: 7, Eastern Europe: 6.

The elimination of the Commission on Human Rights Commission entailed that of the Sub-commission on the promotion and protection of human rights and, consequently, that of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations, whose last session was held in 2006.

All the mechanisms of the former Commission were examined during the first cycle (2006-2007). The new institutions are described in the Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1 on 18 June 2007 titled "Institution-building of the United Nations Human Rights Council" (document in English, Spanish, French and Russian). The Council created an Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with resolution A/HRC/6/L.04 dated 14 December 2007 and presented by Bolivia.

The Council renewed the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples with resolution A/HRC/6/L.26 dated 24 September 2007 and presented by Guatemala.