Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda condemned the killing on 13 July of seven peacekeepers serving with the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and the wounding of 17 military and police personnel.

The ambush carried out by a large unidentified group, which drew condemnation from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, was one of the most serious attacks against the mission since its deployment in early 2008, and the third in the past few weeks. The office will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those alleged to have committed such crimes should the national authorities fail to.

“The Prosecutor reminds all parties to the conflict that the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction in Darfur […] and that the intentional directing of attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes,” said a statement issued by the Prosecutor’s office.

“The office will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those alleged to have committed such crimes should the national authorities fail to,” it added. “The Prosecutor calls on the Government of Sudan to carry out a prompt and full investigation and to hold all those responsible to account.”

Located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, the ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern – namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes – if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.

The Darfur region of Sudan is one of eight situations currently under investigation by the ICC. The others are northern Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Libya, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.

“We are not only watching the destruction of a country but also of its people,” the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos said in her briefing to the Council in New York. “This is a regional crisis not a crisis in Syria with regional consequences, requiring sustained and comprehensive engagement from the international community.”

Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Coordinator was joined today by UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, and Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan ŠImonović, who delivered a statement on behalf of Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

With some 5,000 people being killed every month, all the officials expressed extreme concern about the deepening violence, grave human rights violations, worsening humanitarian situation and particularly, the massive refugee crisis spawned by the spiraling conflict in Syria, which Guterres said was escalating at such a frightening rate that it resembled the outflow resembled the Rwandan genocide of nearly 20 years ago.

The brutal violence has spread significantly in the past months and the speakers feared the violence could ignite the whole region if a political solution is not reached soon.

Since fighting began in March 2011 between the Syrian Government and opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad as many as 100,000 people have been killed, almost 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries and a further 4 million have been internally displaced. In addition, at least 6.8 million Syrian require urgent humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children.

Amos said that while UN agencies continue to deliver assistance, gaps in the humanitarian response remain as access to many affected areas such as Homs and Aleppo is difficult due to security concerns or Government restrictions.

“While we know where those considered most vulnerable are located, humanitarian organizations are still not able to get regular, consistent and unimpeded access to millions of affected people,” she said, adding that the Government has also imposed bureaucratic procedures which have impeded humanitarian workers to access affected areas.

“Some locations remain inaccessible due to active fighting or insecurity. However, there are other areas, sometimes only a few kilometres away from our offices – including in Damascus and Homs – where we are not granted authorization to enter.”

Amos noted that the situation inside the country has worsened, with reports indications an “open and blatant violation of the rules of war, with total disregard for human life and dignity, in a climate of generalized impunity.” Recalling that senior United Nations officials had repeatedly called for a political solution, she said: “We are looking to this Council to exercise a leadership role in that regard.”

In remarks delivered by Imonović, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay echoed Amos’ statement, saying rights violations continue to be perpetrated by both Government and opposition forces. “In Syria today, serious human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity are the rule,” he declared.

“Government forces carry on with indiscriminate and disproportionate shelling and aerial bombardments, using among other weapons tactical ballistic missiles, cluster and thermobaric bombs, all causing extensive damage and casualties if used in densely populated areas.”

He added that “armed opposition groups have also committed acts of torture, abduction and kidnapping, sometimes along sectarian lines.”

Both Amos and Imonović said they were concerned of the rhetoric used by leaders in the region exacerbating sectarian tensions, stressing this increases the risk of sectarian massacres, and urging States to take action to prevent incitement of violence on any grounds.

Imonović underlined that the continuous influx of foreign fighters into Syria to support both sides is endangering the whole region and called on the supply of weapons to both sides to stop. “The solution should be political, not military. States with influence over the parties must work to support an inclusive, Syrian-led political solution to this conflict,” he emphasized.

For his part, Guterres warned that if a political solution is not reached soon “the Syria conflict could ignite the whole region.” In particular, he stressed the heavy burden being borne by countries that are hosting thousands of Syrian refugees, pointing out that this is having a destabilizing influence and could potentially send them over the edge if they do not receive enough support.

Lebanon and Jordan are currently the two most affected countries, hosting over one million refugees between the two.

“Measures must be taken now to mitigate the enormous risks of spill-over and to support the stability of Syria’s neighbours, so as to keep the situation from escalating into a political, security and humanitarian crisis that would move far beyond the international capacity to respond,” he said.

Guterres appealed to international financial institutions, UN organizations and national and regional development agencies to cooperate with the host countries in formulating and supporting community development programmes that will assist these states to cope with the impact of the crisis in Syria.

“War crimes and crimes against humanity have become a daily reality in Syria where the harrowing accounts of victims have seared themselves on our conscience [...] Referral to justice remains paramount,” says the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria in a new report to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council.

Created in August 2011, the Commission is chaired by Paulo Pinheiro, and includes experts Karen Koning Abuzayd, Carla del Ponte and Vitit Muntarbhorn. The report, the investigative team’s fourth, covers the period 15 January to 15 May 2013, and documents for the first time systematic imposition of sieges, the use of chemical agents and forcible displacement.

“Syria is in a free-fall,” Mr. Pinheiro told the Council this morning. “No one is winning and will not win the war. More weapons will only lead to more civilians dead and wounded.”

Mr. Pinheiro stressed that dialogue is the only way to find a solution to the conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 civilians and displaced more than four million since it began over two years ago.

“We ask that States exert influence over the parties to the conflict to compel them to protect civilians,” he added.

From findings based on 430 interviews and other collected evidence, the four experts stress in the report that there is a human cost to the increased availability of weapons in Syria, where arms transfers heighten the risk of violations, leading to more civilian deaths and injuries.

While the experts note that Government forces and affiliated militia have committed “murder, torture, rape, forcible displacement, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts,” as part of widespread or systematic attacks against civilian populations, they also note that armed anti-Government groups have also committee war crimes, crimes against humanity, including murder, sentencing and execution without due process, torture, hostage-taking and pillage.

“The violations and abuses committed by anti-Government armed groups did not, however, reach the intensity and scale of those committed by Government forces and affiliated militia,” the report says.

In addition, the precarious situation of Syria’s 4.25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) is compounded by recent incidents of IDPs being targeted and forcibly displaced.

There are reasonable grounds to believe that chemical agents have been used as weapons. The experts say that allegations have been received concerning the use of chemical weapons by both parties. The majority concern their use by Government forces.

In four attacks – on Khan Al-Asal, Aleppo, 19 March; Uteibah, Damascus, 19 March; Sheikh Maqsood neighbourhood, Aleppo, 13 April; and Saraqib, Idlib, 29 April – “there are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used.”

It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator. Other incidents also remain under investigation.

Conclusive findings – particularly in the absence of a large-scale attack – may be reached only after testing samples taken directly from victims or the site of the alleged attack.

“It is, therefore, of utmost importance that the Panel of Experts, led by Professor Sellström and assembled under the Secretary General’s Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, is granted full access to Syria,” the experts say.

“A diplomatic surge is the only path to a political settlement. Negotiations must be inclusive, and must represent all facets of Syria’s cultural mosaic,” says the Commission, calling on the international community to support the peace process based on the Geneva Communiqué and the work of the UN and Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria.

The Commission also calls on the international community to counter the escalation of the conflict by restricting arms transfers, especially given the clear risk that the arms will be used to commit serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.

While some opposition leaders have pledged to protect all Syrians, in practice the opposition has failed to properly address the unjustified attacks against minority places of worship, Human Rights Watch said. The opposition also has failed to rein in gunmen engaging in looting and other criminal activities, like kidnappings. Human Rights Watch urged armed opposition groups to protect all religious sites in areas under their control and to discipline members who loot or kidnap.

Human Rights Watch has previously documented the destruction and vandalization of a mosque in Taftanaz, Idlib by Syrian government forces.

“The destruction of religious sites is furthering sectarian fears and compounding the tragedies of the country, with tens of thousands killed,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Syria will lose its rich cultural and religious diversity if armed groups do not respect places of worship. Leaders on both sides should send a message that those who attack these sites will be held accountable.”

Under international humanitarian law, parties in an armed conflict have a responsibility not to intentionally attack religious buildings that are not being used for military purposes. They are prohibited from seizing, destroying, or doing willful damage to religious buildings or institutions and from theft, pillage, or vandalism directed against important cultural property. Deliberate attacks on religious sites that are not military objectives are war crimes.

Human Rights Watch researchers conducted a four day investigation in the Latakia and Idlib countryside in opposition-controlled areas into abuses by both government and opposition fighters in Sunni, Alawite, Christian, and mixed sect villages. In three villages – Zarzour, Ghasaniyeh, and Jdeideh – Human Rights Watch found evidence of attacks against religious minority sites after the areas fell under the control of armed opposition groups and government forces had left the area.

Residents also told Human Rights Watch that armed opposition gunmen looted some homes after taking control of the town and kidnapped two local villagers in Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh. Human Rights Watch was unable to determine whether the looting and kidnapping were religious attacks. Media reports also indicate that looting and kidnapping of Sunni residents has taken place in opposition controlled areas.

In all three villages, religious minorities had either all fled or left their homes in large numbers. Residents in Zarzour, a predominantly Sunni village with a small Shia population, told Human Rights Watch that their Shia neighbors had fled because they feared retaliation by opposition forces because, in their opinion, the local Shias had been supportive of government forces.

These residents said this perceived support was reflected in alleged preferential treatment that government forces gave to Shia residents when the government forces were in the village. In Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh, two Christian villages in Latakia, residents told Human Rights Watch that many of their neighbors fled because of dire humanitarian conditions, fear of armed opposition fighters in their area, and fear of air and artillery strikes by government forces.

“All parties to the conflict should promote conditions that would allow civilian populations to remain in their homes,” Human Rights Watch said. The Syrian government should stop deliberate and indiscriminate air and artillery strikes against civilians, and opposition leadership should protect all civilians in their areas, including members of religious minorities, from any retaliatory attack or criminal activity. All parties should facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to areas under their authority.

In a joint letter to the Council, Switzerland and 56 other states from all continents noted the Syrian authorities’ failure to investigate and prosecute crimes against humanity and war crimes committed since March 2011.

Since then, according to the letter, “the situation on the ground has only become more desperate, with attacks on the civilian population and the commission of atrocities having become almost the norm”. 

“For almost two years, the Security Council has stood by as crimes against humanity, as well as war crimes after the internal armed conflict began, have been committed with complete impunity against the Syrian people,” said José Luis Díaz, Amnesty International’s UN Representative in New York. 

“This must not be allowed to continue. A referral to the ICC must be made immediately to ensure that persons from all sides are investigated and – where there is sufficient admissible evidence – prosecuted for the most serious crimes under international law.”

Amnesty International, too, began calling for the situation to be referred to the Prosecutor of the ICC as early as April 2011. Since the beginning of the unrest the organization has documented systematic as well as widespread human rights violations which amount to crimes against humanity. 

The organization has also found evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes, carried out by the Syrian authorities since the situation evolved into an internal armed conflict in most parts of the country.

A UN-backed independent international Commission of Inquiry also found evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has also repeatedly called for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC.

But the Security Council has so far failed to act on such calls, only going as far as making statements that “those responsible for the violence should be held accountable.” Russia and China in particular have blocked resolutions which would have allowed greater international pressure on the Syrian authorities.

“The Security Council’s weak rhetoric on Syria has failed to achieve any justice for victims, and has given human rights violators free rein to carry on committing serious crimes under international law without facing any consequences,” said Díaz. 

“The continued failure to act would send a disturbing message that the international community has lost the will to protect civilians from harm in conflict.”

In addition to the ICC referral, Amnesty International has repeatedly called on all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over those suspected of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.

Human Rights Watch based its findings on interviews with 190 Congolese and Rwandan victims, family members, witnesses, local authorities, and current or former M23 fighters between May and September.

“The M23 rebels are committing a horrific trail of new atrocities in eastern Congo,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “M23 commanders should be held accountable for these crimes, and the Rwandan officials supporting these abusive commanders could face justice for aiding and abetting the crimes.”

The M23 armed group consists of soldiers who participated in a mutiny from the Congolese national army in April and May 2012. The group’s senior commanders have a well-known history of serious abuses against civilians. In June the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, identified five of the M23’s leaders as “among the worst perpetrators of human rights violations in the DRC, or in the world.” They include Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted on two arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ituri district, and Col. Sultani Makenga, who is implicated in the recruitment of children and several massacres in eastern Congo.

Based on its research, Human Rights Watch documented the forced recruitment of at least 137 young men and boys in Rutshuru territory, eastern Congo, by M23 rebels since July. Most were abducted from their homes, in the market, or while walking to their farms. At least seven were under age 15.

Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that at least 33 new recruits and other M23 fighters were summarily executed when they attempted to flee. Some were tied up and shot in front of other recruits as an example of the punishment they could receive.

One young recruit told Human Rights Watch, “When we were with the M23, they said [we had a choice] and could stay with them or we could die. Lots of people tried to escape. Some were found and then that was immediately their death.”

Since June, M23 fighters have deliberately killed at least 15 civilians in areas under their control, some because they were perceived to be against the rebels, Human Rights Watch said. The fighters also raped at least 46 women and girls. The youngest rape victim was eight years old. M23 fighters shot dead a 25-year-old woman who was three months pregnant because she resisted being raped. Two other women died from the wounds inflicted on them when they were raped by M23 fighters.

M23 rebels have committed abuses against civilians with horrific brutality, Human Rights Watch said. Just after midnight on July 7, 2012, M23 fighters attacked a family in the village of Chengerero. A 32-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch that the M23 fighters broke down their door, beat her 15-year-old son to death, and abducted her husband. Before leaving, the M23 fighters gang-raped her, poured fuel between her legs, and set the fuel on fire. A neighbor came to the woman’s aid after the M23 fighters left. The whereabouts of the woman’s husband remain unknown.

Local leaders, customary chiefs, journalists, human rights activists and others who spoke out against the M23’s abuses – or are known to have denounced the rebel commanders’ previous abuses – have been targeted. Many received death threats and have fled to Congolese government-controlled areas.

M23 leaders deny that they or their forces have committed any crimes. In an interview with Human Rights Watch on August 8, Col. Makenga, one of the M23’s leaders, denied allegations of forced recruitment and summary executions, claiming those who joined their ranks did so voluntarily. “We recruit our brothers, not by force, but because they want to help their big brothers…. That’s their decision,” he said. “They are our little brothers, so we can’t kill them.” He described the repeated reports of forced recruitment by his forces as Congolese government propaganda.

Rwandan military officials have also continued to recruit by force or under false pretenses young men and boys, including under the age of 15, in Rwanda to augment the M23’s ranks. Recruitment of children under age 15 is a war crime and contravenes Rwandan law.

On June 4, Human Rights Watch reported that between 200 and 300 Rwandans were recruited in Rwanda in April and May and taken across the border to fight alongside M23 forces. Human Rights Watch has since gathered further evidence of forced recruitment in Rwanda in June, July, and August with several hundred more recruited. Based on interviews with witnesses and victims, Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 600 young men and boys have been forcibly or otherwise unlawfully recruited in Rwanda to join the M23, and possibly many more. These recruits outnumber those recruited for the M23 in Congo.

Congolese and Rwandans, including local authorities, who live near the Rwanda-Congo border told Human Rights Watch that they saw frequent troop movements of Rwandan soldiers in and out of Congo in June, July, and August in apparent support of M23 rebels. They said that Rwandan army soldiers frequently used the footpath near Njerima hill in Rwanda, close to Karisimbi volcano, to cross the border.

In addition to deploying reinforcements and recruits to support military operations, Rwandan military officials have been providing important military support to the M23 rebels, including weapons, ammunition, and training, Human Rights Watch said. This makes Rwanda a party to the conflict.

“The Rwandan government’s repeated denials that its military officials provide support for the abusive M23 rebels beggars belief,” Van Woudenberg said. “The United Nations Security Council should sanction M23 leaders, as well as Rwandan officials who are helping them, for serious rights abuses.”

The armed conflict in eastern Congo is bound by international humanitarian law, or the laws of war, including Common Article 3 and Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which prohibit summary executions, rape, forced recruitment, and other abuses. Serious laws-of-war violations committed deliberately or recklessly are war crimes. Commanders may be criminally responsible for war crimes by their forces if they knew or should have known about such crimes and failed to prevent them or punish those responsible.

A United Nations Group of Experts that monitors the arms embargo and sanctions violations in Congo independently presented compelling evidence of Rwandan support to the M23 rebels. Its findings were published in a 48-page addendum to the Group’s interim report in June 2012. The Rwandan government has denied these allegations. The UN sanctions committee should immediately seek additional information on M23 leaders and Rwandan military officers named by the Group of Experts with a view to adopting targeted sanctions against them, Human Rights Watch said.

Issued today and produced by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Syria under a mandate from the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, the report states that war crimes, including murder, extrajudicial killings and torture, and gross violations of international human rights, including unlawful killing, attacks against civilians and acts of sexual violence, have been committed in line with State policy, with indications of the involvement at the highest levels of the Government, as well as security and armed forces.

Syria has been wracked by violence, with an estimated 17,000 people, mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 17 months ago.

The report, which presents the CoI’s findings based on investigations conducted through 20 July, notes that the situation in the Middle Eastern country has deteriorated significantly in the past six months, with armed violence spreading to new areas and active hostilities between anti-Government armed groups and Government forces and members of the Government-controlled militia known as the Shabiha.

It also notes that more “brutal tactics” and new military capabilities have been employed in recent months by both sides to the conflict.

The report updates earlier findings on the events that took place in the town of Houla on 25 May, concluding that Government forces and Shabiha fighters were responsible for the killings there of more than 100 civilians – nearly half of whom were children.

In early June, the Human Rights Council had called for a “special inquiry” into the Houla massacre. It also adopted a resolution condemning in the strongest terms the use of force against civilians.

While opposition forces also committed war crimes, including murder and torture, the CoI says in its report that their violations and abuses were not of the same gravity, frequency and scale as those committed by Government force and the Shabiha.

It also reiterates the need for international consensus to end the violence and pave the way for a political transition process that reflects the aspirations of all segments of Syrian society.

In a news release issued by Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Commission underlined that the lack of access to the country significantly hampered its ability to fulfil its mandate, and for that reason it continued to collect firsthand accounts of the situation on the ground from people who left the country.

Established in September last year, the CoI has conducted 1,062 interviews since 15 February. Its report is scheduled to be presented at the 21st session of the Human Rights Council on 17 September.

According to Syrian opposition sources, scores of people were killed on Thursday morning when the Syrian army and security forces along with pro-government militia known as Shabiha, attacked al-Treimseh near the city of Hama. Syrian state-run media have blamed “terrorist groups” for the killings.

UN mission chief Major General Robert Mood said today that UN observers are ready to go to Treimseh when a ceasefire is in place. He confirmed continuous fighting yesterday in the area of Treimseh, including the use of mechanized units, indirect fire and helicopters and said that observers were ready to go and seek verification of the facts if and when there was a credible ceasefire.

“The UN must be allowed unfettered access to investigate such incidents,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director. “Without an independent presence to investigate the facts, it is impossible to verify what really happened.”

“Nonetheless, we know that a pattern of abuses has been widely reported in many areas where government forces have indiscriminately shelled towns and villages, unlawfully killing civilians, followed by incursions by the shabiha militia who have killed not only opposition fighters, but also many civilians, mainly men and boys.

“The findings of our recent field investigations in Syria, verified this pattern. Amnesty International documented evidence of grave violations, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, committed by the Syrian army in towns and villages around Idlib, Aleppo, Jebel al-Zawiyah and Jebel al-Wastani areas.”

Amnesty International said that the resolution renewing the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) should explicitly include a strong and adequately staffed human rights component, providing the mission with sufficient expertise, including gender and children’s rights experts, and other resources to document and report on crimes against humanity, war crimes and other grave human rights abuses committed by all sides.

“UN human rights monitors should have a rapid reaction capability to investigate specific incidents and a permanent presence in cities outside Damascus,” said Harrison.

“The UN Security Council should also require UNSMIS to regularly and publicly publish its findings on human rights violations and provide the human rights component with the necessary capacity to do so.”

“The UN Security Council must refer the situation to the prosecutor of the ICC. It has been evident for months that crimes under international law are being committed on a mass scale. An ICC referral will make clear to all sides that those who order or carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity will be brought to justice,” said Ann Harrison.

“All violations of the human rights of the Syrian people at the hands of all parties to the conflict must end. The Government of Syria should immediately cease the use of heavy armaments and shelling of populated areas, as such actions amount to crimes against humanity and possible war crimes,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said in her opening statement to the 20th session of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council.

“I also urge the international community to overcome divisions and work to end the violence and human rights violations to which the people of Syria have been subjected,” she added, noting that efforts must be made to ensure accountability for all perpetrators, including those who have attacked UN observers on the ground there.

Over the weekend, the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) announced that it had suspended the monitoring activities of its observers due to the intensification of armed violence across the country in recent days.

“This suspension comes while innocent civilians are being killed every day, but the situation is posing also significant risk to UN observers who are now locked down and not patrolling,” Ms. Pillay said. “This follows daily attacks on their convoys seeking to access towns and villages in Syria, including the town of al Haffa on 12 June, to document grave human rights violations.”

The Security Council established UNSMIS in April to monitor the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitor and support the full implementation of a six-point peace plan put forward by the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan. Amongst other things, the plan calls for an end to violence and the start of inclusive political dialogue.

The UN estimates that more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago.

“The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, and the suffering of civilians has increased significantly,” Ms. Pillay said in her Council statement, which also provided a wrap-up of her Office’s activities.

Regarding the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), Ms. Pillay reiterated her appeal to Member States to integrate key human rights considerations into the Rio+20 outcome document, to ensure full coherence between efforts to advance the green economy, and their human rights obligations, including the right to development.

“They [Member States] should recognize that all policies and measures adopted to advance sustainable development must be firmly grounded in, and respectful of, all internationally agreed human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development,” she said, adding that particular care must be taken to prevent and remedy any negative impact the outcome document might have on the human rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Rio+20’s high-level meeting runs 20-22 June, and is expected to bring together over 100 heads of State and government, along with thousands of parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

The third and final session of Rio+20′s Preparatory Committee concluded on Friday and Brazil, which holds the presidency of the Conference, now has the responsibility for deciding on how to proceed to achieve progress on the economic, social and environmental issues at the centre of the negotiations.

The Brazilian authorities have said that the consultation process on the outcome document is expected to conclude on Monday, after which it will be put forward for adoption by Member States when they meet from Wednesday onwards.

“Bearing in mind the immense tasks confronting the Rio Conference, it is important to recall the cross-cutting nature of human rights,” Ms. Pillay said. “Whether we are talking about peace and security, development, humanitarian action, the struggle against terrorism, climate change, or the environment, these challenges cannot be addressed in isolation from human rights.”

Made up of 47 Member States elected by the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.

The Council holds no fewer than three regular sessions a year; this current session ends on 6 July.