UNHRC57 Side Event – Palais des Nations, Geneva

Watch the proceedings via our YouTube channel.

Globally, addressing impunity for gross human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law continues to be a major challenge. The accountability mandates established by the UNHRC play a pivotal role in addressing impunity and providing justice to victims. Yet, these mandates frequently encounter operational and systemic hurdles that detract from their overall goals, even as the demand for establishing these mechanisms in additional contexts facing atrocities continues to grow at every Council session. The event will address political challenges and explore ways to promote impartiality in the establishment and functioning of UN accountability mechanisms.

Opening remarks: H.E. Ambassador Frank BÜCHEL, Permanent Representative of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the UN

Moderator: Ambassador (Ret.) Stephen Rapp, Senior Fellow of Practice, Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed, University of Oxford; Distinguished Fellow, Simon Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Alex al Jundi, Coordinator, Investigations Support Unit, Emergency Response Section, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Marta Valiñas, Chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Mazen Darwish, ICJ Commissioner, General Director, Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression

Santiago Canton, Secretary General, International Commission of Jurists

Federica D’Alessandra, British Academy Global Innovation Fellow; Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict, University of Oxford