The UN Human Rights Council should build on successes of the past year by continuing to improve its response to human rights violations around the world, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Since July 2010, the Council has established international investigations on Libya, Syria, and Côte d’Ivoire, appointed an expert to investigate human rights in Iran, and spoken out after years of silence on human rights abuses in Belarus. 

The UN Human Rights Council squandered an opportunity to take meaningful action to curtail business-related human rights abuses. The council, on June 16, 2011, endorsed a set of "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights" and announced the formation of a working group and an annual meeting of business, government, and civil society representatives focused on disseminating and discussing those principles.

Human Rights Watch and 4 other civil society organizations issued a joint statement today about an upcoming vote by the United Nations Human Rights Council on a resolution concerning human rights challenges confronting transnational corporations and the governments where they are based and work. Human Rights Watch stated its concern that if the Council adopts the draft resolution without addressing several major shortcomings, it will have failed in its fundamental mission to advance the protection of human rights.