UN Human Rights Council
At the World Summit of Heads of State and Government held in New York in September 2005, a decision was taken to establish a new United Nations human rights body —
the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). To implement this decision, on 15 March 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 60/251, setting out the Council’s mandate, working methods, composition and membership election procedure. Under the resolution, the Council’s principal purpose is to promote universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner, as well as to promote the effective coordination and mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations system.
HRC consists of 47 Member States elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly. Seats are distributed among the regional groups as follows: 13 seats for the Group of African States, 13 seats for the Group of Asia-Pacific States, eight seats for the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States, six seats for the Group of Eastern European States and seven seats for the Group of Western European and other States. Council members serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.
The Council holds no fewer than three regular sessions a year. It may also convene special sessions to prevent large-scale human rights violations and respond promptly to human rights emergencies. A special session may be convened at the request of a Council member with the support of at least one third of the Council’s membership.
Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
HRC devotes significant attention to reviewing, rationalising and improving its system of special procedures, one of the principal elements of the United Nations human rights protection and promotion machinery.
The system is founded on the independence and professional expertise of special procedure mandate holders, who have direct access to information through their engagement with governments and other stakeholders, including during country visits.
The special procedures have helped address numerous cases involving violations of the rights of individuals and groups and have facilitated measures aimed at improving human rights situations.
Universal Periodic Review
The effectiveness of the Human Rights Council is determined to a considerable extent by the functioning of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, under which the fulfilment by all United Nations Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments is reviewed.
Ukraine actively cooperates with the UPR mechanism and has successfully completed three UPR cycles, in 2008, 2012 and 2017. Ukraine’s review under the fourth UPR cycle, originally scheduled for January 2023, was postponed until January 2027 because of the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Participation in the UN Human Rights Council
Ukraine attaches particular importance to cooperation with HRC in the field of human rights protection and regards this engagement as an important contribution to strengthening international stability and security and advancing democratic standards worldwide.
Ukraine first became a member of HRC in 2006. In 2008, it was re-elected for a second term, which continued until 2011. From June 2011, Ukraine actively cooperated with the Council as an observer. It was elected to the Council again in 2017 and re-elected in 2020, serving until the end of 2023. Ukraine’s election and re-election to the Human Rights Council reflected international recognition of the country’s progress in democratic development and the strengthening of its international standing. Ukraine has presented its candidature for membership of the Council for the 2027–2029 term.
Ukraine’s participation in the work of the Council, including as a member, demonstrates its commitment to the fundamental principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as its readiness to play an active role internationally and promote effective cooperation in this field. Such cooperation is aimed, inter alia, at bringing Ukraine’s human rights framework and standards into line with European standards in the context of the country’s European integration.
Ukraine’s participation in the work of the Council, including through its membership, is also an integral element of its efforts to counter Russian aggression and restore its territorial integrity. It provides additional opportunities to counter Russian propaganda against Ukraine and exert political and legal pressure on the Russian Federation with a view to securing the release and return of Ukrainian citizens unlawfully held in Russia and restoring the rights of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
Since 2010, Ukraine has consistently promoted within the Council an initiative on the role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights. In October 2025, at its sixtieth session, the Council adopted without a vote its sixth consecutive resolution on the issue, resolution 60/12, entitled “The role of prevention in the promotion and protection of human rights”. The resolution was co-sponsored by approximately 60 countries representing all regions of the world. Its current version seeks to facilitate comprehensive international dialogue aimed at developing a broadly acceptable concept of the prevention of human rights violations. The next update of the resolution is scheduled for the sixty-ninth session of the Council in October 2028.
On 27 June 2014, during its twenty-sixth session, the Human Rights Council adopted by vote the Ukraine-led resolution 26/30, entitled “Cooperation with and assistance to Ukraine in the field of human rights”. Drawing on reports by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights assessing the human rights situation in Ukraine, particularly in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and in eastern Ukraine, the resolution welcomed Ukraine’s cooperation with international human rights mechanisms and condemned human rights violations, especially in those areas.
Since 2015, Ukraine has regularly presented a resolution under the same title, most recently resolution 59/22 of July 2025. Its principal purpose is to maintain a mechanism for regular interactive dialogues on the human rights situation in Ukraine, including systematic and gross human rights violations in the territory of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. This mechanism helps keep Russia’s grave violations of human rights in Ukraine at the centre of international attention.
In the spring of 2022, at Ukraine’s initiative, the Council adopted without a vote resolution 49/21, entitled “Role of States in countering the negative impact of disinformation on the enjoyment and realization of human rights”. The resolution marked an important milestone in developing the international framework for countering disinformation. It was the first Human Rights Council resolution on disinformation and placed particular emphasis on the role and obligations of States as the primary guarantors of human rights and as actors possessing unique capabilities to counter and prevent disinformation.
In the text of resolution 62/9, updated in July 2026, a number of issues that remain particularly relevant today are also addressed, including the use of disinformation in armed conflicts; countering gender-based disinformation; the use of disinformation during electoral campaigns; the growing impact and potential harm of digitalization and artificial intelligence on freedom of expression; the intensification of foreign information manipulation and interference operations; and the need to safeguard information integrity and establish mechanisms for the regulation of digital platforms. This initiative has traditionally been co-sponsored by around 60 countries.
Ukraine is a party to nearly all core United Nations human rights instruments. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
Response to the Russian Federation’s Full-Scale Armed Aggression against Ukraine
During the forty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council, the delegation of Ukraine initiated an urgent debate on the human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression, held on 3 March 2022.
Following the debate, the Council adopted resolution 49/1, entitled “Situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression”. The resolution reaffirmed the Council’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, condemned the Russian Federation’s invasion, called for the withdrawal of all Russian forces and demanded an immediate end to violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
The resolution established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. The Commission was mandated to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as well as related crimes, committed in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was also mandated to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations, formulate legal conclusions and make recommendations concerning accountability.
The adoption of the resolution also contributed to the subsequent decision of the United Nations General Assembly, in April 2022, to suspend the Russian Federation’s rights of membership in the Human Rights Council.
On 12 May 2022, at Ukraine’s initiative and with broad cross-regional support, the thirty-fourth special session of the Human Rights Council was convened to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression.
The special session adopted resolution S-34/1, entitled “The deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression”. Under the resolution, the Commission was requested to conduct a specific inquiry into the events in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions during their temporary occupation by Russia in February and March 2022, with a view to holding those responsible to account.
Since 2022, the Commission’s mandate has been regularly extended by the Human Rights Council in view of the continuing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. It was extended by resolutions 52/32 of 4 April 2023, 55/23 of 4 April 2024, 58/24 of 4 April 2025 and 61/29 of 31 March 2026. The latter extended the mandate until March 2027.
The Commission’s mandate is traditionally renewed during the Council’s spring sessions, which also include interactive dialogues with members of the Commission. During these dialogues, the Commission presents its regular and thematic reports documenting violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and providing legal assessments of the relevant acts, including their qualification as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These discussions ensure sustained international attention to the situation in Ukraine, contribute to the development of a consolidated international position on the need to hold perpetrators accountable and serve as an important means of exerting political and legal pressure on the Russian Federation.
The Commission’s findings contribute to international and national efforts to document and investigate violations and to ensure accountability for international crimes committed in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.
Cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Ukraine actively cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (since 17 October 2022 – Volker Türk, an Austrian national) and the Office under his leadership. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is the principal UN official responsible for coordinating all human rights activities within the United Nations system. Ukraine supports measures aimed at strengthening the role of the High Commissioner and enhancing the effectiveness of coordination among UN bodies and mechanisms in the field of human rights.
Volker Türk became the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s aggression in 2014 (4–8 December 2022). During media briefings and in his statements, the High Commissioner began using the formulations “Russia’s war against Ukraine” and “Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.” In addition, the High Commissioner regularly addresses the situation in Ukraine in his statements before the Human Rights Council, drawing on documented information collected by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which has been deployed in the country since 2014.
The Office of the High Commissioner actively responds to developments in Ukraine on social media, as evidenced by its posts concerning the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam; condemnation of Russia’s large-scale attacks on the port of Odesa and grain storage facilities; the deadly attack on the village of Hroza; Russia’s massive missile attacks against Ukraine on 29 December 2023 and 2 January 2024; the milestone of 1,000 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; and the deadly attack on Kryvyi Rih on 4 April 2025. The Office also regularly publishes statements condemning large-scale Russian attacks on Ukraine’s healthcare and energy infrastructure.
UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine
Since mid-March 2014, at the invitation of the Government of Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has been deployed in the country. The Mission regularly reports on the human rights situation, primarily in occupied Crimea and in the south-eastern regions of Ukraine. In addition to monitoring and reporting, the Mission is tasked with supporting the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen the national human rights protection system, including in the context of developing the National Human Rights Strategy and the corresponding Action Plan, in particular by providing advisory services and technical assistance.
Reliable information documented by HRMMU concerning crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine is used by institutions and mechanisms within the UN system, including in reports of the UN Secretary-General on the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, as well as during briefings to the UN Security Council. This information was also used for the 2023 Humanitarian Programme Cycle, contributing to the development of response mechanisms and the provision of targeted humanitarian assistance.
HRMMU contributes to justice and accountability efforts through international and national legal mechanisms, including courts. For example, the European Court of Human Rights relied on information provided by HRMMU in its 2023 decision in the inter-State case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia, concerning events in eastern Ukraine, including the downing of flight MH17. Among other activities, HRMMU has actively cooperated with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, including by facilitating communication with more than 200 relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians subjected to enforced disappearance, with a view to establishing their fate or whereabouts.