Description:
This book examines the creation and formative years of the United Nations Human Rights Council which was created in 2006 to replace the UN Commission on Human Rights. The book assesses the extent to which the Council has fulfilled its mandate. International law and theories of international relations relating to international organizations are used to examine the Council and its functions. Council sessions, procedures and mechanisms are analysed in depth and particular consideration is given to whether the Council has become politicised to the same extent as the Commission.
Review Quotes:
[Rosa Freedman] does not allow geopolitical considerations or regional alliances to get in the way. Her approach resembles that of such leading non-governmental bodies as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.- Aryeh Neier, Open Society Foundations, for Journal of Cold War Studies (Vol. 16, No. 1, 2014)
"In 2006, the UN was compelled to wind up its thoroughly discredited Commission on Human Rights, which was replaced by a Human Rights Council. But hopes that the council would not repeat the politically driven failures of the commission have been dashed. Freedman tells us why this is. It is a depressing story, superbly told." - Geoffrey Alderman, University of Buckingham, for The Times Higher Education (10 July 2014)