Sebastián Rosales is an Argentine lawyer (Universidad Nacional del Litoral), PhD in Public, Comparative and International Law (Sapienza Università di Roma) and career diplomat with extensive experience in international law, in particular international human rights law. During his diplomatic career, he worked in the Directorate for Human Rights of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs in different capacities as well as in the Directorate for International Organisations. He was Director General on International Affairs on Drugs. He worked in the Argentine Mission in Geneva where he was responsible for the Human Rights Council and all its mechanisms. He was the Chief of the Legal and Human Rights Sections of the Argentine Embassy in Italy.
Abstract
The present work aims at exploring how an individual State is able to contribute decisively to the work of the Human Rights Council in one of the main successes of this still relatively new United Nations body: the elaboration of international human rights norms and standards. Argentina is studied as a relevant example in this regard. During the last 40 years, Argentina radically changed from defending itself from accusations of serious human rights violations to being deeply committed to the promotion and protection of human rights at the national level. This was translated into a very active foreign policy in the field of human rights, which contributed to the development of international human rights norms and standards on issues such as the right to the truth, the fight against impunity for cases of gross human rights violations such as enforced disappearances, and the rights of LGBTI individuals.
Suggested citation:
Rosales, S. (2021)
The role of Argentina in the Human Rights Council, Buenos Aires. URL:
https://www.teseopress.com/theroleofargentinainthehumanrightscouncil
Table of contents
I. International Human Rights legal and institutional framework
II. The Human Rights Council
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- II.1 The 2005 UN reform initiative and its impact on the universal human rights system
- II.2 Mandate and composition of the Human Rights Council: General Assembly Resolution 60/251
- II.3 Main mechanisms of the Human Rights Council
- II.4. Agenda, rules of procedure and methods of work of the Human Rights Council
- II.5 The 2011 Human Rights Council Review
- II.6 Assessment of the Human Rights Council’s work more than a decade after its creation
III. The role of individual States in the Human Rights Council. The Argentine experience
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- III.1 State engagement with the Human Rights Council
- III.2. Relevance of regional and other groups in the adoption of decisions and resolutions
- III.3. The role of individual States
- III.4 Argentina in the institution-building process of the Council in 2006 and its review in 2011
- III.5 Main initiatives of Argentina in the Human Rights Council
IV. Human rights in Argentina in the recent past and the impact on its role at the international level, in particular in the Human Rights Council
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- IV.1 Argentina and the heavy weight of the past: the dark years of the dictatorship
- IV.2 The return to democracy and the long path to combat impunity
- IV.3 A positive change in the 21st century
- IV.4 Argentina and the new human rights agenda in the democratic era
- IV.5 Argentina in the Human Rights Council
- IV.6 Argentina’s Contribution to the development of a new human rights agenda
