lead-up to the December 19, 2016 deadline that marked the end of President Joseph Kabilas

constitutionally mandated two-term limit.

Since August2016, over 400 people have been killed and 200,000 displaced from their homes,
according to the UN. Security forces have used excessive force, unnecessarily firing on alleged
militia members, including women and children. Two dozen mass graves have been reported.

Human Rights Council urged its member states to Increase scrutiny of the human rights situation in Congo, and
support the High Commissioners call for a Commission of Inquiry or similar independent, international
investigation into the situation in the Kasai region;

With the intervention of the human rights council, A Catholic Church -mediated agreement was
signed at the end of 2016 includes a clear commitment that presidential elections will be held
before the end of 2017 and that Kabila will not seek a third term. Kabila and other political leaders
are committed to organizing elections. The government cr ackdown against the political opposition,
media, and civil society groups continues, and there has been little to no accountability for past
abuses. Violent conflicts have intensified across the country, as numerous armed groups, and in
some cases government security forces, attacked civilians.

On 4 April 2010, following sustained advocacy by the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) and the United
Nations office of the high commission for the protection of the human rights (OHCHR), the Senate of
the DR Congo adopted a draft Law on the Criminalization of Torture, making torture an offence and providing for
severe penalties. The Law remains to be approved. UNJHROs efforts also contributed to the signing, on 23 June
2010, of two directives by the Military Attorney-General. These are addressed to the Military Prosecutors offices
and contain measures designed to help combat torture and death in detention.

Myanmar

Human rights in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the
world. International human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and
the American Association for the Advancement of Sciencehave repeatedly documented and condemned
widespread human rights violations in Myanmar. The Muslim Rohingya have consistently faced human rights
abuses by the Burmese regime which has refused to acknowledge them as citizens (despite generations of
habitation in the country) and attempted to forcibly expel Rohingya and bring in non-Rohingyas to replace
them. This policy has resulted in the expulsion of approximately half of the Rohingya population from Burma. An
estimated 90,000 people have been displaced in the recent sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and
Buddhists in Burma's western Rakhine State. As a result of this policy Rohingya people have been described as
"among the worlds least wanted"and "one of the world's most persecuted minorities"

Government of Myanmar has been accused by the UN of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population and
committing state-sactioned crimes such as extrajudicial executions, mass murder, genocide, torture, gang
rapes and forced displacement against them but Myanmar denies it Myanmar citizenship
The un human rights council in its resolution 28/23 Calls upon the Government of Myanmar to implement its
obligations to protect the right to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, to allow for free and
independent media and to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and security of journalists, civil society
activists and human rights defenders and their freedom to pursue their activities, and to maintain particular
vigilance to ensure that these freedoms, as well as the operating space for civil society, are fully protected in the
approach to the elections. Decides to extend for one year the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation
of human rights in Myanmar in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and
Human Rights Council resolution further it urges the government to provide for the support to the special reporter.

Sudan (Dafur)
The War in Darfur, Sudan is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, that began in February 2003
when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began
fighting the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The
government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president Omar al-
Bashir for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. . Estimates
of the number of human casualties range up to several hundred thousand dead, from either combat or starvation
and disease. Mass displacements and coercive migrations forced millions into refugee camps or across the
border, creating a humanitarian crisis. The situation was described by the human rights activists as an act of
genocide.
In the middle months of 2003, rebels won 34 of 38 engagements killing 500 and taking 300 prisoners.
Given that the army was consistently losing similar instances were undertaken around the southern oil fields and
other parts of Sudan resulted in massive human rights violations and forced displacements
the human rights council adopt the Dafur peace agreement signed in Abuja as well as the measures already taken
towards its implementation.

The council called upon the international community at large and donor countries and peace partners in partners in
particular to honor their pledge of support and to provide urgent and adequate financial and technical assistance to
the government of the Sudan in the promotion and protection of human rights

Srilanka

Sri Lanka was embroiled in a civil war for more than two decades. More than 64,000 people have been killed and more than
one million have been displaced since 1983. In July 1983, the most savage anti-minority pogrom in Sri Lanka's history, known
as the Black Julyriots, erupted. Government appointed commission's estimates put the death toll at nearly 1,000., [8] mostly
minority Sri Lankan Tamils.[9] died or 'disappeared'. At least 150,000 Tamils fled the island. Another major event was the
repression of a revolution in the South of Sri Lanka by government forces.Up to 60,000 Sinhalese people including many
students died as a result of this insurgency led by the factions of the Marxist JV the government took no significant measures
to end impunity for security force abuse, including police use of torture. At time of writing, the government also had not yet
repealed the harsh Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), despite promises to do so, and continued to detain people under it.
Following a sustained hunger strike by estimated 200 PTA detainees, the government in November released some on bail,
sent others for rehabilitation, and pledged to charge and try the rest.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have repeatedly been accused of attacks on civilians during their separatist guerrilla
campaign. The US State Department reported several human rights abuses in 2005, but it specifically states that there were
no confirmed reports of politically motivated killings by the government. The report states that, "they [LTTE] continued to
control large sections of the north and east and engaged in politically motivated killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary
arrest and detention, denial of fair public trial, arbitrary interference with privacy, denial of freedom of speech, press, of
assembly and association, and the recruitment of child soldiers". The report further accused the LTTE of extrajudicial killings
in the North and East.[21]
The LTTE committed massacres in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. The number of civilians massacred in a
single incident were as high as 144 (Anuradhapura massacre) in 1985. Some of the major attacks resulting in civilian deaths
include the Kebithigollewa massacre, the Gonagala massacre (54 dead), the Dehiwala train bombing (56
dead),[22] the Palliyagodella massacre (109 dead) and the bombing of Sri Lanka's Central Bank (102 dead). Further
a Claymore antipersonnel mine attack by the LTTE on June 15, 2006 on a bus carrying 140 civilians killed 68 people including
15 children, and injured 60 others

the government took no significant measures to end impunity for security force abuse, including police use of
torture. At time of writing, the government also had not yet repealed the harsh Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA),
despite promises to do so, and continued to detain people under it. Following a sustained hunger strike by
 estimated 200 PTA detainees, the government in November released some on bail, sent others for rehabilitation,
and pledged to charge and try the rest.

In August, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report on
abuses committed by all sides during Sri Lankas 1983-2009 armed conflict with the secessionist Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The report, which was mandated by a March 2014 Human Rights Council (HRC)
resolution on Sri Lanka, documented credible accounts of unlawful attacks, killings, enforced disappearances,
torture, sexual violence, and attacks on humanitarian assistance .

Building on the recommendations made in the High Commissioners report based on the OHCHR investigation,
Resolution 30/1 sets out a comprehensive package of judicial and non-judicial measures necessary to advance
accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, as well as strengthen protection of human rights, democracy and the
rule of law. The resolution represents an historic commitment by the Government of Sri Lanka not only to the
international community, but also most importantly to the Sri Lankan people, of its determination to confront the
past and end corrosive decades of impunity, serve justice, achieve reconciliation, and build inclusive institutions to
prevent the recurrence of violations in the future. As President Sirisena eloquently argued in his Independence
Day speech on 4 February 2016, it will be freedom, democracy and reconciliation which will be brought by
implementing these resolutions.

Sri Lankas ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All persons from Enforced
Disappearance (CED) on 25 May 2016

Sri Lanka will also come under review at the 28th session of the Universal Period Review Working Group in
October-November 2017. On 21 June 2016, the Government provided information to OHCHR which has been
taken into account in the preparation of this oral update

OHCHR has continued to provide technical assistance to the Government in a number of areas through its in-
country presence and the deployment on mission of experts and senior officials from OHCHR headquarters

On 10 March 2016, Parliament adopted a resolution establishing a constitutional assembly to draft and approve a
new constitution or amendments by the end of 2016, which would then be put to a referendum in 2017. The
drafting process has benefitted from an inclusive public consultation process overseen by a Public
Representations Committee that received submissions and held district level consultations in the first quarter of
2016.

Conclusion

Human rights advocates agree that, sixty years after its issue, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still
more a dream than reality. Violations exist in every part of the world. Amnesty Internationals 2009 World Report
and other sources show that individuals are:

Tortured or abused in at least 81 countries, Face unfair trials in at least 54 countries, Restricted in their freedom of
expression in at least 77 countries

Not only that, but women and children in particular are marginalized in numerous ways, the press is not free in
many countries, and dissenters are silenced, too often permanently.

Criticism
The un and especially the high commissioner for the human rights faces a dilemma in its need to hold
governments accountable for performance on human rights issues while maintaining the good relations to keep
channels open for diplomacy and influence. The high commissioner is mandated to be both the voice for the
victims and to engage in the dialogue with the governments

the new UN Human Rights Council continues to face the same criticisms that plagued its predecessor, the
Commission on Human Rights. Experts say bloc voting, loose membership standards.

According to human rights advocates the human rights council is mostly an exercise of speeches with no
significance. Discussions among the countries resolve the issues based on their political interests. Countries who
perpetrate human rights abuses get a free pass. It doesnt encourage them to have better practices because there
is no penalty attached.