With a clear majority, after months of intensive negotiations, the General Assembly took an historic step by adopting a resolution establishing the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 15 2006.   

The Human Rights Council replaces the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Member States are elected by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly members present and voting. The Human Rights Council  consists of 47 Member States elected for a period of three years with the possibility for the General Assembly to suspend any Member State violating human rights.   

The Member States represent all regions of the world with 13 African seats, 13 Asian seats, 8 Latin American and Caribbean seats, 7 Western European and 6 Eastern European seats. All Member States have made pledges and commitments to human rights which they are expected to live up to.  

The Human Rights Council is based in Geneva and holds no less than three sessions per year for a total period of no less than ten weeks. The Council will also be able to convene to deal with urgent situations. A new peer review function, the so called Universal Periodic Review - UPR - is essential to the Human Rights Council. Its main task is to evaluate the fullfilment of all states of all their human rights and obligations. 

The Council has assumed the mandates of the Commission on Human Rights. Through Special Procedures - The Human Rights Council addresses special country situations - Country mandates - or monitor or report on major phenomena on human rights violations worldwide - Thematic mandates. 

The Human Rights Council began its first session on June 19 2006.