International Human Rights and the International Human Rights System A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions A wide view of the Security Council at its meeting on women, peace and security. UN Photo by Rick Bajornas. The SC has strict and exclusive rules of procedure. Only members of the SC and States directly affected by a matter under discussion are entitled to participate in debates. The SC has occasional “open debates” in which other UN Member States are permitted to participate, however, NHRIs and NGOs are never permitted to speak and are only occasionally permitted to attend. With its mandate for international peace and security, the SC deals constantly with situations that directly or indirectly affect human rights. First, human rights violations can require that the SC act. In the past it has not described the exercise of its mandate in human rights terms. However, in more recent years it has acknowledged that gross violations of human rights can endanger international peace and security and so can provide a basis on which the SC can and should exercise its jurisdiction. The concept of the “responsibility to protect” has been developed precisely because of the need for international intervention to prevent or end gross violations of human rights that a Government is perpetuating or is unable or unwilling to prevent or end.54 NHRIs and NGOs have an interest in decisions of the SC that can contribute to preventing or ending human rights violations and protecting those at risk of human rights violations. Second, decisions of the SC can themselves lead to human rights violations. The SC can and does authorize the use of military force, that is, warfare, and war inevitably involves human rights violations. NHRIs and NGOs are concerned about the consequences of SC decisions. They will have roles in monitoring those consequences but they will have no direct access to the SC to report on their findings. The greater attention that the SC now pays to human rights is reflected in the frequency with which, and the number of occasions on which, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) or her representative addresses the SC on an agenda item under debate. 54 GA Resolution 60/1 (the “2005 World Summit Outcome”); adopted by the GA on 16 September 2005; paras. 138–140. 24 | Chapter 4: The United Nations charter-based system: An overview