The UN Human Rights Council is back

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The UN Human Rights Council opening session on Monday, February 28, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis leaving after his speech at the opening session of UN Human Rights Council, February 28, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A Russian journalist from the Rossiya 24 TV Channel speaks on camera outside the ICRC in Geneva, with the UN and the Alps framed behind. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Diplomats in discussion during the UN Conference on Disarmament, February 28, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A Tibetan demonstration next to the Palais des Nations outside the UN, during the opening session of the Human Rights Council. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A diplomat makes a video call in a quiet corner, just outside the opening session of the UN Human Rights Council. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Diplomats in discussion outside the UN Human Rights Council, 28 February 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressing the Conference on Disarmament at the UN in Geneva, via a video speech. He had been due to address the conference live, but cancelled. The speech was met with a walkout by many Western diplomats, but not by China, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

The Russian Ambassador follows an address to the Conference on Disarmament after the speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov’s speech, as well as that of the Ambassador, was boycotted by many diplomats, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A UN staff member looks through into the Conference on Disarmament, during the address by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, March 1 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Some chalk marks on a sidewalk outside the Palais des Nations, after a large demonstration against the war in Ukraine, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

An American diplomat addresses the press outside the Conference on Disarmament during a speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Many Western diplomats staged a walkout, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

The Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra arrives to speak at the UN in Geneva, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A diplomat from the United Arab Emirates takes a photo of her colleague in the Conference on Disarmament, February 28, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

An Assoicated Press journalist at work in a corridor outside the UN Human Rights Council. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

Some UN Human Rights Council staff at work, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

A diplomat listens to his minister addressing the UN Human Rights Council, March 1, 2022. © Mark Henley/Panos Pictures

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After two years of virtual conferences during the pandemic, the halls and corridors of the United Nations in Geneva have finally started buzzing again. The Human Rights Council, which opened its latest session on February 28 in Geneva, was one of the first UN bodies to start meeting online when Covid-19 hit. Now it’s one of the first to get back to work on site.

It’s not fully back to normal, as some Covid restrictions still apply at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and masks are still required until the end of March. In this, the UN is stricter than the Swiss government. But ambassadors are back in their seats, some foreign dignitaries have come in person, as well as civil society representatives and journalists.

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine casts a big shadow over the conference, people can at least talk face to face. And also make a statement. For example, many diplomats staged a walkout as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was due to speak on March 2. Lavrov continued with his virtual address. He had planned to come in person for this, and a meeting of the Conference on Disarmament, but was stopped by the European ban on Russian flights.