profile

Eric Tistounet is an international human rights expert. He was Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch
of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights until December 2023. Since joining the United
Nations in 1987, he served as Secretary of various treaty bodies, External Relations Officer, or Chief of
Staff of the High Commissioner. He was the last Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights and the
first Secretary of the Human Rights Council. As such he was involved in the negotiation process that led
to the establishment of that body and, thereafter, he became the interface in between the OHCHR and the
Council in all negotiations that took place during or in-between Council’s sessions.  He is also teaching
various human rights courses for Master or LLM students. He writes extensively on the intergovernmental
machinery and recently authored the “UN Human Rights Council: A Practical Anatomy”, published by
Elgar Publishing in February 2020.