Eric Tistounet

Eric Tistounet is an international human-rights expert and the former Chief of the Human Rights Council Branch at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position he held until December 2023. Since joining the United Nations in 1987, he has served in multiple leadership and advisory roles, including Secretary of several treaty bodies, External Relations Officer, and Chief of Staff to the High Commissioner.

He was the last Secretary of the Commission on Human Rights and the first Secretary of the Human Rights Council, playing a central role in the negotiations that led to the Council’s creation and subsequently serving as the key interface between OHCHR and Member States throughout the Council’s sessions and intersessional negotiations.

Eric Tistounet now teaches human-rights courses at Master’s and LL.M. levels and writes extensively on the UN’s intergovernmental machinery. He is the author of the second edition of The UN Human Rights Council: A Practical Anatomy, published by Edward Elgar in September 2025.

He is also the founder and lead convenor of the Lake Room Initiative, a dedicated diplomatic space for Permanent Representatives to engage in forward-looking discussions on the Human Rights Council and the future of human-rights multilateralism.