Over time human rights have gained prominence in international
organizations. At the same time, dealing with them has proved difficult
and contentious. The present paper focuses on the way in which the
United Nations have addressed human rights issues, especially through
the Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) and its successor the Human
Rights Council (UNHRC). By analyzing in detail in a comparative fashion
the votes in these two bodies, the paper shows that despite the high
hopes expressed with the creation of the UNHRC this latter institutional
innovation faces some of the same challenges as its predecessor. The paper shows that an IRT-model taking into account the target of the resolution and its proposer together with their human rights record considerably influence the voting behavior in these two bodies
