HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW WORKING GROUP TO HOLD FIFTEENTH SESSION IN GENEVA FROM 21 JANUARY TO 1 FEBRUARY 2013
The fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group will be held in Geneva from 21 January to 1 February during which the next group of 14 States are scheduled to have their human rights records examined under this mechanism.
The group of States to be reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group during this session are (in order of scheduled review): France, Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein and Serbia. The meeting will take place in Room XX at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Representatives of the 14 countries are scheduled to come before the Working Group, which comprises the entire membership of the 47-member Human Rights Council, to present efforts they have made in fulfilling their human rights obligations and commitments, assessing both positive developments and identifying challenges. The timetable of State reviews and adoption and distribution of reports can be found below as well as at the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx
The fifteenth session is the third session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group to be held under the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review process. The first session of the second cycle - the thirteenth - was held from 21 May to 4 June this year, and the second session of the second cycle –the fourteenth- took place from 22 October to 5 November 2012. As an integral part of the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, States under Review will also spell out the steps they have taken to implement accepted recommendations posed to them during their first review. The reports serving as the basis for these reviews can be found at the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Documentation.aspx
During the session, an interactive dialogue between the country under review and the Council takes place in the Working Group. Each country review lasts three and one-half hours and an additional half hour will be devoted to the adoption of the Working Group's report for each country. The review for each State is facilitated by groups of three Council members from different regional groups, or troikas, who act as rapporteurs. The troikas for the session were selected through a drawing of lots on 14 January.
The final outcome of the session will be adopted by the plenary of the Council at its twenty-third regular session taking place from 27 May to 14 June 2013.
About the Universal Periodic Review
General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006, which created the Human Rights Council, mandated the Council to "undertake a universal periodic review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments in a manner which ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States; the review shall be a cooperative mechanism, based on an interactive dialogue, with the full involvement of the country concerned and with consideration given to its capacity-building needs; such a mechanism shall complement and not duplicate the work of treaty bodies."
Subsequently, the Universal Periodic Review mechanism was established through the adoption by the Council of its “institution-building package” – Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 - on 18 June 2007, one year after its first meeting. Among the elements of this package was the new Universal Periodic Review mechanism, which aims to ensure that all United Nations Member States, starting with the members of the Council, have their records examined in order to improve human rights conditions worldwide. Furthermore, the Council decided that these reviews would be conducted on one working group composed of the 47 members of the Council.
The Universal Periodic Review Working Group consequently held its inaugural session in April 2008 for the first group of States, the order for which was decided through the drawing of lots. With the holding of this first session the first cycle took off through which all 193 United Nations Member States have had their human rights records reviewed over a four-year period; this includes South Sudan which became a Member State during the course of the first cycle.
Per Human Rights Council resolution 16/21 adopted on 25 March 2011 and decision 17/119 pertaining to the review of the Council, the second and subsequent cycles of the Universal Periodic Review should focus on, inter alia, the implementation of the accepted recommendations and the developments of the human rights situation in the State under review. This resolution and decision also established that the periodicity of the review for the second and subsequent cycles will be four and a half years, instead of four, and thus 42 States would be reviewed per year during three sessions of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group. Moreover, the order of reviews established for the first cycle was to be maintained. The calendar of State reviews for the second cycle can be found at the following link: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx
Universal Periodic Review Reporting and Objectives
In accordance with the Council’s “institution-building package”, and as reinforced by the outcome of the Council’s review adopted last March, the three documents on which State reviews should be based are information prepared by the State concerned, which could be presented either orally or in writing; information contained in the reports of treaty bodies and Special Procedures, to be compiled in a report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and information provided by other relevant stakeholders to the Universal Periodic Review including non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, academic institutions and research institutes, regional organizations, as well as civil society representatives, also to be summarized by OHCHR in a separate document.
Per the adopted institution-building package, the objectives of the Universal Periodic Review are: the improvement of the human rights situation on the ground; fulfilment of the State's human rights obligations and commitments and assessment of positive developments and challenges faced by the State; the enhancement of the State's capacity and of technical assistance, in consultation with, and with the consent of, the State concerned; the sharing of best practice among States and other stakeholders; support for cooperation in the promotion and protection of human rights; and, the encouragement of full cooperation and engagement with the Council, other human rights bodies and OHCHR.
Provisional Timetable for the Universal Periodic Review Working Group 15th Session:
Monday, 21 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of France
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Tonga
Tuesday, 22 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Romania
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Mali
Wednesday, 23 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Botswana
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Bahamas
Thursday, 24 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Burundi
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Luxembourg
Friday, 25 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Barbados
15h00 – 18h00 Adoption of reports on France, Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana and Bahamas
Monday, 28 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Montenegro
14h30 – 18h00 Review of United Arab Emirates
Tuesday, 29 January
10h00 – 11h30 Adoption of reports on Burundi, Luxembourg and Barbados
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Israel
Wednesday, 30 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Liechtenstein
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Serbia
Thursday, 31 January
16h30 – 18h00 Adoption of reports on Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates and Israel
Friday, 1 February
17h00 – 18h00 Adoption of reports on Liechtenstein and Serbia
Additional information on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, including the reports for each country review can be located at the Universal Periodic Review webpage on the OHCHR website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx
Media contact: Rolando Gómez, Public Information Officer, OHCHR, + 41(0)22 917 9711, rgomez@ohchr.org
For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC13/001E