Universal Periodic Review
The Human Rights Council (HRC), based in Geneva, was established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 and consists of forty-seven Member States of the United Nations.
| The General Assembly, in its resolution 60/251, mandated the Council to " undertake a universal periodic review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfillment 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. " |
At its fifth session on 18 June 2007, the Council responded to this request and adopted, in its resolution 5/1, detailed modalities regarding the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. These modalities relate, in particular, to the basis of the review, principles and objectives to be followed, the periodicity and order of review of countries, process and modalities, as well as the outcome and the follow-up to the review. Furthermore, the HRC decided that the review would be conducted in one working group composed of the 47 member States of the Council. In 2008, the working group will hold three sessions, scheduled to take place at the Office of the United Nations in Geneva .
At its sixth session, on 21 September 2007, the Human Rights Council adopted a calendar in relation to the consideration of the 192 Member States of the United Nations to be considered during the first four-year cycle of the UPR mechanism, and decided on the precise order of consideration of reviewed States in 2008.
In accordance with resolution 5/1, the documents on which the review would be based are:
• Information prepared by the State concerned, which can take the form of a national report, and any other information considered relevant by the State concerned, which could be presented either orally or in writing. The written presentation summarizing the information shall not exceed 20 pages, and should be submitted six weeks prior to the session of the Working Group at which the specific review will take place. States are encouraged to prepare the information through a broad consultation process at the national level with all relevant stakeholders.
• Additionally a compilation prepared by the OHCHR of the information contained in the reports of treaty bodies, special procedures, including observations and comments by the State concerned, and other relevant official United Nations documents, which shall not exceed 10 pages;
• Additional, credible and reliable information provided by other relevant stakeholders to the universal periodic review which should also be taken into consideration by the Council in the review, which will be summarized by the OHCHR in a document that shall not exceed 10 pages. Stakeholders include, inter alia, NGOs, NHRIs, Human rights defenders, Academic institutions and Research institutes, Regional organizations, as well as civil society representatives. Please note that deadlines for the submission of information by stakeholders for the first UPR session is 20 November 2007
The national report shall be prepared on the basis of General guidelines adopted by the Council at its sixth session on 27 September 2007. The documents prepared by the OHCHR should be elaborated following the structure of these General guidelines.
Info note for NGOs
Info note for NHRI
Further information may be sought at the following address:
For States:
UPRStates@ohchr.org
For Stakeholders:
UPRsubmissions@ohchr.org
civilsocietyunit@ohchr.org (NGOs)
jklok@ohchr.org (NHRIS)