What Sources of Information Does the Human Rights Council Use in Universal Periodic Review

Summary

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was established along with the Human Rights Council by resolution threescore/251 in 2006 and is a unique mechanism of the United Nations human rights organization which involves a review of the human rights records of all United nations Member States once every 4½ years, based on the Charter of the United nations, the Universal Annunciation of Homo Rights, and any other human being rights instruments to which the State nether review is a party, and voluntary pledges and commitments made by the State. During the review process, other States examine the human rights practice of a State under review based on information provided by the State, a compilation of relevant United nations documents prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) and information provided by other stakeholders, including NGOs (compiled by the OHCHR).

Other states may ask questions and make recommendations, which the Country nether review may accept or pass up. The outcome of this review is reflected in an "consequence report" listing the recommendations fabricated to the State under review. Until the next due review, the State under review has now four years time to implement the accepted recommendations and fulfil its voluntary pledges.

The third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review started at the 27th session (1st-12th May 2017), and will run until November 2021. Find the full agenda here: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/Calendar3rdCycle.doc (a download will brainstorm).

Information, including a timetable of the electric current review bike, is available at http://world wide web.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx.

1. Probable results from employ of machinery

As this is an inter-governmental procedure, just States can enquire questions or make recommendations to the State under review. NGOs tin not intervene direct, but accept to go a State to ask a question or to make a recommendation to the State under review. The State under review and so can either accept or reject a recommendation.

2. To which States does the mechanism apply?

This mechanism applies to all member states of the United nations.

3. Who tin submit information?

The review at the Working Group is based on 3 sources of information:

• Information prepared by the Country under Review on its homo rights situation. This can accept the form of a national report no longer than 20 pages.
• A compilation of "data 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" (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1). It tin include for example Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee or the Committee on the Rights of the Kid, reports past Special Rapporteurs or UN State teams, etc. This compilation is prepared by the Office of the Loftier Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).
• Other "credible and reliable information" provided by "other relevant stakeholders" (including NGOs), which are summarised by the Role of the High Commissioner in a document not exceeding 10 pages (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1).

These three documents are usually bachelor on the OHCHR website ten weeks before the start of the UPR working group.

four. When to submit information?

4. When to submit information?
The Universal Periodic Review Working Group holds three sessions per year dedicated to fourteen states each, until the total of all Un members has been reviewed.

According to resolution "A/HRC/RES/v/1, "States are encouraged to fix the data through a broad consultation procedure at the national level with all relevant stakeholders". If your State is post-obit this procedure, information technology might be a good thought to go involved in the process, and to foyer for inclusion of the effect of conscientious objection in the Land's study. Frequently, coalitions of national NGOs join forces to submit a joint report. If this is the example, it can be appropriate to take part in such a coalition, to make sure that the upshot of conscientious objection to military service is included in a broader NGO report. Such a national consultation process is likely to take identify about one twelvemonth before the review.

eight-6 months before the review:: The deadline for the submission of information by NGOs to the OHCHR is well-nigh six to eight months before the session. Submissions must be submitted and received past midnight Geneva time (CET) on the day of the given deadline and tardily submissions are not considered.

Nigh vi weeks before the session of each Working Group, the NGO UPR-Info is holding public sessions for NGOs to suggest questions and recommendations. All government delegations are invited to these sessions, and the timing should provide plenty time for the delegations to consult with their respective authorities.
NGOs interested in taking role should contact:
UPR Info
Artery du Mail 14
1205 Geneva, Switzerland
Telephone: + 41 22 321 77 lxx
Fax: + 41 22 321 77 71
Email: info@upr-info.org

As the review itself is an inter-governmental procedure, information technology is and so important to lobby other governments to heighten questions and make recommendations to the State nether review, either via other States' embassies in your country, or via their permanent missions at the Un in Geneva. Please make it touch on if you have specific issues to raise in relation to conscientious objection to military service.

During the review:: The review itself takes identify in a Working Group of the Human Rights Council, which is composed of all UN member States and chaired by the President of the Council. NGOs in consultative condition can attend but not take the flooring during the review.
The review is prepared past a troika, which is selected by the drawing of lots among members of the Human Rights Council and from different regional groups. The troika receives the written questions and issues raised by States and relays them to the Country under review. During the review itself, the members of the troika do not accept any specific function. After the review, the troika is responsible for preparing a study of the Working Group, with the involvement of the Land under review and assistance past the OHCHR. One of the members of the troika will innovate the report before its adoption at the Working Group.

iii-four months after the review: The report of the Working Group is adopted by consensus at a plenary session of the Man Rights Quango. During this session, NGOs are allocated a full of 20 minutes for oral argument after the presentations of the State under Review and other States (20min each) and before the upshot study is adopted. But NGOs in consultative condition are allowed to make an oral statement.
It is besides possible to write a statement every bit non every NGO can be considered and coalitions of NGOs are generally favoured. These written statements volition become official United Nations documents simply they accept notwithstanding less impact than an oral argument. There is a borderline of unremarkably two weeks before begin of the session for written statements, and there are very detailed technical instructions for submissions of statements, which have to be submitted by e-mail.

For a webcast of the interactive dialogues delight visit: http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/archive.asp?go=080507.

five. Special rules of process or advice for making a submission?

As stated in point three.) The OHCHR asks NGOs to limit their official submission to a five folio (2815 words) document, to which other information can be fastened. When the data is submitted by a large coalition of NGOs, the official submission tin can reach x pages (5630 words). For ease of reference, paragraphs and pages should be numbered. NGOs demand to submit their report as a Microsoft Word document by electronic mail, and not in any other file format (no PDF), nor on paper.

As of the 3rd bike of the UPR, the OHCHR has devised 'Matrices of recommendations of countries to exist reviewed during the third bicycle of the UPR' . The purpose of the matrices is to collect precise and specific information on the level of implementation, in the Country under review, of both the accepted and noted recommendations from their previous reviews. Stakeholders are now also encouraged to submit their completed land-specific matrix, alongside their written submissions. NGOs are encouraged to download their state matrix now available here http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/NgosNhris.aspx, and should complete the final column in the table. The matrix provides a list of received recommendations, clustered by theme, so allows space for "Assessment/comments on level of implementation".

This is an example of a matrix here https://www.upr-info.org/sites/default/files/matrix_argentina.png

The second and subsequent cycles of the UPR will focus on the recommendations accepted past the State under review during previous review cycles, and on the development of the human rights state of affairs in the Land since the last review. All the same, any other issues that come up inside the scope of the Universal Periodic Review tin as well exist raised.

The OHCHR has issues "technical guidelines" for National Human Rights Institutions and NGOs, which they need to follow when submitting information to the UPR. The guidelines for the second cycle (2017-2021) can be found at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/TechnicalGuidelines3rdCycle.... (a download will begin).

Submissions should be sent to through the "On-line UPR submissions registration arrangement" to register contributions for the UPR documentation from UN entities and stakeholders available in the following link: https://uprdoc.ohchr.org. Stakeholders should follow the "Guidelines for the Apply of the On-Line UPR Submissions Registration Arrangement" available here www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/UPR/How-to-GuideUPR_Online_Registration.... Should organizations come across technical problems using the Online organisation, please contact the UPR Submissions Helpdesk through the post-obit email address: uprsubmissions@ohchr.org.

For assistance and questions relating to the Universal Periodic Review, the website of UPR-Info at http://upr-info.org has a wealth of advice and information.

6. What happens to the submission (how long will it take)?

If the submission complies with the technical guidelines, it will exist fabricated available on the OHCHR website ten weeks before the start of the UPR working group. Information contained in the submission will hopefully also be included in the OHCHR compilation of data provided by "other relevant stakeholders".

Post-obit-up

After the review, it is important to follow-upward on the recommendations accepted by the State, and to monitor their implementation.

States are encouraged to submit a mid-term report on the implementation of UPR recommendation to the Human being Rights Council. This provides a further opportunity for lobbying, and NGOs in consultative condition can also submit comments in form of a written statement to the Man Rights Council.

7. History of the use of the machinery.

The outcome of careful objection was brought upwardly several times during the first cycle of the UPR, for example during the review of Colombia in 2009. Resolution: A/HRC/10/82

The OHCHR has developed a special database for the documentation related to the universal periodic review at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Documentation.aspx.

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Source: https://co-guide.org/mechanism/universal-periodic-review-upr?page=1

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