UNPO Putting the UNHRC System to Work
UNPO is a frontrunner in the newly established peer review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Below is an article published by UNPO:
During the 6th session of the UN Human Rights Council back in September 2007, it adopted a new mechanism which was to be implemented in such a way that the human rights record of all UN Member states would be reviewed over the course of several years; the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). To this end, they created guidelines which determined that the scrutinized state – after consultation of civil society – would contribute 20 pages; half of the total size of the report to be discussed during review. Another ten (10) pages were reserved for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to compile all information provided to them by UN Special Rapporteurs, Working Groups and other relevant expert bodies. The last ten (10) pages were to be compiled by the OHCHR taking into consideration all the submissions from all NGOs – regardless of whether or not they have status within the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Initially the criticism of civil society was directed at the extremely limited number of pages they had to outline the human rights violations. Statements were made that ten pages alone could never even sum up the human rights violations of one particular right in notorious countries that tend to discard all respect for human rights, such as China, Russia and Burma/Myanmar, let alone that this would be enough for all NGOs to summarize all human rights violations.
With time, however, this division of labour was accepted as the rules of the game and as the deadline for submissions for the session of the UPR, voices were raised that the deadline for the submissions to the UPR were set too far in advance. The deadline for the first session was 20 November 2007, whereas the actual review – to be conducted by a troika of UN Human Rights Council states – of the first members will not take place until mid April 2008. This had limited result: the deadline for submissions for countries to be reviewed in the second part of the second session was postponed with some weeks.
Even though the first states will not be reviewed until mid April 2008, the report consisting of the individual submissions by the scrutinized state, the different UN entities, as well as the submissions made by the various NGOs has already been made public on the website of the OHCHR. Several states in which UNPO has Members are being discussed during the first session and all reports that UNPO submitted on these state have been incorporated into the final report. Considering the fact that only the ten last pages of the final report are compiled of all submissions from all NGOs in the world, UNPO can with right be called a forebear in the newly established process of the Universal Periodic Review.
The UNPO Secretariat would hereby like to thank all the Members which have given valuable input for the reports on the various states. We hope that in the future we can count on the input of Members so as to use the UPR as tool to raise awareness about the plights of UNPO Members.
For the summary of stakeholders’ information, as well as the full report as submitted by UNPO, please visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at:
The report will be discussed on 17 April 2008 from 15.00 to 18.00 hrs.
For the summary of stakeholders’ information, as well as the full report as submitted by UNPO, please visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR%5CPAGES%5CIDSession1.aspx
The report will be discussed on 9 April 2008 from 10.00 to 13.00 hrs.
For the summary of stakeholders’ information, as well as the full report as submitted by UNPO, please visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR%5CPAGES%5CPHSession1.aspx
The report will be discussed on 14 April 2008 from 15.00 to 18.00 hrs.
For the summary of stakeholders’ information, as well as the full report as submitted by UNPO, please visit the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR%5CPAGES%5CZASession1.aspx
The report will be discussed on 16 April 2008 from 15.00 to 18.00 hrs.
