Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Cheery Zahau HREIB

1 Dec 2009 ND-Burma 16th MB Meeting

-The Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

-The State process,

-The Civil Society process,

-What this means for Burmese organizations

What is the UPR?• A mechanism of the UN Human

Rights Council (HRC)• UPR – a process that assesses each

UN member state on adherence to human rights norms and on fulfilment of human rights obligations and commitments. Assesses progress, challenges and areas for improvement.

• ‘Peer review’ - States review other States

What is the HRC?• March 2006 – U.N. General Assembly

voted to create Human Rights Council (HRC) to replace the former Commission on Human Rights

• 47 HRC Member States– Elected in staggered 3-year terms– May 2006 – first election– Each year, between 14 and 19 States

are elected to serve on the HRC for the following 3 years

UPR Process• 3 Troikas elected for State Under Review• Review based on 3 reports:

– State Report– Stakeholder Report– OHCHR Report

• Review: 3-hour interactive dialogue• 2 days for State and Troika to finalise• 2 days later, Record of Review adopted• 2 sessions later, Outcome Document adopted

Troika• 3 Member States of the HRC

randomly selected to facilitate a State’s review

• Balanced to represent different regional groups

• State Under Review can request that one Troika be selected from its regional group

• State Under Review can veto one Troika

What does the Troika do?• Gathers written questions from UN Member

States and gives them to the State Under Review 10 days prior to the UPR session

• Facilitates dialogue and questions during the review

• After the dialogue, works with the State under Review and the OHCHR (secretariat) to prepare the report of the Working Group (Record of Review) which contains a full account of the proceedings

State Under Review• 3-hour session for each review• Interactive dialogue between State

Under Review and UN Member States (both HRC Member States and observer states)

• State Under Review presents State Report (1 hour), answers written questions submitted in advance and answers live questions (2 hours)

Outcome Document• Adopted at a regular 1-hour session of the HRC,

two sessions after the review• HRC Regular Sessions: March, June, September• 20 min – State under Review makes

statements: replies to questions or issues, accepts or rejects recommendations

• 20 min – Member and observer states express views on outcome

• 20 min – NGOs and other stakeholders make general comments

• 1 min - President motions for the adoption of the Outcome Document

State Obligations• Reviewed by UPR every 4 years• Hold National Consultation to gather

civil society organizations’ input when drafting State Report

• Submit State Report 6 weeks in advance

• Implement recommendations made in the final Outcome Document

SPDC• July/Sept 2010 - Civil society groups

Report due• Dec. 2010/Jan. 2011 - SPDC State

Report due• Feb. 2011 - SPDC will be reviewed by

the HRC• June 2011 - SPDC Outcome

Document will be adopted

CIVIL SOCIETY

How NGOS and other stakeholders can participate in and contribute to the UPR

process

Submit Report• CSOs can submit Shadow Reports• 5 pps. for individual NGO• 10 pps. for collaborative/coalition

report• Focus on human rights performance

of State Under Review• Must submit 5-7 months prior to

review

Observing Sessions• Stakeholders may attend the review,

but may not intervene• At the adoption of the Outcome

Document, stakeholders are allotted 20 minutes for general comments (2 minute interventions)– In practice, restricted to comments

directly related to specific paragraphs of the Outcome Document

Lobby Strategy• Lobby UN Member States several months

prior to the review to:– Submit particular questions/issues in advance

to the Troika– *Raise particular questions/recommendations

during the review• Method: lobby document sent to

– Embassies/consulates in the State Under Review

– UN Member State missions in Geneva

Lobby Strategy• State Under Review

– Lobby the state to be transparent and frank in presenting the human rights situation in the country

– Inform the State of the issues you will be discussing in the Stakeholder Report; discuss critical issues you hope to be raised during the review

Lobby Strategy• Lobby OHCHR and UN Agency

Country Offices– To include national issues of concern in

the OHCHR Report• Ensures that priority issues are not

overlooked

Burmese Civil Society Groups

How do we participate constructively in the UPR

process?

Shadow Report• Collaborate on a coalition

Stakeholder Report• Submit in July/August 2010• Issues to address:

– Issues to include in the collaborative report?

– Focal point from each organization?– Timeline?– Which organization will receive and

compile the information for the report?

Monitoring implementation???• Collecting the recommendations by

UPR WG• Monitoring SPDC’s implementation • Comparing recommendations and

implementations by State • Public awareness about SPDC’s

pleges and obligations to full-fill HR

Thank you for your attention