Transcript Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

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
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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,
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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