Eighth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review to be held from 3 to 14 May 2010

Human Rights Council
BACKGROUND RELEASE

29 April 2010

Fifteen Countries Will Get Their Human Rights Records Examined –
Review on Haiti Postponed

Fifteen States will have their human rights records examined during the eighth session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review Working Group to be held in Geneva from 3 to 14 May. These countries are (in order of review) Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Turkey, Guyana, Kuwait and Belarus.

Due to the devastating earthquake, which has affected Haiti in January 2010, the Human Rights Council, in a Special Session held on 27 January, has endorsed the request of the Haitian Government to postpone the review of this country, initially scheduled for 11 May 2010, no later than the last session of the first Universal Periodic Review cycle.

By the end of this two-week session, 127 States (out of 192 Member States of the United Nations) will have had their human rights records examined by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group. In December 2011, when this first four-year cycle will reach its end, all United Nations’ Member States will have been reviewed under this mechanism.

Representatives of the 15 countries under review are expected to come before the Working Group, which comprises the entire membership of the 47-member Human Rights Council, to present measures they have taken and efforts they have made to fulfill their human rights obligations and commitments, assessing both positive developments and identifying challenges.

The three documents on which State reviews are based are: information prepared by the State concerned; information contained in UN reports; and information provided by other relevant stakeholders (non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions, human rights defenders, academic institutions and research institutes, civil society representatives, etc.).

All together, each country review – comprising of a presentation by the concerned State and an interactive dialogue with the Council – will last three hours. An additional half hour will be devoted to the adoption of the Working Group’s report for each country. The final outcome of the session, including recommendations made by other States, will be adopted by the plenary of the Council at its fifteenth regular session, in September 2010.
The eighth Universal Periodic Review Working Group session will take place in Room XX – The Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Chamber – at the Palais des Nations. The provisional timetable for the meeting is available on http://www2.ohchr.org/SPdocs/UPR/Timetable_8th_Session.doc
Additional information on the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, including the reports for each country review can be located on the Human Rights Council website: http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/upr-main
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For use of the information media; not an official record