States

Every member State of the United Nations is reviewed by the UPR mechanism. Below are described the different steps of a review.

• National Report

This is the first stage of the UPR. A State under Review (SuR) must present a report on its human rights situation to be used as a basis for the review, as resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1 puts it:

“Information prepared by the State concerned, which can take the form of a national report, on the basis of general guidelines to be adopted by the Council at its sixth session (first session of the second cycle), and any other information considered relevant by the State concerned, which could be presented either orally or in writing, provided that the written presentation summarizing the information will not exceed twenty pages, to guarantee equal treatment to all States and not to overburden the mechanism.”

The “general guidelines” referred to were adopted in September 2007 at the 6th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and are contained in decision A/HRC/DEC/6/102.

• National Consultations

In order to write this National report, the SuR is “encouraged” to hold a “broad consultation process at the national level with all relevant stakeholders" (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1). It belongs to the State to choose the modalities of the consultation with the civil society.

• Advance written questions

States can send written questions to the SuR before the Working Group (WG) session. They will be transmitted to it by the Secretariat through the Troika. The SuR shall address these questions during the review.

• Review during the Working Group

The review takes place in a WG of the HRC in Geneva, Switzerland, and lasts for three hours. The WG consists of the 47 members of the HRC, the non-members States and the observers (UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations and civil society). Only States can take the floor.

The SuR has one hour out of the three to present its National report, answer to the advance written questions and answer to questions coming from the WG members during the interactive dialogue. The SuR chooses freely how to split this hour.
The WG starts with the presentation by the SuR of the National report, then there is an interactive dialogue with questions by WG members and answers by the SuR and at the end the final conclusions by the SuR.

The OHCHR has set up a Trust fund for SuR with limited budget to help its delegation come to Geneva. To read more, see this document.

• Response to recommendations

During the interactive dialogue of the review, States make recommendations to the SuR on measures to take to improve the human rights situation in the country.

The SuR is encouraged to provide a response to the recommendations, either accepting them or rejecting them.
This response can be given either orally during the adoption of the Report of the WG during the WG session, in a document of up to 2,675 words (approximately five pages) which will become an addendum to the Report of the WG or orally during the adoption of the outcome in the session plenary of the HRC.

• Implementation

After the end of the UPR process, during the plenary session of the HRC, a final document containing the Report of the Working Group is adopted.

The SuR, between two reviews, has to “implement” the recommendations and improve the human rights situation in the country. If it does not do so, the HRC “will address […] cases of persistent non-cooperation with the mechanism” (Resolution A/HRC/RES/5/1).

The OHCHR gives pre-session briefing and organises training activities to future SuR and other interested States. Read more on the UPR extranet (username: hrc extranet; password: 1session).

The UPR is based on the participation of States. A full and active participation of the highest number of States is crucial to the effectiveness of the mechanism. Below is described how States can engage in the UPR.

• Advance written questions

States can, before the Working Group (WG) session, submit questions to the State under Review (SuR). These written questions have to be transmitted to the SuR through first the troika and then the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council (HRC) ten working days before the day of the review.

• Troika

The Troika has the task of relaying the written questions submitted by other States prior to the review to the Secretariat which then has ten days to transmit them to the SuR. It consist of three members of the HRC from different regional groups selected upon a complex system (see the UPR process for more). According to a President of the Council’s paper (A/HRC/OM/L.1) dated 28 February 2008, their role is only to relay questions and issues without interfering in the debate.

The troika is also in charge of preparing the Report of the Working Group (WG), containing the summary of the proceedings and recommendations by States.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has set up a Trust fund for troika members with limited budget to help them come to Geneva to participate in the review. To read more, see this document.

• Interactive dialogue

The review in the WG consists of a three-hour interactive dialogue between the SuR and United Nations member States. In total, two hours are allocated to the latter. Members of the HRC have 3 minutes each and non-members 2 minutes, thus allowing generally for 45 States to take the floor. If there is a higher number of States interested in participating, HRC members might see their time reduced to 2 minutes.

To enroll on the list of speakers for a given review, States must register at the HRC Secretariat the day before the review. The list opens at 8.45 am. For more details on the list of speakers, read this document prepared by the Secretariat of the HRC.

States are free to praise the SuR human rights policies, ask questions, raise concerns and make recommendations. However, in order to assess, at the next review four years later, to which extent the SuR has implemented human rights, States are encouraged to make recommendations to the SuR.

• Report of the Working Group

The Report of the WG is a factual summary of the three hour review. It is produced by the troika with the help of the HRC Secretariat and with the full involvement of the SuR and is adopted "ad referendum" by the Working Group two days after the review.

States should check if the summary of their statement contained in the Report reflects it accurately and if the recommendations have the same wording:

. Editorial changes to summaries of statements can be brought only by States that made them and within two weeks after the adoption by writing to the Secretariat (uprstates ohchr.org) which will transmit to the troika.

. Changes to recommendations can be brought only by States that submitted them and solely orally during the adoption of the Report in the Working Group.