05/12/2013

Saudi Arabia negotiated to remove a reference to the Rome Statute from a recommendation

Following its UPR held on 21 October 2013, Saudi Arabia engaged in intense negotiations with States to modify the wording of recommendations it had received and managed to get a reference to the Rome Statute removed from a recommendation made by Tunisia.

The United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France, Ireland, and Estonia took the floor during the adoption of Saudi Arabia’s draft UPR report on Friday 25 October to criticize this practice by the Saudi delegation to negotiate the content of recommendations. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Estonia in particular denounced the removal of the Rome Statute reference.

In this respect, Germany, Ireland and Estonia recalled the Human Rights Council President Letter circulated on 18 September which stated that recommendations made during the review should be accurately reflected in the UPR report.

The United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, France, Ireland, and Estonia also regretted that these negotiations were made by Saudi Arabia directly with States, instead of through the troika which has the responsibility of drafting the report.

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Countries: Saudi Arabia