08/01/2020

35th session of the Universal Periodic Review

The thirty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will be held in Geneva from 20 to 31 January during which the next group of 14 States are scheduled to have their human rights records examined under this mechanism.

The group of States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during this session are (in order of scheduled review): Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Spain, Lesotho, Kenya, Armenia, Guinea-Bissau, Sweden, Grenada, Turkey, Guyana and Kuwait.

Representatives of the 14 countries are scheduled to come before the Working Group to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations as well as to assess and identify the challenges faced in the implementation of the UPR recommendations posed during their previous reviews.

Each examination, conducted by the UPR Working Group, takes 3½ hours. The State under Review (SuR) is given a total of 70 minutes to address the Working Group. This time is usually used to make introductory remarks, summarising their National Report, and to offer closing remarks once the Chair of the Working Groups concludes the interactive dialogue. The SuR can also take the floor during the interactive dialogue to both respond to questions, submitted in advance or during the review, and provide States with additional information. The remaining 140 minutes are allocated to the Interactive Dialogue of the Working Group Session, a dynamic space for peer-to-peer debate. States participating in the review, known as Recommending States (RS), have the opportunity to ask questions, note comments and, crucially, make recommendations to the SuR. The review for each State is facilitated by groups of three Council members from different regional groups, or troikas, who act as rapporteurs.

The troikas for the 35th session can be found here. 

The timetable of State reviews and adoption and distribution of reports can be found below, as well as here.

The final outcome of the thirty-fifth session will be adopted by the plenary of the Human Rights Council at its forty-fourth regular session taking place in Geneva from 15 June to 03 July 2019.

Timetable for the Universal Periodic Review Working Group 35th Session: (Contains links to UPR Info’s Country page)

Monday, 20 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Kyrgyzstan
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Kiribati

Tuesday, 21 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Guinea
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Wednesday, 22 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Spain
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Lesotho

Thursday, 23 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Kenya
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Armenia

Friday, 24 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Guinea-Bissau
15h00 – 17h30 Adoption of recommendations on Kyrgyzstan, Kiribati, Guinea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Spain and Lesotho

Monday, 27 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Sweden
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Grenada

Tuesday, 28 January
09h00 – 12h30 Review of Turkey
16h00 – 18h00 Adoption of recommendations on Kenya, Armenia and Guinea-Bissau.

Wednesday, 29 January
09h00-12h30 Review of Guyana
14h30 – 18h00 Review of Kuwait

Thursday, 30 January
16h30 - 18h00 Adoption of recommendations on Sweden, Grenada and Turkey

Friday, 31 January
17h00 to 18h00 Adoption of recommendations on Guyana and Kuwait