21/08/2017

57,686 UPR recommendations received to date

The adoption of the 26th UPR Working Group Reports at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in March 2017 marked the completion of the second UPR cycle. 57,686 recommendations were received over cycle one and two.

During the second cycle (2008-2012) the top five States under Review (SuR) that received the most recommendations were: United States (with 388 total recommendations), Cuba (386), Egypt (321), Sudan (303) and Iran (299). Over the same period the following States made the most recommendations: France (1,059), Spain (948), Uruguay (843), Portugal (709) and Slovenia (658) are heading the list.
Amongst the numerous issues that emerged over the course of the second cycle, the following were raised most frequently: International Instruments, Women’s Rights, Rights of the Child, Torture and Justice. It is also worth noting that 13,404 (or 36.89%) of the recommendations are classified as ‘specific action’ (category 5) which UPR Info encourages.

In preparation for the third cycle, UPR Info advises States to reflect on the UPR’s successes and encourages all stakeholders to engage with best practices of the mechanism. Moreover, to strengthen the third cycle, UPR Info calls for effective implementation of recommendations and improved mid-term reporting

May 2017 saw the first UPR session of the third cycle and the Human Rights Council (HRC) in September, HRC36, will see the adoption of the Final Working Group Reports of UPR Session 27. At this point the 14 SuRs will give their responses to the recommendations they received in May and UPR Info will follow these events closely, more information is available here (and FR).