27/03/2017

64 States commit to key UPR principles

On 17 March 2017, the United Kingdom delivered a Joint Statement on behalf of Brazil, Morocco, the United Kingdom, and 61 other UN Member States to the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC). Following the conclusion of the second UPR cycle, with the adoptions of Addenda to the Working Groups Reports of the 11 States reviewed in November 2017, the Vice-President oversaw the HRC Item 6 General Debate, during which the United Kingdom took the floor to voice the commitment of 64 States to 5 core UPR principles for the third cycle.
 
The statement reflected on the successes and shortcomings of the UPR second cycle and in preparation for the new cycle focused on five points. These points are designed to enhance the shared responsibility of all States in ensuring the UPR is a successfully mechanism and has an impact on the ground.

The 64 States, firstly expressed the need for precise recommendations at the UPR that are practical, constructive, forward looking and implementable; thus easier to monitor. Secondly, the responsibility of States to provide clear responses to each recommendation as per UN agreed upon terminology – either “supported” or “noted” – was highlighted. Thirdly, the signatories committed to exercise restraint on the number of recommendations given to other States in order to enhance their coherence and implementation. Fourthly, all 64 States also committed to write and publish UPR Mid Term Reports, or “through another alternative process” namely the Item 6 General Debate, thereby updating the international community, on the progress made on the implementation of received recommendations. Finally, the States pledged to improve on the follow-up of recommendations "by referring to, or reiterating previous recommendations when appropriate".
 
UPR Info fully supports the statement and looks forward to working with all signatories to ensure sustainable implementation of recommendations throughout the third UPR cycle. UPR Info has been encouraging all stakeholders, since 2011, to report at mid-term and is worried that 14 countries which submitted a report at mid-term in the first cycle did not in the second, as expressed in our recent statement.
 
The following countries supported this statement:
Albania, Algeria, Angola, Australia, Austria, Benin, Bosnia Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Zambia.

The statement is available to download here.