national Report (or State Report): The national report is a report prepared by the Government of the State under Review about the human rights situation in the country. It should also include information regarding implementation of previous recommendations. The report cannot be longer than 10,700 words and should be submitted 12 weeks before the review.
(The national report is one of three documents used to conduct the review of a State. See also Compilation of UN information and Summary of Other Stakeholders’ information.)
noted: According to resolution 5/1, recommendations at the UPR can either be supported or noted. Noted recommendations can, however, still be implemented and monitored, as part of the follow-up work of governments and civil society.
office of the High commissioner for Human Rights (oHcHR): The OHCHR is the human rights branch of the UN. It is part of the UN Secretariat, with headquarters in Geneva. The OHCHR has offices in various countries and regions and works to ensure that international human rights standards are effectively implemented on the ground. It supports the work of the UN treaty bodies and the HRC. The High Commissioner for Human Rights is the head of the Office and leads the work of the UN on human rights.
outcome: The outcome of the UPR consists of a set of documents published in the framework of the review of a country which includes the Working Group report, the addendum, and the statement delivered by the State under Review during the adoption of the Working Group report at the HRC.
Pre-sessions: UPR pre-sessions are meetings organised by UPR Info bringing together Permanent Missions, NHRIs and CSOs to discuss the human rights situation in the States coming up for review at the UPR. The pre-sessions take place one month prior to a State’s review and provide a valuable platform for civil society to engage with UN Member States and make their voice heard at the UPR.
Report of the Working Group: The Working Group report is the outcome of the review of a given State. It contains a full account of a State’s review, including a summary of questions and comments made by States during the review as well as a complete list of all recommendations (including both
VI. Annex
A GUIDe FoR RecommenDInG STATeS AT THe UPR
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accepted and noted recommendations). The troika and the State under Review assist the HRC Secretariat in drafting this report.
Resolution 16/21: This HRC resolution was adopted in March 2011 following the Review of the HRC, which took place in 2010-2011. As a result of the Review, some modalities of the UPR were changed for the second cycle. Resolution 16/21 describes the changes and decisions made during the review. It notably indicates that the second cycle of the UPR would begin in June 2012, that the cycle period changed from four (4) years to four and a half (4 1/2) years and that only 42 Member States will be reviewed during the three (3) sessions of the Working Group. The resolution highlights that the second and subsequent cycles should focus on the implementation of the recommendations and the developments of the human rights situation in the State under Review.
Resolution 5/1: This HRC resolution outlines the practices and guidelines to be followed during the UPR. It was adopted on 18 June 2007 following one year of negotiations within the HRC. It is also called the Institutional-building package.
Resolution 60/251: Resolution 60/251 is the UN General Assembly resolution establishing the HRC and the UPR. It was adopted on 15 March 2006 and was part of the UN reforms that replaced the Commission on Human Rights with the HRC.
Review: The review is the examination by the UPR Working Group on whether UN Member States are respecting the commitments they made and agreements they signed under international law. In particular, States are reviewed on their human rights obligations deriving from the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Human rights treaties ratified by the State concerned, international humanitarian law and any voluntary pledges and commitments made by the State. The Working Group will use the National Report, the Compilation of UN Information and the Summary of Other Stakeholders’ Information to conduct the review. During the process, an interactive dialogue takes place between the State under Review and other States in which questions concerning the State under Review’s human rights record are addressed and recommendations on how to improve the human rights situation in the country are submitted. During the review, the State under Review has 70 minutes to speak, while the other States have 140 minutes.
Secretariat (HRc): The HRC Secretariat assists the HRC and the UPR in the organisation of the sessions. The HRC Secretariat is composed of staff from the OHCHR.
Session (Working Group): See ‘Working Group’.
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State Report: See ‘National Report’.
State under Review (SuR): A SuR is a UN Member State that is having its human rights record reviewed under the UPR.
Summary of other Stakeholders’ Information: The Summary of Other Stakeholders’ Information is a report compiled by the OHCHR that summarises the information and recommendations contained in the CSO submissions.
The compilation cannot exceed 5,350 words. (It is one of the three documents used to conduct the review of a State; see also the National Report and the Compilation of UN information).
Troika: The troika assists the Working Group with the human rights review of a State. It is a group of three delegates from HRC members selected by drawing lots. A troika member may take the floor as any other delegation and ask questions and make recommendations during the interactive dialogue. The troika representatives have two main roles: (1) receive all advance questions raised by the Working Group and relay them to the State under Review and (2) help preparing the report of the Working Group with the assistance of the UN Secretariat and the State under Review. One troika member is in charge of introducing the list of recommendations before its adoption at the Working Group stage.
Voluntary pledges: Voluntary pledges are commitments made by a State under Review in the course of the UPR to do a specific action. Voluntary pledges can be made at different stages: during the drafting of the national report, during the review, and during the adoption of the Working Group report. For example, many States have made a voluntary pledge to submit a mid-term report on the implementation of recommendations received during their UPR review.
Webcast: The webcast is a live video streaming of a HRC or UPR session. The webcasts are then posted both on the OHCHR and UPR Info websites and are accessible by anyone.
Working Group: The UPR Working Group is the body that conducts the human rights review of States. In practice, all 193 UN Member States, as well as the Holy See and the State of Palestine, are part of the group. The Working Group meets in Geneva, Switzerland, three times per year with a total of fourteen (14) countries for each session to be reviewed. Working Group sessions usually take place in January, April/May, and October/November.
Working Group Report: See ‘Report of the Working Group’.
A full Glossary is available at http://www.upr-info.org/en/glossary
VI. Annex