Universal Periodic Review

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Is the Universal Periodic Review and Effective Mechanism in the Implementation of Human Rights? A comparative analysis
INTRODUCTION
TOPIC 1: Historical Context
It can be said the body of Human Rights was first identified in the early eighteenth century, drawn up in response to the experiences of the Second World War. Post war seen the formation of a global organisation known as the United Nations, whose aim was never to let such brutality and conflict happen again. Its members believed that the individual rights of human beings were ‘absolute and inherent’. World leaders came together in a General Assembly in January of 1946 where a drafted declaration of fundamental human rights was received from the Economic and Social Council. This was …show more content…

How it Works and its Functions
The UPR, as previously mentioned, was established as a mechanism to improve the human rights situation around the world, working from the ground up to help uphold the protection of human rights for all people in all countries across the globe, addressing violations as they arise. It addresses a broad range of human rights issues such as racial discrimination, rights of the woman, traveller rights, people with disabilities and people facing poverty.
The review is based upon but not exhaustive to the International Bill of Rights and regardless of the Treaties the state under review (SuR) has ratified it incorporates whole spectrum of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 47 members of the Council are part of a group known as the UPR Working Group; it is within this group that the review takes place. The review compromises of three key elements: firstly a report drawn up by the SuR, a collection of information arranged by the OHCHR which details reports on various treaty bodies and other significant UN bodies. Lastly, information is submitted by other stakeholders such as human rights institutions and NGOs and summarised into a report written by the OHCHR. Troikas were set up to assist in the reviews of every state; these were groups that consisted of three of its member states. The General Assembly nominates the troikas for each state after elections for the Council Membership. All UN Member States were reviewed in what has come to be known as the first cycle from 2007-2011. A second cycle started in May 2012; 42 States will be reviewed each year. Each review takes place in Geneva during the meetings of the UPR Working

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