Informal consultation on UPR, 19.3. 07, report by A.F.

during this informal consultation today, the states mainly discussed the Non-Paper on the UPR Mechanism submitted by H.E Ambassador of Morocco, the facilitator of the WG on the UPR:

Points of discussion:

I) Basis of the review:
- should international humanitarian law (IHL) constitute a basis for the review?
-> Cuba (on behalf of NAM) wants IHL to be considered in all cases. Germany (on behalf of the EU) and other western states only want IHL to be considered when relevant (thus in armed conflict) while Human rights law still applies as a lex specialis. Switzerland proposed a change of wording for this issue, namely: "in situations where IHL is applicable, HR law shall be applied in the light of the relevant IHL". this proposal seemed to be gaining the support of many states.
- should the committments undertaken in relevant UN conferences and summits be taken into consideration as a basis for the review?
-> no consensus could be found on this question.

II) Principles and Objectives
- participation of all stakeholders, including NGOs and national HR institutions:
-> apparently this issue is not really the priority of the states, and they seem to agree more or less on the draft by the facilitator.
- should the UPR take into account the level of development and specificities of countries?
-> almost all countries agree on this formulation, however, especially the western and GRULAC states want the whole paragraph to be moved to the point V) entitled "Outcome of the UPR".

III) Periodicity and Order of Review
- periodicity of review: 4 or 5 years?
-> Western as well as GRULAC countries support a 4-year periodicity, while the NAM countries, led by Cuba, as well as the US support a 5-year periodicity.
- question of the basis for the review: an obligatory report or a questionnaire?
-> many countries oppose the idea of an obligatory report since this would add more work on the already burdened countries.
- question of involvement of experts and rapporteurs:
-> Cuba on behalf on NAM made it very clear that they will accept neither experts nor rapporteurs, whereas the western group is quite in favour of this idea.

Due to a lack of time, the meeting had to be suspended. the remaining issues of this non-paper will be taken up in the next informal meeting on UPR.