WG on the complaint procedure - Feb. 8th - YS

Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review Mechanismsof the Human Rights Council


The facilitator, the ambassador of Jordan and Vice-president
of the Human Rights Council, H.E. Mr. Mousa Burayzat, divided the meeting in
two sections; the first section, to discuss about complaint process, the second
section, to discuss about expert advice.

I. COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

The Facilitator
broached the question of confidentiality in complaint process.

Germany, as several delegations, argued
that confidentiality is not an end in itself but a mean. Therefore, in case of
non-cooperation, confidentiality must give way to public examination.

UK also added that confidentiality is
not a victim-oriented process but, on the contrary, should protect governments
and authorities accused.

In a nutshell, confidentiality should be
presumed but should disappear in case of exceptional circumstances as the
non-cooperation.

Several
delegations, as Russia
and Sri-Lanka, were opposed to this point of view. According to them,
confidentiality should be maintained in any case in order to ensure efficiency.

Furthermore,
the delegation of Algeria
added that the facilitator should be more precise about “non-cooperation” and
explains what this sentence means. So do Senegal.

Mr Facilitator
was sorry to not respond clearly to this question. He said only that states
shall have a discretionary power concerning the decision to use or not public
examination.