UN Watch prepared the following written submission, which was circulated as an official UN document during the 41st Session of the UN Human Rights Council:
- Time to reassess the Universal Periodic Review
Although the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was intended to ensure that powerful states which are able to avoid censure in the Council’s resolutions would not completely escape human rights scrutiny, these powerful states have managed to corrupt the process to ensure any criticism is minimal compared to the praise. Thus, instead of accomplishing its intended goal of improving human rights across the board, the UPR has turned into a mutual praise society for the world’s worst abusers. Reform of this process is urgently needed.
