Georgia's Human Rights Record to be Reviewed by Universal Periodic Review

Georgia is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 2 to 13 November.  Georgia’s first UPR took place on 28 January 2011.

The documents on which the reviews are based are: 1) national report - information provided by the State under review 2) information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies, and other UN entities; 3) information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups.

Among the issues raised in the above-mentioned documents are:  measures to protect and uphold the rights of ethnic and religious minorities; respect for freedom of religion or belief; prohibiting racist discourse and hate speech; anti-discrimination law; guaranteeing the freedom of the press; treatment of detainees and prisoners; addressing reports of excessive use of force by law enforcement; the independence of the judiciary and ensuring the right to a fair trial; combatting impunity; preventing arbitrary arrests; upholding the rights of women and of the child; combatting domestic violence and violence against women; combatting human trafficking; upholding the rights of internally displaced persons; labour rights and the rights of LGBT persons.;.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Georgia on 10 November can be found here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/GESession23.aspx

Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Time and date: 09.00 – 12.30, Tuesday 10 November (Geneva time, GMT +1 hour)

The UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States.  Since its first meeting was held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed during the first UPR cycle and 140 thus far during the second cycle.  The second review of States aims to highlight human rights developments in the country since its first review and provides an opportunity for States under review to spell out steps taken to implement recommendations posed during their first reviews. 

The delegation of Georgia will be headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms. Khatuna Totladze

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Georgia are:  Algeria, Portugal and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The webcast of the session will be at http://webtv.un.org

The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Georgia will be posted on the UPR Extranet at the following link [username:  hrc extranet (with space); password: 1session]:  https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/upr/Sessions/23session/Georgia/Pages/default.aspx

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Georgia at 17.30 on 12 November.  The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during their review.  The recommendations will be shared with the media on this day in advance.   

To learn more about the Universal Periodic Review, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPRMain.aspx

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