Human Rights and Democracy - Official Documents

In addition to its main sessions, the Council met in February, May and November to
conduct reviews of 48 UN member states’ human rights records. Overall the
Universal Periodic Review system is working well, allowing serious consideration of
human rights developments in countries under review. The majority of states took
the process seriously; submitting national reports; fielding high-level and expert
delegations; working with civil society partners in preparation for and in follow up to
the review; and remaining open and self-critical.
Some member states however sought to manipulate the review process, either by
stacking the speakers’ list with friends ready to praise their performance, such as
Egypt in February, or by avoiding a clear response to recommendations, such as
DPRK in March. We were disappointed that Lebanon used its review in November
to air Middle East political issues, distracting attention from its own human rights
performance. We will be seeking further refinements to the review process to make
it the most effective multilateral mechanism possible for the promotion of human
rights.
While some member states, such as Angola, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Bahrain,
implemented their review recommendations, others, such as Iran, Egypt and Laos,
failed to do so. A full assessment of the review process will come as member states
are reviewed for a second time, starting in 2012. We are encouraging member
states to report back to the Council at the half-way point between reviews. To show
leadership we provided a progress report on the implementation of our review
recommendations to the March Council session.
We took further steps to ensure that officials of the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO) are able to strengthen the UK’s input into country reviews. Our
embassies and high commissions have engaged governments and civil society
before, during and after reviews. We have increased our assistance to governments
and NGOs to support the implementation of recommendations. For example, in
2010 we provided financial support to Save the Children to work with NGOs in Sierra
Leone and other countries ahead of their reviews in 2011, and to Article 19 to follow
up with Mexico on its freedom of expression recommendations. Our High
Commission in Freetown and our Embassy in Kathmandu met local NGOs to discuss
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