MEDIA ADVISORY -- Human Rights Council: UPR must deliver on human rights

7 April 2008

At its inaugural session, Amnesty International today called on the Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council to use the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to overcome the bias and double standards that plagued the former Commission on Human Rights.

The UPR is the first-ever UN mechanism that will look at the human rights records of all countries.

Amnesty International called on the UPR to focus on the key human rights challenges in countries under review and for the Working Group, and later the Human Rights Council itself, to adopt concrete measures to improve the situation of human rights in all countries reviewed.

The organisation called for the whole process to be transparent and fair for stakeholders.

For more information on the human rights situation in individual countries under review, please see:

Indonesia
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA21/021/2007

Bahrain
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE11/001/2007

Algeria
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE28/021/2007

Brazil
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR19/023/2007

Czech Republic
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR71/003/2007

Finland
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR20/001/2007

India
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA20/021/2007

Morocco
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE29/012/2007

Netherlands
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR35/001/2007

Philippines
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA35/006/2007