SL’s National Report on HR situation to be reviewed in Geneva today

Sri Lanka's National Report under the 4th Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) will come up for consideration by the UN Working Group at the 42nd Session to be held in Geneva today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

This year’s Review will take place in a hybrid format. Due to the 75th Anniversary of Independence celebrations, Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Review will be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry by means of a pre-recorded video statement.

The in-person delegation will be led by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Himalee Arunatilaka and comprise senior officials from the Presidential Secretariat, the Attorney-General’s Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in 2006, as a State-driven voluntary peer-review process which provides the opportunity for each State to declare the steps taken at the national level to improve the human rights situation in that State and to fulfill their human rights obligations.

At the UPR, all 193 Member States of the UN are reviewed without any selectivity or discrimination. It is periodic and is repeated every four-and half years. 3 sessions are held each year and 14 countries are reviewed in one session. As such, each Member State of the UN is reviewed every 4 years.

All UN member States, including Sri Lanka, have participated in 3 cycles of the UPR namely, in 2008 (first), 2012 (second) and 2017 (third).

Sri Lanka’s National Report is available at https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/lk-index