Background Briefing

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Principal Recommendations

  • The new system of universal periodic review should be based on information developed by an independent session rapporteur, carried out in sessions additional to the minimum ten weeks called for in the G.A. resolution, and result in an outcome document including conclusions and recommendations;
  • The HRC should maintain the system developed by the CHR of country resolutions and country rapporteurs. However, the system of Item 9 and Item 19 resolutions should be replaced by one agenda item entitled “country situations”;
  • The HRC should be ready, where necessary, to call for the establishment of in-country human rights offices to monitor and report on abuses, and to recommend that other parts of the U.N. system—including the Security Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and U.N. agencies on the ground—take effective action to address abuses of human rights;
  • The review of the special procedures should aim at strengthening the system; all mandates due to expire in 2006 should be renewed for one year while the review is carried out;
  • The OHCHR should be guaranteed the necessary resources to be able to provide effective support to the HRC and its various procedures and mechanisms.


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