GENEVA (5 May 2017) – The Netherlands' human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Wednesday, 10 May 2017 in a meeting that will be webcast live.

The Netherlands is one of the 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 1 to 12 May, which also marks the commencement of the third UPR cycle.  The Netherlands' first and second UPR reviews took place in April 2008 and May 2012, respectively.

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: racist discourse and hate crime; discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender  identity, sexual orientation, disability and gender; challenges faced by people of African descent; safeguards against governmental surveillance capabilities; curbing child poverty; improving the juvenile justice system; involuntary hospitalization of mental health patients and the excessive use of coercive measures; the inclusion of human rights education in the national curriculum; addressing the challenges faced by migrants and asylum  seekers; excessive length of pre-trial detention, ill-treatment in detention, and guaranteeing the right to defence in Aruba, Curaҫao and Sint Maarten; tackling poverty in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba; and the involvement of Dutch businesses in extractive industries abroad and its adverse effects on human rights.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of the Netherlands on 10 May can be found here: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/NLSession27.aspx

Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva
Time and date: 9.00 – 12.30, Wednesday, 10 May (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 twice within the first and second UPR cycles.  During the third UPR cycle, States are again expected to spell out steps they have taken to implement recommendations posed during their previous reviews which they committed to follow-up on, as well as to highlight recent human rights developments in the country.

The delegation of the Netherlands will be headed by Mr. Ronald Plasterk, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of the Netherlands are: Egypt, United States of America and Georgia.

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 the Netherlands will be posted on the UPR Extranet at the following link: https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/upr/Sessions/27session/Netherlands/Pages/default.aspx

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to the Netherlands at 17.00 on 12 May.  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.   

ENDS

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

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