Antigua and Barbuda’s human rights record to be examined by Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA (3 November 2021) - Antigua and Barbuda’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the third time on Monday, 8 November 2021 in a meeting that will be webcast live. 

Antigua and Barbuda is one of the States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming session taking place from 1 to 12 November *.  Antigua and Barbuda’s first and second UPR reviews took place in October 2011 and May 2016, 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. 

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of Antigua and Barbuda on 8 November can be found here. 

Location: Room XX, Palais des Nations, Geneva [NB: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be held using a combination of in-person and remote participation, and media representatives are encouraged to follow the proceedings on webcast. 

Time and date: 14.30 – 18.00, Monday, 8 November (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 Antigua and Barbuda will be led by Dr. Vanessa Moe, Crown Solicitor at the Ministry of Legal Affairs. 

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Antigua and Barbuda are Bahrain, Togo and Uruguay. 

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 Antigua and Barbuda will be posted on the UPR Extranet  

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Antigua and Barbuda at 15.30 on 12 November.  The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during their review. 

* The UPR 39th session was originally scheduled to be held in May 2021, although was postponed due to COVID-19 measures.  

ENDS