Botswana’s human rights record to be examined by Universal Periodic Review

GENEVA (28 April 2023) – Botswana’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the fourth time on Wednesday, 3 May 2023, in a meeting that will be webcast live.

Botswana is one of 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its upcoming 43^rd session from 1 to 12 May 2023. Botswana’s first, second and third UPR reviews took place in December 2008, January 2013 and January 2018, respectively.

The documents on which the reviews are based re: 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 Botswana on 3 May can be found here.

Location: Room 20, Palais des Nations, Geneva

Time and date: 9:00 – 12:30, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 (Geneva time, GMT +2 hours)

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 thrice within the first, second and third UPR cycles. During the fourth 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 and highlight recent human rights developments in the country.

The delegation of Botswana will be led by Mr. Machana Ronald SHAMUKUNI, Minister of Justice

The three country representatives serving as rapporteurs (“troika”) for the review of Botswana are South Africa, Qatar, and Bolivia (Plurinational State of).

The webcast of the session will be at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1uyawzk9o

The list of speakers and all available statements to be delivered during the review of Botswana will be posted on the UPR Extranet.

The UPR Working Group is scheduled to adopt the recommendations made to Botswana at 15:30 on Friday, 5 May 2023. The State under review may wish to express its positions on recommendations posed to it during its review.

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For more information and media requests, please contact Pascal Sim, HRC Media Officer, at simp@un.org and David Díaz Martín, HRC Public Information Officer, at david.diazmartin@un.org

To learn more about the Universal Periodic Review, visit https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/upr-main

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