The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 2006, as a process through which the human rights record of every UN Member State is peer-reviewed.

This review, conducted through the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), is based upon each country’s human rights obligations and commitments in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights instruments to which the country is party, and other sources. During the process, the country under review submits a written report on its human rights record, and appears before the Council, where it receives recommendations regarding its human rights record from other UN Member States. The country under review is able to ‘accept’ or ‘note’ these recommendations. Those accepted form the basis for future reporting.

The UPR is the only process through which all UN Member States undergo review and scrutiny of their human rights records. Sri Lanka underwent its first UPR cycle in 2008 and the second in 2012. The review that will be conducted on 15 November will be Sri Lanka’s third, and along with Sri Lanka, the following countries will also be reviewed under the UPR’s third cycle at the 28th Working Group, during the period 6-17 November: Argentina, Benin, Czechia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Pakistan, Peru, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Zambia.