UN Group will reviews Antigua and Barbuda’s human-rights record today; August 8 incident likely to be examined
In a meeting that will be webcast live, this country’s human-rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, for the third time, today, November 8.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the meeting will be a combination of in-person and remote participation.
The review will run from 2:30 to 6 p.m., and the three country representatives serving as rapporteurs for the review are Bahrain, Togo and Uruguay.
The Antigua and Barbuda delegation will be led by Vanessa Moe, Crown Solicitor in the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
The documents on which the reviews are based include national reports provided by the State, plus 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.
Information provided by other stakeholders, including national institutions, regional organizations, and civil-society groups will also form part of the review documents.
Accordingly, a Washington source tells REAL News that the incident of August 8, when the Police used tear-gas and rubber bullets to break up a peaceful protest by civilians, will be under review.
The Working Group is scheduled to adopt recommendations made to Antigua and Barbuda on 12 November.
The UPR involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 United Nations Member-States. Antigua and Barbuda’s first and second assessments took place in October 2011 and May 2016, respectively.
