The Peru Support Group has just submitted to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) our assessment of some of the most pressing human rights concerns in the country.

The UPR is a State-driven process where each Member State has the opportunity to talk about their human rights record.This year, Peru (and many other countries) will be assessed in November through the UPR by UN Member States on their human rights record. During the sessions, the Human Rights Council will provide the opportunity to the Peruvian State to report on the actions they have taken to implement the recommendations they accepted during the previous review in 2012 and other measures they have taken to improve the human rights situation in the country.

Very importantly, the UPR mechanisms also allow other stakeholders, including civil society organizations, to submit information on their assessment of the human rights situation in a particular country, which becomes part of the information evaluated by the UPR Working Group during the UPR sessions taking place in Geneva. The outcome of the sessions is a report agreed by the working group, which contains a series of recommendations, which it is the responsibility of the State to fulfill.

In our submission, we highlighted the issues that we found of most concern, including: rights abuses and judicial harassment against people taking part in social protests, including human rights defenders, in the context of projects related to the extraction of natural resources; Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent, and issues related to the right to effective remedy. We also highlight the continued barriers facing women’s access to justice and reparation, including in relation to forced sterilisations. The document also contains a list of recommendations to the Peruvian state.

See full report