Deputy PM Arınç to head to Geneva for UN Human Rights Council


The U.N. Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will examine Turkey's human rights record for the second time on Tuesday in Geneva. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and his delegation are expected to arrive in Switzerland on Tuesday, as stipulated in the framework of the record review. The first review on Turkey's record by the UPR was conducted in May 2010 with a delegation headed by then deputy prime minister and current spokesman of the Parliament, Cemil Çiçek.The Arınç-led delegation will attend the review that began back in May 2010 and is to present the recent developments related to the report. The report that was presented to the Human Rights Council on October 24, 2014, was compiled by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with cooperation and contributions by related associations and NGOs. Additionally, the delegation will include representatives from the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Justice Ministry and Family and Social Policy Ministry, as well as the General Directorate of Foundations of Turkey. The UPR working group examines 14 states on which the reviews are based on various topics including a national report – information provided by the state under review – information contained in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups, known as the Special Procedures, human rights treaty bodies and other U.N. entities as well as information provided by other stakeholders including national human rights institutions, regional organizations and civil society groups. In addition, topics such as the right to peaceful assembly and the use of force by law enforcement officials against protesters, freedom of expression online and the rights of human rights defenders and safety of journalists will also be examined.