Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta will be leading the Indian delegation in the Universal Periodic Review Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva.

The 41st Session of the Universal Periodic Review working group is being held from November 7 to 18 in Geneva. During this session, India's National report for the 4th Universal Periodic Review cycle will be reviewed on November 10, 2022.

The Indian delegation, led by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, comprises of Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West) and senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Rural Development and the NITI Aayog and the VC of the National Law University, Delhi.

India is one of the countries to be reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review working group during its upcoming session.

The document on which the reviews are based are-

• National report- information provided by the State under review;

• Information in the reports of independent human rights experts and groups;

• Information provided by other stakeholders.

UPR is a unique peer review process of the Human Rights Council under which the UN member states review the human rights performance of fellow member states. It involves a review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states.

As per the Ministry of External Affairs, the UPR is an important mechanism that India fully supports. It is a unique peer review process of the Human Rights Council under which UN member states review the human rights performance of fellow member states.

As per the Ministry, it has emerged as one of the successful human rights mechanisms, due to its universal character, constructive and consultative approach and the importance it places on dialogue and cooperation amongst member states. The UPR mechanism also reinforces the centrality of States in assuming and fulfilling their human rights obligations.

India has actively participated in the review of other States and it has welcomed the fact that 133 member States have registered to engage in its peer review. India's first, second and third UPR reviews took place in 2008, 2012 and 2017 respectively.

The three reports serving as the basis for the review of India on 10 November can be found here.

A live telecast of the event on November 10 can be viewed here.

Tushar MehtaUnited Nations Human Rights Council

Ashish Shaji