The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council is an important mechanism for the promotion of human rights in digital contexts. From the UPR’s inception as a human rights mechanism in 2008, APC has played an essential role in utilising it to raise awareness of the impact of the internet and digital technologies on human rights and to promote digital rights. Since then, there has been increasing attention paid to digital rights by all stakeholders within the UPR (civil society, UN agencies and states).
The value of the UPR for promoting digital rights comes from its ability to shape human rights norms (through the provision of a baseline of commitments from states on their human rights obligations, which are then reviewed cyclically) and the ability to share best practices via the interactive dialogues and the outputs of the reviews. Other benefits of engaging with the UPR for civil society include its ability to expand and strengthen civil society networks working on digital rights and to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders at national, regional and global levels.
APC members have different levels of experience engaging with the UPR. Most engagement has focused on submissions to the stakeholder report of country reviews, although some members are now engaging with the monitoring and implementation of the outcomes of the UPR (the recommendations). The provision of submissions has had a discernible impact on country reviews and digital rights recommendations from the APC network have been reflected in numerous country reviews.
This report is intended to support civil society organisations engaging, or intending to engage, with the UPR as a mechanism to advance human rights in digital contexts. The report is based on a combination of desk research, interviews with APC network members and APC staff, and feedback received through an online workshop with APC network members. It is divided into three main sections:
* An assessment of the impact of the UPR on the promotion of human rights more generally, as well as a review of how – and which – digital rights issues have appeared in the UPR so far.
* Three case studies that highlight how APC network members from different regions have utilised the UPR to further advocacy objectives and the impact their engagement achieved, with the expectation that these insights can be applied to other contexts.
* A series of recommendations that draw on the research and are intended to provide network members with actions that could be undertaken to improve the strategic use of this mechanism to advance the digital rights agenda.
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