Feedback At the 44th session of the Universal Periodic Review, which will be held in November 2023, UN member states will make recommendations on the observance of human rights in a number of countries in the region: Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. On August 29, representatives of civil society and human rights organizations of these countries, who submitted alternative reports within the framework of the UPR, spoke before representatives of the permanent missions of the participating countries and experts of the UN Human Rights Council.
ADC Memorial participated in the preparation of two reports on human rights in Russia for the 44th session of the UPR: a joint report with LGBTI initiatives on discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and a joint report with the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia on discrimination related to ethnicity, migration status and citizenship.
On the eve of the press session, on August 26, the human rights initiative “Delo LGBT+” reported that Roskomnadzor blocked their website in the Russian Federation due to the publication of a report to the UN Human Rights Council within the framework of the 44th session of the UPR. According to the authorities, the report presents “information aimed at creating a positive attitude towards non-traditional sexual attitudes, as well as a distorted idea of the social equivalence of non-traditional and traditional sexual relations.”
The “Sphere” Foundation made a statement at the pre-session about non-compliance with the rights of trans persons, the impact of the new law on “LGBT+ propaganda” and the law on “foreign agents”, drawing attention to the need to ensure the protection of LGBTIQ+ rights from discrimination, violence and hate crimes.
The International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia drew attention to the lack of legal recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and the need to ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention No. 169 – the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention.
ADC Memorial submitted alternative reports on discrimination in Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as part of the UPR.
ADC Memorial’s speech on the situation in Uzbekistan was devoted to the problems of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and discrimination against ethnic minorities: the problem of education in native languages, the situation of the Mugat/Lyuli, the brutal suppression of protests in Karakalpakstan in the summer of 2022 and the unfair sentences imposed on the participants of demonstrations.
Experts from the UN Human Rights Council will consider the official reports of Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the observance of human rights within the framework of the UPR procedure on November 6-17, 2023.