MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's UN human rights test: high standard record, strong media freedom and freedom of expression

Ambassador Simon Manley, CMG, took up his post as the head of UN International Organizations based in Geneva in April 2021.

The United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the WTO and the UN in Geneva, Simon Manley, CMG, delivered on May first a statement at Uruguay's Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years. The UPR provides each State the opportunity to regularly:

Report on the actions it has taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to overcome challenges to the enjoyment of human rights; and
Receive recommendations – informed by multi-stakeholder input and pre-session reports – from UN Member States for continuous improvement.

Established in March 2006 by the UN General Assembly in resolution 60/251, the UPR is designed to prompt, support, and expand the promotion and protection of human rights in every country.

Since the first periodic review in 2008, all 193 UN Member States have been reviewed three times.

Ambassador Simon Manley, CMG took up his post as the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization, United Nations and other International Organizations based in Geneva in April 2021.

Simon oversees the work of the UK Mission in Geneva and represents the United Kingdom in its engagement with over 35 international organizations, agencies and offices based in the city.

These include the UN Human Rights Council, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Telecommunications Union, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, CERN, and the World Economic Forum.

Manley's statement on Uruguay's Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council:

“Thank you Mr. Vice-President and welcome to the Uruguayan delegation, headed by foreign minister Omar Paganini.

”We recognize the high standard of Uruguay’s human rights record, particularly its strong stance on media freedom and promotion of freedom of expression.

“We also welcome legislation put in place by successive Uruguayan Governments, to promote gender equality and LGBT+ rights.

”However, we are concerned by growing rates of gender-based violence against women and girls. We also are concerned at high figures for detention and growing overcrowding in prisons. 

“We therefore recommend that Uruguay:

1. Assign adequate resources for the effective implementation of the Law on Gender-Based Violence against Women.
2. Criminalize torture as a separate offence, following the provisions of article 1 of the UN Convention against Torture.
3. Implement the First Plan for Integration of Migrants and Refugees, as established in 2022 by the National Migration Board.

”Thank you.”