Human rights in Finland reviewed by the UN
Press release 119/2008
9 April, 2004
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a totally new mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council for reviewing human rights in UN Member States once every four years. Human rights in Finland are discussed today, on 9 April, in the afternoon at the first session of the UPR working group in Geneva.
The Finnish delegation is led by State Secretary Teija Tiilikainen of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. All central ministries are represented in the delegation. Representatives of the Constitutional Law Committee of the Finnish Parliament and civil society also participate in the review as members of the delegation.
All UN Member States can participate in the sessions of the UPR working group. The open, oral dialogue between the working group and the country under review takes three hours. A group of three rapporteurs (a ‘troika’), selected by drawing lots among Council members representing the various groups of countries in the Council, assists during the review. The troika reviewing Finland consists of Azerbaijan, Bolivia and the Republic of Korea.
For the review, Finland has drawn up a concise report of the national human rights situation. The report was prepared jointly by the Prime Minister’s Office and the ministries. Citizens’ organisations have participated in the drafting of the report. UN special bodies, programmes and funds, regional organisations and citizens’ organisations have also been able to supply material for the periodic review. On the basis of the material received, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has compiled two country-specific summary reports. The material dealing with human rights in Finland is available on the High Commissioner’s website.
The report discussing human rights in Finland, including preliminary conclusions and recommendations, will be adopted by the working group on Friday evening, 11 April. The final contents of the report will be approved in the next regular session of the Human Rights Council in June 2008.
Additional information: Sofie From-Emmesberger, Head of the Unit for Human Rights Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 568 8641; and First Secretary Anu-Eerika Viljanen, Unit for Human Rights Policy at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 726 3523, e-mail: [email protected]
The OHCHR website(Link to another website.) (Opens New Window)