Palau’s human rights situation will be up for review for the first time in 2011.
Executive Order No. 285 appoints state minister Victor Yano as the chairman of the task force with 27 other members composing of officials from different government agencies.
The task force is tasked with identifying and investigating the “immediate and long-term status of all aspects of human rights on Palau.
To help Palau prepare for its human rights report due on Feb. 2011, South Pacific Communities earlier conducted one-week government and non-governmental forum and training on upcoming review.
A separate report will also be done by advocacy groups and other non-governmental organizations on the human rights record of Palau.
The report should also include and determined through the stakeholders’ inputs what rights are under threats and the issue of certain group or marginalized groups pertaining to human rights situation.
The Task Force is given until Dec. 1, 2010 to submit the final report to the president.
Palau will be reviewed at the 11th session of the UPR Working Group to take place at the UN Office in Geneva in May 2011.
The UPR National report meanwhile is due on Feb. 1, 2011. While the NGO’s report is due on Nov. 11, 2010.
UPR is a relatively new procedure that seeks to review the human rights record of all 192 United Nations member states once every four years.
UPR will address human rights obligations as set out in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights instruments such as treaty bodies, voluntary pledges and commitments by the State, and applicable international law. The UPD will base findings on three items, namely,
1) report from the State under review, which can be in the form of a “national report”,
2) information from stakeholders such as civil societies and human rights institutions; and
3) information contained in independent human rights reports and human rights treaty bodies such as Convention of the Rights of Children, Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and Rights of the Migrant Workers.
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