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Externalizing Human Rights: From Commission to Council, the Universal Periodic Review and Egypt

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Abstract

Critics of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and its successor, the Human Rights Council (HRC), focus on member state efforts to protect themselves and allies from external pressure for human rights implementation. Even though HRC members still shield rights abusers, the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) subjects all states to regular scrutiny, and provides substantial new space for domestic NGOs to externalize domestic human rights demands. This paper offers an institutional account of the expansion of NGO externalization opportunities from the CHR to the HRC, and during UPR institution building and Egypt’s 2010 UPR. It draws on 45 longitudinal, open-ended interviews with Egyptian human rights activists, donors, and other observers conducted in 2007 and 2010.

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Notes

  1. UN documents describe international and domestic NGOs as ‘NGOs’, I follow this usage, but make the distinction where necessary.

  2. For brevity’s sake, this account leaves aside other institutional features, such as the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and complaints procedures.

  3. Cuba’s 2003 statement encapsulates this perspective (UNGA 2003; Chetail 2010, 206 n. 50).

  4. National Human Rights Institutions emerged in the last 15 years, partly due to OHCHR advocacy. They are intended to facilitate collaborative relationships between domestic NGOs and governments.

  5. Interference includes “establishing [GONGOs], penetrating existing NGOs and modifying their objectives and/or recruiting…politically influential elements of the activist community” (CIHRS 2009a, 28).

  6. This is a stringent measure, since statements that do not cite Egyptian NGOs may contain information gathered by them.

  7. Israel’s recent decision to withdraw from its UPR may undermine the future willingness of UN member states to cooperate with this mechanism (ISHR 2013).

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  1. Department of Political Science, Oakland University, 2200 N. Squirrel Road, Rochester, MI, 48309-4401, USA

    Laura K. Landolt

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Correspondence to Laura K. Landolt.

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Landolt, L.K. Externalizing Human Rights: From Commission to Council, the Universal Periodic Review and Egypt. Hum Rights Rev 14, 107–129 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-013-0258-2

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