WJC: The Use of the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review in Fighting Antisemitism and Preserving the Memory of the Holocaust

One of the UN Human Rights Council’s mechanisms, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a cyclical review and reporting mechanism to assess and give recommendations on how to improve the human rights situation in UN Member States. The present report looks into the recommendations given on the occasion of states’ UPRs and examines how much the process has been utilized in order to highlight specific issues around antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance. The report’s findings are deeply worrying During the existence of the UPR process, less than 0,08% of all recommendations made have addressed the topics of antisemitism, Holocaust remembrance and fostering Jewish life. Given that the UPR mechanism allows for a direct contact on the UN level between Member States, the World Jewish Congress regrets the disregard for the issue of antisemitism and encourages UN Member States to employ the UPR process strategically in order to combat this scourge.