UNHRC discusses Mongolia’s human rights record

Mongolia’s human rights record is under examination by the United Nations Human Rights Council as it conducts the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva, through May 8.
A delegation from the Justice Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ministry of Population Development and Social Protection, General Prosecutor’s Office of Mongolia and General Police Department, headed by Vice Minister of Justice Ts.Uugangerel, is taking part in the Mongolia Review for the 22nd Session of the Universal Periodic Review.
Since its first report on human rights, Mongolia approved additional protocol of the International Pact on Civic and Political Rights, directed to abolish the death penalty, and additional protocol against torture. Mongolia approved laws against human trafficking, on gender equality, as well as a law on witness and victim protection, moves which have been praised at the international and national level.
United Nations member countries attended the 22nd Session of Universal Periodic Review, and advised Mongolia to abolish the death penalty from its criminal law, to not consider defamation and insult as crimes, not to limit civil rights to free expression, to include acts of torture as criminal offenses in the Criminal Code in compliance with the U.N. Convention Against Torture, to protect the rights of victims and witnesses to crime, and to compensate damages to physical and mental health. They also recommended that Mongolia increase in women’s participation at the state’s decision making level; combat human trafficking, crimes of sexual exploitation, and domestic violence, and to make offenders of these crimes legally accountable; to forbid child labor; end discrimination against LGBT people; and provide the public with knowledge about the LGBT community.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Universal Periodic Review, “has great potential to promote and protect human rights in the darkest corners of the world.”
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) involves a review of the human rights records of all U.N. member states. The UPR is a state-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each state to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights situations are assessed.