DUSHANBE, December 18, 2008, Asia-Plus — On December 11-17, a group of Tajik journalists, students and representatives of NGOs dealing with human rights protection issues visited Geneva.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Nargis Zokirova, director of the Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law, said that the trip had been organized within the framework of the Human rights Journalism Network Project, that is implemented by the Bureau under support of the European Commission Delegation in Tajikistan.
During their stay in Geneva, they attended hearing by Uzbekistan under the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Palace of Nations.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. 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.
Tajikistan is expected to report on action it has taken to improve the human rights situation in 2011.
Besides, members of the Tajik delegation also visited the office of the Youth Center on human Rights (CODAP) and held meetings with Florian Imminger, representative of the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and Dr. Vicken Cheterian of CIMERA.
