CHRI at HRC48: Oral statement in UPR Report Consideration of Seychelles (Agenda Item 6)
1 October 2021, Geneva: CHRI made a video intervention in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report Consideration of Seychelles at the 48th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In the statement delivered by Ms. Aditi Patil, CHRI commended the Republic of Seychelles for its commitment to human rights through legislative development and structural reform since its second UPR. During this review, Seychelles accepted 208 recommendations fully and one partially out of 215 recommendations that it had received.
In its intervention, CHRI made the following calls to the Government of Seychelles:
(1) to ensure that the Seychelles Human Rights Commission established in 2018 is adequately resourced and is fully compliant with the Paris Principles.
(2) to effectively implement the Access to Information Act 2018, including by complying with its proactive disclosure requirements, improving its records management, and further reviewing the Act to bring it in line with international standards.
(3) to ensure that the Law Reform Commission created with the Cabinet approval meaningfully addresses the concerns around non-discrimination and equality for the LGBTI+ communities and legal recognition to same-sex partnerships.
(4) to continue its efforts towards gender mainstreaming and women empowerment by actively engaging in awareness building programmes at all levels and effectively implementing the newly enacted Domestic Violence Act 2020.
(5) to take steps towards acceding to the Optional Protocols and effectively domesticating all the core human rights treaties;
(6) to implement action plans to comply with its reporting obligations, including by considering technical assistance from the OHCHR.
You can read the statement here and watch the video here: