U.S. Civil Society Holds the People’s UPR in Response to U.S. Government's Abstention from the Universal Periodic Review

The Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, where each UN member state’s human rights record is evaluated by other member states every 4.5 years. In August the United States announced that it would not be participating in the review that was set to take place in November 2025. On October 23, The People’s UPR took place in New York City, an event organized by civil society as a direct response to the United States’ refusal to participate in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR). HRC Program Coordinator, Abby Nelson, participated in the event in NYC, and shared her takeaways here.

The People’s UPR featured over 30 testimonies from people with lived experiences across the US, emphasizing human rights issues in several areas including economic, social and cultural rights; gender equality and women’s rights; rights of children; rights of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers; racial discrimination and systemic racism; torture and cruel treatment; administration of justice, rule of law, and police reform; indigenous rights; rising authoritarianism; rights of LGBTQI+ persons; and scapegoating of vulnerable populations. This event created a space for civil society voices to be heard and for meaningful dialogue to take place regarding human rights in the US. 

This was a people-led event co-hosted by the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic and Saint Louis University School of Law’s Human Rights at Home Litigation Clinic, and co-sponsored by the Human Rights Center, University of Minnesota Law School and several other partners.