- Costa Rica will be evaluated by 2 international human rights mechanisms
- The country has outstanding historical debts on this matter
On May 13, Costa Rica will be examined by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a mechanism established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, whose purpose is to review and ensure respect and guarantee of the rights of all people.
In the context of this important review, we launched the “When it comes to human rights, does Costa Rica pass or fail? “campaign with the Spanish hashtags #PasaOSeQueda y #EPU2019. This is a joint effort with other organizations such as the Citizen Association ACCEDER, The Lutheran Costa Rican Church, The MANU Association, ICW Latina, AGECO, the Costa Rican Demographic Association, ADS, Movimiento Diversidad, Peras del Olmo, CIPAC, Frente por los Derechos Igualitarios, among others.
The evaluation will be based on a civil society report that will be presented on April 3 in Geneva, Switzerland. This document makes a report on the country´s setbacks and challenges to recognize and protect the human rights of all people and denounces the deficiencies in the fulfillment of the legal obligations deriving from international treaties. This month a Shadow Letter was also sent to the Committee on the Rights of the Child whose examination would take place in the second semester of this year.
Among the complaints regarding human rights we find: unpunished therapeutic abortion, emergency contraception, rights of bisexual women, lesbians and non-heterosexuals, rights of the elderly and rights of people with HIV.
“We need a real commitment from Costa Rica, as a country, to assume its responsibility with respect to the historical debts regarding Human Rights. Until there is recognition and protection of sexual and reproductive rights, Costa Rica will not be a real democracy.” – Larissa Arroyo Navarrete, lawyer and director of ACCEDER.
Do you want to know more about the UPR?
Access the following documents:
