A review of all human rights - The reporting cycle The basis of the examination in the UPR is the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), human rights instruments ratified by the state under review, and any voluntary pledges and commitment made by the state. Thus, regional mechanisms to which a state is party can also be relevant. The UPR is a review of all human rights. Furthermore, states can also be examined on the basis of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) whether they have ratified the relevant treaties or not. Such rights include freedom from torture and ill-treatment (article 5 of UDHR); freedom of association and of assembly (article 20 of UDHR); and freedom of expression (article 19 of UDHR). States can also be held accountable on the situation of human rights defenders, under the General Assembly resolution on human rights defenders. The UPR reporting cycle consists of a number of steps, which can be broadly grouped in four clusters: i) Preparation of the review; ii) Review; iii) Outcome; and, iv) Follow-up on UPR recommendations. Preparation of the review The UPR is based on three types of information: 8 A Practical Guide to the UPR: How NGOs can influence the UPR process • The state under review is de facto obliged to submit a report of a maximum of 20 pages on its domestic human rights situation; • The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will provide a ten-page summary of information contained in relevant documentation; • Lastly, all other relevant stakeholders, including NGOs and national human rights institutions (NHRIs), may submit information in the form of a 2815 word report from individual organisations or 5630 words if the report is submitted by a coalition. The information in these reports will be compiled by the OHCHR into a ten-page report that will be used by the Council for the UPR. With the three official documents as the basis, the states wishing to participate in the review will prepare comments, questions and recommendations for the state under review. These will usually be prepared in collaboration between the ministries of foreign affairs, the missions to the UN at Geneva, and the embassies covering the state under review. If they wish, states can submit their questions in writing in advance of the review. They can deliver