Introduction In 2006, the UN General Assembly decided to replace the Commission on Human Rights, its main political human rights body, with the new Human Rights Council. One of the key innovations of the Human Rights Council was that the Council should systematically review the human rights of all UN member states on a regular basis in what was named the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This was to ensure that the human rights record of all states is reviewed on an equal basis without regard to the gravity of the human rights situation and ratification and reporting under specific human rights treaties. What is the UPR With the UPR, all states will have their human rights record reviewed by the Human Rights Council every four and a half years. As a Human Rights Council mechanism, the review is conducted in Geneva through a three and a half hour session during which any state can ask questions and make comments and recommendations to the state under review. The state under review is also given the opportunity to provide responses during the session. UPR provides a venue in which states can hold an interactive discussion about the human rights record of a specific country without discrimination since all states are reviewed at a regular interval. The review is conducted on the basis of information from three main sources: i) the state under review, ii) UN mechanisms and agencies, iii) and other stakeholders including nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). NGOs thus play an important role in ensuring that all relevant information is brought forward for the UPR. The outcome of a UPR is a document listing all recommendations made to the state under review and its position on each recommendation. This can be accepted, rejected or kept under consideration by the state. Torture, justice and independence of the judiciary, ratification of international instruments, and the overall respect for human rights are among the issues addressed in the UPR. It is thus a relevant venue for torture rehabilitation centres, Human Rights Houses and NGOs to consider when engaging with international mechanisms to promote domestic change. A Practical Guide to the UPR: How NGOs can influence the UPR process 5