The UPR process provides inter alia the following opportunities for promoting domestic change: • Ratification of international and regional human rights standards and timely reporting to international and regional mechanisms • Adoption of domestic anti torture laws and establishment of National Preventive Mechanisms on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) • Promotion of the right to rehabilitation for torture victims and the importance of ensuring that rehabilitation services are available • Reform of NGO laws and regulations on the right to freedom of assembly • Sensitisation over the situation of human rights defenders, political prisoners, and independent journalists, and their organisations • Reform of criminal procedures code and other relevant legislation • Reform of detention system addressing inadequacies such as overcrowding A Practical Guide to the UPR: How NGOs can influence the UPR process 7