Creating a space for indigenous rights: the Universal Periodic Review as a mechanism for promoting the rights of indigenous peoples

In 2006, the Human Rights Council created a new method of overseeing the implementation of universal human rights standards, including the rights of indigenous peoples, in the form of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is a peer-review mechanism which requires States to report on their human rights practices in a variety of fields every 4-5 years and encourages other States to discuss, and make recommendations on, these reports. Since the UPR was created, every member state of the United Nations (UN) had been reviewed twice, and some have been reviewed 3 times. The paper analyses the first two cycles of the UPR to identify the ways in which indigenous peoples can play a role in the process, and also to query how the rights of indigenous peoples have been raised as part of this mechanism. The article will conclude with a number of recommendations as to how indigenous groups can engage with the UPR process to their benefit in the future.