Submitted by crinadmin on
A group of NGOs has written to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to request the extension of the deadline for the NGO submissions on countries to be reviewed at the second session of the UPR WG. The current deadline announced by the OHCHR is 14 January 2008. The letter below suggests the deadline to be postponed to 8 February 2008. The letter in full: "We write to request an extension to 8 February 2008 of the 14 January 2008 deadline for NGO submissions in relation to countries scheduled to be reviewed at the second session of the UPR. Although we appreciate the ongoing efforts made by your Office to facilitate NGO contributions to the UPR process, we must ask for further flexibility of you and your Office to allow NGOs from a broad spectrum at the national, regional and international level to prepare individual and joint submissions that are well-tailored to the UPR process. The time available until 14 January is simply not sufficient. Even within an extension to 8 February, it will not be easy for many NGOs to meet the deadline, but the extension would provide precious additional time. As we look ahead to the third session of the UPR in December 2008, it would be helpful to know at the earliest possible date the deadline for NGO submissions for that session. With the time available between now and December, early notification of the deadline would facilitate planning and coordination for the timely delivery of submissions. We look forward to your response and thank you and your staff for a positive consideration of this request. Yours sincerely, c.c. OHCHR/Mr Bacre Ndiaye/
Mr Eric Tistounet/
Ms June Ray"