UAAR’s submission was structured around past recommendations made to Italy during previous cycles of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)*. A state, in response to recommendations made by other countries, can either “support” or “note” (i.e. reject) a recommendation, and some choose to provide their reasoning.
UAAR found instances where the Government of Italy had supported recommendations in previous UPR cycles but not followed through. Such an approach – emphasizing the continuity of the UPR – can be incredibly impactful and can remind states of their past recommendations. This is the fourth cycle of the UPR, with the process having begun in 2008.
The submission focused on a broad range of areas from the humanist worldview. With regards to non-discrimination on the basis of sexual and gender identity, UAAR criticized the fact that the so-called “Zan Bill” had been struck down. The organization also called for the proper recognition of same-sex couples’ rights as parents, and to abandon laws influenced in this domain by the Catholic Church.
In the context of the international right to health, the submission went on to highlight the failure of the Government to heed the direction of the Italian Constitutional Court to implement a law to regulate assisted dying. The submission continued on the right to health by highlighting the shortcomings of Italian legislation when it comes to providing access to reproductive health and services.
Finally, UAAR also criticized laws in Italy which protect clergy in cases of crimes by clergy, particularly for child abuse. UAAR is just one of many groups to have criticized the Italian Government’s response to abuse scandals within the Catholic Church.
In January 2024, UAAR participated in Humanists International’s annual UPR training on engaging with the UN UPR, which informs members on how to make submissions and statements as part of the UPR process, and how to hold states accountable for human rights violations.
On the UPR submission process, Giorgio Maone, the UAAR Executive Board Member in charge of international relations, said the following:
Giorgio Maone, UAAR Executive Board Member in charge of international relations
“We want to thank Humanists International for helping secular humanist organizations like ours actively participate in the UN human rights monitoring process: we believe our contribution is essential, especially in this delicate historical phase, when reactionary, confessionalist, authoritarian and even openly fascist regurgitations come back to plague the international political landscape.
As the new President of the Italian Interministerial Committee for Human Rights Sabrina Ugolini recently recognized, UAAR is the only voice from Italy to represent the point of view of non-belief and the value of secularism as a bastion defending other rights like individual self-determination and freedom of thought, of expression, of religion and from religion. And, as can be read in our report, there is a lot of work to be done here, mainly due to the concordat and to the many politicians more loyal to the Vatican monarch than to the Italian people.”
*The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a UN process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States, by each other. It is a unique human rights mechanism in so far as it addresses all countries and all human rights. The Working Group on the UPR, which is composed of the Human Rights Council’s 47 Member States and chaired by the Human Rights Council President, conducts country reviews.