The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a groundbreaking United Nations process initiated in 2006 that evaluates the human rights records of all 193 Member States on an equal footing. This year, the human rights record of the United States will be the subject of scrutiny. To help inform the UPR of the United States in November 2025, PHR’s submissions are listed below.
What is the UPR? As a core mechanism of the Human Rights Council, the UPR fosters global dialogue, encourages countries to address human rights challenges, and promotes the sharing of best practices. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like PHR contribute submissions to the UPR process to help share information and shape outcomes, further helping the UPR’s vital role in reporting on and improving human rights conditions worldwide.
PHR’s Submission to the Universal Periodic Review of the United States
PHR’s submission covers the health and human rights impacts of: abortion restrictions on providers and patients in several U.S. states; abuses in U.S. immigration detention facilities, presence of immigration authorities in health care settings, and the erosion of protections for asylum seekers; and the continued use of “excited delirium”, a pseudoscientific term with racist roots that is often used to deny accountability for deaths during interactions with law enforcement.
Joint Submission on Diminishing Reproductive and Bodily Autonomy in the United States
Abortion bans in the United States violate the human rights to life, health, privacy, freedom from torture, freedom of movement, non-discrimination, and more. PHR’s joint submission explores this human rights crisis by gathering data from those most impacted. Jointly submitted with partners including: Global Justice Center, Ipas, Guttmacher Institute, Birthmark, Louisiana Abortion Fund, Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, ReJAC, Jane’s Due Process, The Afiya Center, and Lift Louisiana.
Joint Submission of Coalition of Immigrant Rights Organizations to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the United States
This submission to the Human Rights Council for the 2025 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States is a joint report from a coalition of 23 United States-based non-profit organizations that defend the human rights of non-citizens. The information presented shows that the United States has failed to meaningfully address Member States’ 2020 UPR recommendations to the United States to remedy human rights violations of non-citizens. Instead, the United States continues to violate the human rights of non-citizens through mass detention, denial of due process, abusive and discriminatory policing, labor exploitation, and suppression of civic space.
Joint Submission on Excessive Use of Force by Law Enforcement
The excessive use of force by law enforcement remains a prevalent issue in the United States. In responding to the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, law enforcement in the United States repeatedly failed to comply with domestic and international standards on the use of less lethal weapons. American companies are involved in the global trade of inherently abusive goods, contrary to international obligations. Government efforts to promote oversight, controls, and accountability remain insufficient to mitigate future violations, and have been undermined by recent policy changes in 2025. This submission, co-authored with Omega Research Foundation, highlights the need for the United States to fulfill its obligations to respect the rights to peaceful assembly and prevent the excessive use of force, as committed to in the last UPR cycle.