UN Human Rights Council 50: Universal Periodic Review adoption – Iceland

Thank you, Mr President.

The United Kingdom welcomes the engagement of Iceland with the Universal Periodic Review process and its commitment to promoting and protecting human rights, both at home and around the world.

We are pleased by Iceland’s acceptance of our recommendation to build upon the 2021 Human Slavery act by increasing training for police, prosecutors and judges on how to investigate and prosecute modern slavery, and sharing its experiences internationally.

We also welcome Iceland’s decision to examine the introduction of a criminal law provision that expressly considers racist motivation of an offence as an aggravating circumstance. We recommend that this examination is positively and swiftly concluded and focus is placed on it’s implementation.

We would encourage Iceland to submit an optional mid-term report on progress in implementing all the recommendations which have been accepted.

We would reiterate our thanks for Iceland’s open and constructive approach to the human rights challenges raised at its periodic review.

Thank you.