ABSTRACT
The name of the human rights monitoring mechanism itself, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, provides an indication of its inherent universalistic tendencies. The interactive dialogue session at the UPR process is the ‘core element of the entire process’. As Elvira Domínguez Redondo has noted, one of the successes of a political and cooperative process such as the UPR is that controversial human rights issues can be raised and addressed on an international platform, which was proved correct as states utilised the interactive dialogue session to raise contentious issues. Despite the polarised positions adopted by some states on the UPR process, there is evidence to show that some states adopted approaches that affiliated with the more nuanced middle ground between the extreme forms of universalism and cultural relativism, described as a moderate form of cultural relativism. One of the aspects of the UPR process that warrants it as a unique and innovative development was its interactive dialogue sessions.
