Universal Periodic Review Working Group – 39th Session

Universal Periodic Review of Antigua and Barbuda

Statement by Australia

Monday 8 November 2021

Thank you, [President/Vice President]

Australia commends Antigua and Barbuda’s continued engagement in the UPR process and acknowledges the progress it has made since the last review period. In particular, Australia commends the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Australia recommends that Antigua and Barbuda:

1. Establish a National Human Rights Institution in accordance with the Paris Principles.
2. Establish a formal moratorium on the death penalty, with a view to ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
3. Enact legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and repeal Articles 12 and 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 1995 that criminalise sexual relations between consenting adults of the same sex.
4. Repeal discriminatory provisions against women in national legislation, including in the Equal Opportunity Act and the Sexual Offences Act, with a view to fully incorporate the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Womeninto national legislation.
5. Ensure comprehensive sexuality education, with a view to preventing teen pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, in particular HIV.

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