A/HRC/36/15 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its twenty-seventh session from 1 to 12 May 2017. The review of the Netherlands was held at the 15th meeting, on 10 May 2017. The delegation of the Netherlands was headed by the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Ronald Plasterk. At its 18th meeting, held on 12 May 2017, the Working Group adopted the report on the Netherlands. 2. On 13 February 2017, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of the Netherlands: Egypt, Georgia and United States of America. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to Council resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of the Netherlands: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/NLD/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/NLD/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/27/NLD/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was transmitted to the Netherlands through the troika. These questions are available on the extranet of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. The representatives of all four countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, namely the Netherlands, Aruba, Sint Maarten and Curaçao, participated in the interactive dialogue on behalf of their governments, as each country is responsible for implementing its obligations stemming from the human rights conventions to which the Netherlands is a party. 6. The head of the delegation reported on the human rights situation in the Netherlands. He said that the Constitution, laws and policies provided strong protection for human rights. The Council of State, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, the National Ombudsman and the Children’s Ombudsman had played an important and effective role in protecting human rights by providing legal advice and monitoring compliance with human rights obligations by national and local authorities. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights had been awarded A status in 2014. Additionally, institutions such as the Data Protection Authority and the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children had monitored the protection of specific human rights. 7. The Government had submitted a bill to the parliament proposing to modernize article 13 of the Constitution on protecting the confidentiality of communications. The bill extended the scope of communications from letters, telegraphs and telephone calls to all forms of communication, including electronic communications. 8. Several policy measures had been taken during the reporting period. The National Action Plan on Human Rights had been adopted in 2013 in line with the recommendations put forward by Argentina, Brazil, the Philippines and Uzbekistan during the 2012 review of the Netherlands. In the framework of the National Action Programme against 2