A/HRC/40/5 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1, held its thirty-first session from 5 to 16 November 2018. The review of Senegal was held at the 2nd meeting, on 5 November 2018. The delegation of Senegal was headed by the Minister of Justice, Ismaïla Madior Fall. At its 10th meeting, held on 9 November 2018, the Working Group adopted the report on Senegal. 2. On 10 January 2018, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Senegal: Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Japan. 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 Senegal: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/31/SEN/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.6/31/SEN/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/31/SEN/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Portugal on behalf of the Group of Friends on national implementation, reporting and follow-up, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was transmitted to Senegal through the troika. These questions are available on the website of the universal periodic review. I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. In his introductory statement, Mr. Ismaila Madior Fall, the Minister of Justice, underlined the commitment of Senegal to the protection and promotion of human rights and the mandate of the universal periodic review, whose uniqueness lay in the peer evaluation mechanism. That unwavering commitment had resulted in many gratifying achievements. They included the re-election of Senegal, for the third time and with the highest number of votes, to the Human Rights Council and its election to the presidency of the Council for 2019. 6. Recalling that the Senegalese report had been prepared through a participatory process, the Minister described the considerable efforts expended to implement the recommendations made during the second cycle of the universal periodic review in 2013. Highlighting the key measures taken by the Government, he noted that Senegal had managed to reduce the backlog of reports due for submission to the treaty bodies. 7. The reform of Constitutional Act No. 2016-2010 of 5 April 2018 on the inviolability of the provisions relating to the method by which the President of the Republic is elected, the length of the President’s term of office and the number of terms that the President can serve fell within the scope of efforts to consolidate democracy and the rule of law by strengthening political rights and the Parliament’s supervisory powers and allocating 15 parliamentary seats to Senegalese citizens living abroad. 8. Capacity had been strengthened substantially in the bodies for the protection and promotion of human rights, including the Senegalese Human Rights Committee, the 2 GE.18-22584