A/HRC/28/4 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its twentieth session from 27 October to 7 November 2014. The review of Italy was held at the 1st meeting on 27 October 2014. The delegation of Italy was headed by Lapo Pistelli, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. At its 10th meeting, held on 31 October 2014, the Working Group adopted the report on Italy. 2. On 15 January 2014, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Italy: Ethiopia, Ireland and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to resolution 5/1 and paragraph 5 of the annex to resolution 16/21, the following documents were issued for the review of Italy: (a) A national report submitted/written presentation made in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/20/ITA/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.6/20/ITA/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/20/ITA/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America was transmitted to Italy through the troika. The questions are available on the extranet of the universal periodic review (UPR). I. Summary of the proceedings of the review process A. Presentation by the State under review 5. Lapo Pistelli, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, introduced the national report of Italy. The delegation highlighted that the action Italy had taken within the United Nations system and in other international and regional organizations had been characterized in recent years by a number of initiatives on specific issues. They had included promoting a moratorium on the death penalty, safeguarding and protecting migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and promoting dialogue among cultures and religions. 6. The delegation then addressed the advance questions. 7. On the issue of the participation of civil society in the preparation of the national report, the Inter-ministerial Committee for Human Rights had held several consultative meetings with civil society organizations and members of the Italian parliament to discuss the contents of the national report. In particular, the implementation of recommendation No. 92 from the first UPR cycle had been ensured by publishing the draft national report on the Committee’s website in order to give civil society at large the opportunity to comment on the contents. Italy had implemented 74 out of the 78 recommendations it had accepted in the first cycle, and had implemented several recommendations that had been not accepted. In particular, the Italian Senate had recently approved a bill introducing the crime of 3