A/HRC/8/50 Page 3 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its second session from 5 to 19 May 2008. The review of Mali was held at the 16th meeting on 15 May 2008. The delegation of Mali was headed by S.E. Mr. Maharafa Traore, Minister of Justice, Garde des Sceaux. For the composition of the delegation, composed of 8 members, see annex below. At its 17th meeting held on 19 May 2008, the Working Group adopted the present report on Mali. 2. On 28 February 2008, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Mali: Mauritius, Brazil and Japan. 3. In accordance with paragraph 15 of the annex to resolution 5/1, the following documents were issued for the review of Mali: (a) A national report submitted in accordance with paragraph 15 (a) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/MLI/1); (b) A compilation prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in accordance with paragraph 15 (b) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/MLI/2); (c) A summary prepared by OHCHR, in accordance with paragraph 15 (c) (A/HRC/WG.6/2/MLI/3). 4. A list of questions prepared in advance by Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was transmitted to Mali through the troika. These questions are available on the extranet of the UPR. I. SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE REVIEW PROCESS A. Presentation by the State under review 5. At the 16th meeting on 15 May 2008, His Excellency Maharafa Traore, the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, presented Mali’s national report. He said that the universal periodic review was a dynamic, interactive mechanism which, in the long run, should contribute to the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the world. The objectives and methods of this United Nations mechanism were similar to those of the African Union’s Peer Review Mechanism. The process of reviewing Mali under the latter mechanism had begun on 1 November 2007. 6. The representative of Mali said that the preparation of the report had included an information campaign about the universal periodic review mechanism, its originality, its objectives and its participatory nature, stressing the role that civil society was expected to play. In accordance with the Human Rights Council’s recommendations, Mali had set up an inter-ministerial committee, membership of which had been expanded to include civil society organizations, to prepare, in a spirit of cooperation, a national report on whose contents there was genuine consensus. That participatory approach had made it possible to include in the report relevant observations and recommendations from various civil society actors. The representative of Mali outlined the political development of his country and drew attention to the fact that a governance charter, entitled the “Mandé Charter of Kouroukan Fouga”, adopted in 1236, had, several centuries ahead of its time, set forth the key principles of modern democracies, including the principle that the human person is sacred and inviolable. Mali’s current political practice was rooted both in that rich heritage and in the contemporary universal values of democracy and freedom. The advent of democracy and the