HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONCLUDES EIGHTY-EIGHTH SESSION

The Human Rights Committee concluded today its eighty-eighth session, during which it considered and adopted concluding observations and recommendations on the reports submitted by Honduras, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea on how they implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Governments of Honduras, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and the Republic of Korea sent delegations to answer questions raised by Committee Experts in keeping with their obligations as States parties to the Covenant.

In its concluding observations on the initial report of Honduras, the Committee welcomed the establishment of a National Human Rights Commissioner and the Public Ministry. It was concerned that the lack of a specific crime of "forced disappearance" in the Criminal Code had contributed to impunity for perpetrators, and that the 183 disappearances registered in the 1993 report of the National Human Rights Commissioner had still not been investigated. The Committee recommended that Honduras adopt effective measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary, including the prompt establishment of an independent body to carry that out, as well as to supervise procedures for the nomination and promotion of judges.

Following its consideration of the initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee welcomed the adoption of a Law on Protection from Family Violence, providing protective measures and the definition of separate crimes of domestic violence and trafficking in human beings in the State and Entity Criminal Codes. The Committee regretted the failure to adopt an appropriate law on the establishment of a Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as of other initiatives to promote reconciliation. Concerned that the fate and whereabouts of some 15,000 persons who went missing during the armed conflict remained unresolved, the Committee urged the State party to take immediate and effective steps to investigate all such cases, and to ensure without delay that the Institute for Missing Persons became fully operational.

Regarding the sixth periodic report submitted by Ukraine, the Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption in 2005 of a statute seeking to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and men, as well as a national plan of action for 2001-2005 to improve the position of women in public life and to promote gender equality. Among the principal subjects of concern, the Committee noted the forthright admission of the Human Rights Ombudsman in 2005 that acts of torture continued to occur in pre-trial detention facilities. The Committee urged Ukraine to protect the freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to freedom of the press and to vigorously investigate and prosecute attacks against journalists.

Among the positive aspects in the third periodc report of the Republic of Korea, the Committee welcomed the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission in 2001 in conformity with the standards set out in the Paris Principles. The Committee was concerned about allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment in places of detention, and regretted the continued practice of certain forms of disciplinary punishment, in particular, the use of manacles, chains, and facemasks, and the continuation of disciplinary punishment through the “stacking” of 30-day periods of isolation without any apparent time limit. Among its recommendations, the Committee requested the Republic of Korea to ensure prompt access to counsel in all forms of custodial detention.

During the session, the Committee considered communications from individuals submitted under the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant. The Protocol, for the 107 States that have ratified it, allows review by the Committee of complaints from persons alleging violations of the terms of the Covenant. Such reviews are carried out in private meetings, and the Committee's conclusions on cases considered during the session will be released at a later date.

Also during the session, the Committee finished a first reading of a draft revised General Comment on article 14 of the International Covenant on the right to a fair trial.

The next session of the Committee will take place from 12 to 30 March 2007 in New York, at which time the Committee is scheduled to consider reports from Madagascar, Chile, Rwanda and Barbados.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON COUNTRY REPORTS

Honduras

Concerning the initial report of Honduras, the Committee welcomed the State party's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2002), as well as its accession to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (2002); the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1996); and the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons (2005). It noted with satisfaction the adoption of a new Code of Criminal Procedure (1999), the Children's and Adolescents' Code (1996), and the reduction in the backlog of criminal cases following the adoption of an accusatorial system of criminal justice. The Committee also welcomed the establishment of a National Human Rights Commissioner and the Public Ministry.

The Committee was concerned that the lack of a specific crime of "forced disappearance" in the Criminal Code had contributed to impunity for perpetrators, and that the 183 disappearances registered in the 1993 report of the National Human Rights Commissioner had still not been investigated. Although the Committee welcomed the law to combat domestic violence, and the instigation of a telephone hotline for women threatened by such violence, the continuing high number of violent deaths of women and persistence of cases of battered women, as well as the impunity enjoyed by their attackers, remained causes of concern. The Committee was also concerned that excessive use of force and of firearms on the part of law enforcement agents and prison staff was a regular practice, including the beating and deaths of persons in prisons and juvenile detention centres. It was particularly concerned that no sanctions had been imposed on those responsible for the incidents that had occurred in the El Porvenir and San Pedro Sula prisons.

Honduras should take urgent measures to identify the causes of the growing number of street children – which was alarming – and to develop programmes to combat that phenomenon, as well as to protect such children and to compensate and assist those that had been victims of sexual abuse, including by bringing the perpetrators to justice. The Committee was also concerned at the continuing high percentage of individuals being held in preventive detention, as well as the long duration of such detentions. Honduras should improve conditions of detention to bring them in line with Article 10 of the Covenant, as well as to ensure the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners were adhered to. The Committee also recommended that Honduras adopt effective measures to ensure the independence of the judiciary, including the prompt establishment of an independent body to carry that out, as well as to supervise procedures for the nomination and promotion of judges.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following its consideration of the initial report of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Committee welcomed the March 2006 amendments to the Law on Ombudsman for Human Rights, establishing a single independent Ombudsman Institution at the State level. It noted with appreciation the establishment of a State Gender Agency and of Gender Centres in the Entities with competence to make inquiries into individual cases of alleged violations of the Gender Equality Law. Furthermore, the Committee welcomed the adoption of a Law on Protection from Family Violence, providing protective measures and the definition of separate crimes of domestic violence and trafficking in human beings in the State and Entity Criminal Codes; and the establishment of a War Crimes Chamber at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Committee was concerned that the State Constitution and Election Law continued to exclude “Others” – i.e. persons not belonging to one of the State party’s “constituent peoples” (Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs) – from being elected to the House of Peoples and to the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Committee regretted the failure to adopt an appropriate law on the establishment of a Committee for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as of other initiatives to promote reconciliation. The Committee noted with concern that the fate and whereabouts of some 15,000 persons who went missing during the armed conflict remained unresolved, and urged, among other things, immediate and effective steps to investigate all unresolved cases of missing persons, and to ensure without delay that the Institute for Missing Persons became fully operational.

Concerned about reports of discrimination and violence perpetrated against Roma, the State party should vigorously undertake public information programmes to combat anti-Roma prejudice. It should also include in its next report detailed information on the measures taken to give effect to the linguistic and educational rights of Roma that are protected under the Law on the Protection of Rights of Persons Belonging to National Minorities, and the number of Roma children receiving instruction in or of their language and on their culture, disaggregated by sex, age and place of residence.

Ukraine

Regarding the sixth periodic report submitted by Ukraine, the Committee noted with satisfaction the adoption in 2005 of a statute seeking to promote equal rights and opportunities for women and men, as well as a national plan of action for 2001-2005 to improve the position of women in public life and to promote gender equality. It also noted with satisfaction the measures undertaken to combat trafficking of women, such as legislation to prosecute and punish the offenders. Other positive aspects included the establishment of a witness protection programme and the compilation of concluding observations and recommendations of the UN treaty bodies on reports of Ukraine in the area of human rights, published with the support of the UN Development Programme.

Among the principal subjects of concern, the Committee noted that the Office of the Ombudsman lacked adequate resources for its work, even though it had key responsibilities, including processing complaints about serious problems such as prison violence and ethnic discrimination. Also, many of the Ombudsman’s reform proposals had not been acted upon by the legislature. Some members of the police had mistreated persons arrested on criminal charges and persons held in detention, including the fatal beating of a 36-year-old man in Zhytomyr on 7 April 2005; the fatal beating of a man in the Kharkiv detention centre on 17 December 2005; and the death of Mykola Zahadhevsky in pretrial detention in April 2004. In that connection, the Committee noted the forthright admission of the Human Rights Ombudsman in 2005 that acts of torture continued to occur in pre-trial detention facilities.

The Committee recommended that Ukraine limit the length of police custody and pre-trial detention, in a manner compatible with article 9 of the Covenant. It should not expel or deport aliens to any country where there was a risk of torture or ill-treatment, and should permit aliens to file an appeal from any first-instance deportation order before the deportation is carried out. Ukraine should intensify its efforts to combat domestic violence, and ensure that social and medical centres for rehabilitation were available to all victims. Noting with concern the assassination of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze in November 2000, the killing of Ihor Alexsandrov, director of the Donetsk regional television station, in 2001, and the death of Volodymr Karachevtsev, head of an independent journalists union, in December 2003, the Committee urged Ukraine to protect the freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to freedom of the press and to vigorously investigate and prosecute attacks against journalists.

Republic of Korea

Among the positive aspects in the third period report of the Republic of Korea, the Committee welcomed the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission in 2001 in conformity with the standards set out in the Paris principles. It noted with appreciation the initiatives undertaken to promote non-discrimination regarding women, including the establishment of the Ministry of Gender Equality and the introduction of the Basic Plan for Realization of Gender Equal Employment and a Recruitment Target Scheme for women. The Committee welcomed the measures taken in order to combat domestic violence, in particular the nomination of special prosecutors charged with handling such crimes. It also welcomed the March 2005 amendment to the Civil Code that included the abolition of the Family Head System, which will come into force in 2008.

While taking note of the draft counter-terrorism laws that were currently before the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Committee regretted that insufficient information had been provided in relation to existing or proposed counter-terrorism legislation and that no definition of terrorism had been provided. Notwithstanding a variety of measures and programmes to combat domestic violence, the Committee also regretted the lack of progress in the prosecution and punishment of those responsible for domestic violence. The Committee was concerned that specific legal provisions on domestic violence, including marital rape, were lacking in the State party’s legislation. The Committee was further concerned about allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment in places of detention. Moreover, it regretted the continued practice of certain forms of disciplinary punishment, in particular, the use of manacles, chains, and facemasks, and the continuation of disciplinary punishment through the “stacking” of 30-day periods of isolation without any apparent time limit. In light of that, the Committee was also concerned at the lack of thorough investigation and adequate punishment of the responsible officials

Among its recommendations, the Committee requested the Republic of Korea to ensure prompt access to counsel in all forms of custodial detention. The State party should take all necessary measures to restrict the use of the urgent arrest procedure and to guarantee the rights of persons so detained. In particular, the Committee urged the prompt adoption of the relevant amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act, pending before the National Assembly. The State party should take all necessary measures to recognize the right of conscientious objectors to be exempted from military service. Finally, the Republic of Korea should, as a matter of urgency, ensure the compatibility of article 7 of the National Security Law, and sentences imposed thereunder, with the requirements of the Covenant.

Membership of Committee

The States parties to the Covenant elect the Committee's 18 expert members who serve in their individual capacity for four-year terms. They are: Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia); Nisuke Ando (Japan); Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (India); Alfredo Castillero Hoyos (Panama); Christine Chanet (France); Maurice Glèlè-Ahanhanzo (Benin); Edwin Johnson Lopez (Ecuador); Walter Kälin (Switzerland); Ahmed Tawfik Khalil (Egypt); Rajsoomer Lallah (Mauritius); Michael O'Flaherty (Ireland); Elisabeth Palm (Sweden); Rafael Rivas Posada (Colombia); Sir Nigel Rodley (United Kingdom); Ivan Shearer (Australia); Hipolito Solari-Yrigoyen (Argentina); Ruth Wedgwood (United States); and Roman Wieruszewski (Poland).

The Chairperson is Ms. Chanet. The Vice-Chairpersons are Mr. Glèlè-Ahanhanzo, Ms. Palm, and Mr. Solari-Yrigoyen. The Rapporteur is Mr. Shearer.