HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONCLUDES MARCH SESSION AT HEADQUARTERS

(New York) - The Human Rights Committee, which monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, concluded its three-week session at Headquarters in New York today and, heading into its July session in Geneva, during which it will consider the human rights situation in the Czech Republic, Grenada, Sudan and Zambia, the Committee Chairman, Rafael Rivas Posada, expert from Colombia, said he anticipated “blazing enthusiasm for a particularly charged session”.

A busy calendar this time included public consideration of the reports of three countries –- Madagascar, Chile and Barbados –- continuation of work for a general comment on the Covenant’s article 14 concerning the right to a fair trial and equal treatment before courts and tribunals, and an examination of the Committee’s working methods, particularly follow-up activities to its Optional Protocol and concluding comments and harmonization with the procedures of other treaty bodies.

It had been 14 years since Madagascar reported to the Committee on steps it had taken to comply with the Covenant. Its high-level delegation pointed to a transformation of the island nation’s human rights legislation and reform of its legal and prison systems, but the 18-member expert Committee had several concerns, including that the appointment and tenure of judges might be in the hands of a few politicians, and that decisions about their possible misconduct seemed to be shrouded in secrecy. The registration system for detainees was also faulty, they felt, sometimes making the situation unbearable for the individuals concerned.

The head of Chile’s delegation said that an ambitious social programme, spearheaded by the nation’s first female President, Michelle Bachelet, had led to profound reform of the social security and educational systems, and a constitutional review had removed the remaining “authoritarian enclaves”, such as lifetime senators. However, Committee members deemed it unfortunate that the National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation had not originally addressed cases of torture that had not ended in death. The reparations seemed austere and merely symbolic, one expert had said. Others questioned the criminalization of abortion, the situation of sexual minorities, reported violations of the rights of mentally disabled and the consequences of anti-terrorism laws on indigenous people.

The Caribbean, owing to its geographical location, was particularly vulnerable to migratory movements from one part of the hemisphere to another, and thus it was “very susceptible” to trafficking in persons, arms, illegal drugs and so forth, the head of Barbados’ delegation had told the Committee, describing concrete steps taken by his Government to deal with the problem. Experts focused on juvenile offenders, particularly on how 11-year-olds could possibly have the physical and mental maturity to be criminally charged and how, up to the age of 15, they could be housed in the same prisons as the adult inmates. To the many queries about corporal punishment in the schools, the delegate said there was no “constant thrashing”, only “reasonable discipline”, guided by specific principles.

Work continued on the read-through of the draft “general comment” on article 14, which concerns the right to a fair trial and equal treatment before courts and tribunals. Over the years, the Committee has published its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions in the form of general comments on thematic issues. It has produced several such comments, including on equal enjoyment of civil and political rights by men and women (article 3); prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (article 7); participation in public affairs and the right to vote (article 25); and, more recently, reporting obligations of States’ parties under article 40.

TheCommittee also heard an update on cases involving its Optional Protocol, which provides for the confidential consideration of communications from individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of any rights proclaimed in the Covenant. The cases involved individuals from eight States parties, namely Australia, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Libya, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation and Uzbekistan. The Committee agreed that discussion continue on all the cases brought forward, except that of Poland, where the experts’ recommendation to close the case was accepted, as the remedy was found to be satisfactory. Of the 160 States parties to the Covenant, 109 are party to the Optional Protocol.

Today, the Head of the Petitions Unit, Markos Schmidt, read out the results of the consideration of cases under the Optional Protocol, as follows: 8 communications had been declared inadmissible; 12 views had been expressed on article 5, paragraph 4 concerning 13 cases; and 5 communications had been declared admissible, including the case discussed this morning, to which a number of individual opinions were expected, although the Committee rendered 39 decisions on the Protocol during the session.

In addition, several cases would be rolled over to the plenary of next session; seven had been before this plenary that the Committee had not had the time to adopt. That made 7, plus 25 odd additional cases for the next session. That would make the work load for the July session quite considerable.

Several formal meetings were held on the Committee’s working methods, at which such themes as harmonization with national human rights institutions and with the other treaty bodies were discussed, as well as the need for a media outreach strategy and a decision as to how to proceed with country visits.

Today, a draft decision was circulated and agreed on the harmonization of working methods of treaty bodies, aimed at, according to Nigel Rodney, expert from the United Kingdom, “strengthening the hand” of the Committee’s representative at the next meeting of the working group on that topic. According to Mr. Rodney, it “nails on the head” the Committee’s position not to create a single unified body among the treaty bodies to hear communications.

For use of the information media; not an official record

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