Report of the Human Rights Committee
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
A/68/40 (Vol. I) United Nations Report of the Human Rights Committee Volume I 105th session (9–27 July 2012) 106th session (15 October–2 November 2012) 107th session (11–28 March 2013) General Assembly Official Records Sixty-eighth session Supplement No. 40 (A/68/40) A/68/40 (Vol. I) General Assembly Official Records Sixty-eighth session Supplement No. 40 (A/68/40) Report of the Human Rights Committee Volume I 105th session (9–27 July 2012) 106th session (15 October–2 November 2012) 107th session (11–28 March 2013) United Nations • New York, 2013 Note Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. A/68/40 (Vol. I) Summary The present annual report covers the period from 30 March 2012 to 30 March 2013 and the 105th, 106th and 107th sessions of the Human Rights Committee. In total, there are 167 States parties to the Covenant, 114 to the Optional Protocol and 75 to the Second Optional Protocol. During the period under review, the Committee considered fifteen States parties’ reports submitted under article 40 and reviewed one State party in the absence of a report and adopted concluding observations on them (105th session: Armenia, Iceland, Kenya, Lithuania and Maldives; 106th session: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Philippines, Portugal, and Turkey; 107th session: Angola, Belize (absence of report), Hong Kong, China, Macao, China, Paraguay, Peru – see chapter IV for concluding observations). Prior to the 105th session, the Committee postponed the adoption of list of issues in the absence of a report on Haiti following a commitment by the State party to produce its initial report by September 2012. The State party’s report was received on 3 December 2012. Although the Committee scheduled the consideration of the situation of civil and political rights in the absence of a report in Cote d’Ivoire for the 106th session, the Committee postponed consideration following a commitment from the State party to provide its initial report by 20 March 2013. The State party’s report was received on 19 March 2013. Under the Optional Protocol procedure, the Committee adopted 48 Views on communications, and declared 2 communications admissible and 26 inadmissible. Consideration of 18 communications was discontinued (see chapter V for information on Optional Protocol decisions). So far, 2,239 communications have been registered since the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, including 95 since the writing of the previous report. The Committee’s procedure for following up on concluding observations, initiated in 2001, continued to develop during the reporting period. The Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations, Ms. Christine Chanet, presented progress reports during the Committee’s 105th, 106th and 107th sessions. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the majority of States parties have continued to provide it with additional information pursuant to rule 71, paragraph 5, of its rules of procedure, and expresses its appreciation to those States parties that have provided timely follow-up information. The Committee again deplores the fact that a large number of States parties do not comply with their reporting obligations under article 40 of the Covenant Forty States parties are currently at least five years overdue with either an initial or periodic report. The Committee’s workload under article 40 of the Covenant and the Optional Protocol to the Covenant continues to grow, as demonstrated by the large number of State party reports received and cases registered during the reporting period. Twenty-four initial or periodic reports were received between 30 March 2012 and 28 March 2013, and by the end of the 107th session, 36 initial or periodic reports submitted by States parties had not yet been considered by the Committee. At the end of the 107th session, 332 communications were pending (see chapter V). GE.13-44416 (E) 110713 iii A/68/40 (Vol. I) The Committee again notes that many States parties have failed to implement the Views adopted under the Optional Protocol. The Committee has continued to seek to ensure implementation of its Views through its Special Rapporteurs for follow-up on Views, Mr. Krister Thelin and Mr. Yuji Iwasawa. Meetings were arranged with representatives of States parties that had not responded to the Committee’s requests for information about measures taken to give effect to its Views, or that had given unsatisfactory replies (see chapter VI). Throughout the reporting period, the Committee continued to discuss the improvement of its working methods. At its 106th session, on 25 October 2012, for the first time ever, the Committee had a half-day discussion in preparation for its next general comment on article 9 (right to liberty and security of the person and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention) (see chapter I). During the 106th session, the Chairperson absented herself for three days to attend the interactive dialogue with the General Assembly in New York on 23 October 2012. During the 107th session, the Committee decided to reiterate a request made in its previous annual report for approval from the General Assembly for additional temporary resources (see chapter I, paragraph 31). On 12 July 2012, during the 105th session, under working methods, the Committee adopted a preliminary position paper on the treaty body strengthening process, which was distributed to the President of the General Assembly and the co-facilitators of the intergovernmental process (see chapter II). During the 106th session, the Committee adopted a paper on its collaboration with national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (see annex VIII to the present report). Finally, recalling the obligation of the Secretary-General under article 36 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Committee reaffirms its grave concern over the lack of sufficient staff resources and translation services which hampers its activities, and once again stresses the importance of providing the Secretariat with the necessary resources to support its work effectively. The Committee expresses its regret at the High Commissioner’s decision to move the March session previously held in New York to Geneva (see chapter I). iv GE.13-44416 A/68/40 (Vol. I) Contents Paragraphs Page Volume I I. Jurisdiction and activities........................................................................................ 1–46 1 A. States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Optional Protocols ......................................................................... 1–6 1 B. Sessions of the Committee ............................................................................. 7 1 C. Election of officers ......................................................................................... 8–9 1 D. Special rapporteurs ......................................................................................... 10–11 2 E. Working group and country report task forces ............................................... 12–16 2 F. Related United Nations human rights activities ............................................. 17 3 G. Derogations pursuant to article 4 of the Covenant ......................................... 18–20 3 H. General comments under article 40, paragraph 4, of the Covenant................ 21–24 4 I. Staff resources and translation of official documents..................................... 25–35 5 J. Publicity for the work of the Committee ........................................................ 36–41 6 K. Publications relating to the work of the Committee ....................................... 42–43 7 L. Future meetings of the Committee ................................................................. 44 7 M. Submission of the Committee’s Annual Report to the General Assembly..... 45 7 N. Adoption of the report .................................................................................... 46 8 II. Methods of work of the Committee under article 40 of the Covenant and cooperation with other United Nations bodies ................................................. 47–77 9 A. Recent developments and decisions on procedures........................................ 48–61 9 B. Follow-up to concluding observations............................................................ 62–68 13 C. Links to other human rights treaties and treaty bodies ................................... 69–74 14 D. Cooperation with other United Nations bodies............................................... 75–77 15 III. Submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant .............. 78–105 16 A. Reports submitted to the Secretary-General from April 2012 to March 2013 ................................................................................................ 80 16 B. Overdue reports and non-compliance by States parties with their obligations under article 40 ............................................................................ 81–103 16 C. Periodicity with respect to States parties’ reports examined during the period under review .................................................................................. 104–105 22 IV. Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant and examinations of the situation in States parties in the absence of reports under rule 70 of the rules of procedure..................................................