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Human Rights Committee opens one hundred and eighteenth session in Geneva
17 October 2016
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GENEVA (17 October 2016) - The Human Rights Committee this morning opened its one hundred and eighteenth session at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, hearing an address by Simon Walker, Chief of Section in the Human Rights Treaties Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Committee adopted its agenda and programme of work, as well as the report from its Working Group on Individual Communications.
Yuji Iwasawa, Vice-Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, opened the session by stating that the Committee Chairperson, Fabian Omar Salvioli was currently in New York, presenting the Committee’s report to the General Assembly.
Simon Walker, Chief of Section in the Human Rights Treaties Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his update to the Committee, said that in his first biennial report on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/268, the Secretary-General reaffirmed the importance and relevance of the treaty body system for the promotion and protection of human rights, and suggested that further progress could be made in the harmonization of working methods across the treaty bodies. Additional resources were needed in a number of areas, including human resources required to support the Committee under the Optional Protocol and in follow-up procedures. This remained a constant frustration for all. The report also highlighted the importance of United Nations webcasting for the visibility of the treaty body system, noting that the current pilot project providing webcasting services, funded from extra-budgetary resources, would end in June 2017. The General Assembly should allocate additional funding for this purpose.
Turning to the work of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Walker said that during its thirty-third session in June, it had created a Special Procedure mandate on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and had appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand as the first Independent Expert. This was an area in which the work of the Committee and the work of the new Independent Expert could be mutually reinforcing, said Mr. Walker. On the 2030 Agenda and linking of the work of treaty bodies with Sustainable Development Goals, Mr. Walker underlined the clear overlap between the implementation of the Covenant and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16 on creating peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice and strong institutions, and said that connecting the work of the Committee under the reporting procedure to the implementation of this Sustainable Development Goal would help to strengthen accountability under the 2030 Agenda and at the same time raise the profile of the Committee’s important work with an even broader audience. Finally, Mr. Walker paid tribute to Experts who would be leaving the Committee at the end of this session, and recognized their indelible mark on the Committee and on the development of international human rights law.
In the ensuing discussion, Committee Experts stressed the importance of adequate resource allocation for follow-up and for individual communications, and asked about the resources that the Secretary-General had assigned for this purpose. Mr. Walker explained that the initial resources that had been provided for the resolution 62/268 had been distributed according to a formula which focused on reporting procedures and communication procedures, and said that the resources in terms of staffing were focused mainly on reporting procedures. A representative of the Secretariat said that additional resources for the petitions had been allocated based on the three-year average, and noted that the number of petitions registered with the Committee had increased.
The Working Group on Individual Communications, chaired by Committee Member Yuval Shany, then presented its report to the Committee. The Working Group had met between 10 and 14 October and had examined 25 cases, out of which one had been accepted, six rejected, and 18 had been recommended on merits. Mr. Shany reiterated concern about the growing backlog in the processing of petitions due to the lack of resources and lack of staff in the Petitions Unit to deal with the backlog.
Live webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available at http://webtv.un.org/
During its one hundred and eighteenth session, to be held at the Palais Wilson from 17 October to 4 November, the Committee will consider the reports of Slovakia, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Jamaica, Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Morocco. From 17 to 19 October, the Committee will consider reports by States parties in double chambers.
All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found at the webpage of the hundred and eighteenth session.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. this afternoon, to begin the consideration of the fourth periodic report of Slovakia (CCPR/C/SVK/4) in Chamber I, and the seventh periodic report of Poland (CCPR/C/POL/7) in Chamber II.
Yuji Iwasawa, Vice-Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, opened the session by stating that the Committee Chairperson, Fabian Omar Salvioli was currently in New York, presenting the Committee’s report to the General Assembly.
Simon Walker, Chief of Section in the Human Rights Treaties Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his update to the Committee, said that in his first biennial report on the implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/268, the Secretary-General reaffirmed the importance and relevance of the treaty body system for the promotion and protection of human rights, and suggested that further progress could be made in the harmonization of working methods across the treaty bodies. Additional resources were needed in a number of areas, including human resources required to support the Committee under the Optional Protocol and in follow-up procedures. This remained a constant frustration for all. The report also highlighted the importance of United Nations webcasting for the visibility of the treaty body system, noting that the current pilot project providing webcasting services, funded from extra-budgetary resources, would end in June 2017. The General Assembly should allocate additional funding for this purpose.
Turning to the work of the Human Rights Council, Mr. Walker said that during its thirty-third session in June, it had created a Special Procedure mandate on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and had appointed Vitit Muntarbhorn of Thailand as the first Independent Expert. This was an area in which the work of the Committee and the work of the new Independent Expert could be mutually reinforcing, said Mr. Walker. On the 2030 Agenda and linking of the work of treaty bodies with Sustainable Development Goals, Mr. Walker underlined the clear overlap between the implementation of the Covenant and the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 16 on creating peaceful and inclusive societies, access to justice and strong institutions, and said that connecting the work of the Committee under the reporting procedure to the implementation of this Sustainable Development Goal would help to strengthen accountability under the 2030 Agenda and at the same time raise the profile of the Committee’s important work with an even broader audience. Finally, Mr. Walker paid tribute to Experts who would be leaving the Committee at the end of this session, and recognized their indelible mark on the Committee and on the development of international human rights law.
In the ensuing discussion, Committee Experts stressed the importance of adequate resource allocation for follow-up and for individual communications, and asked about the resources that the Secretary-General had assigned for this purpose. Mr. Walker explained that the initial resources that had been provided for the resolution 62/268 had been distributed according to a formula which focused on reporting procedures and communication procedures, and said that the resources in terms of staffing were focused mainly on reporting procedures. A representative of the Secretariat said that additional resources for the petitions had been allocated based on the three-year average, and noted that the number of petitions registered with the Committee had increased.
The Working Group on Individual Communications, chaired by Committee Member Yuval Shany, then presented its report to the Committee. The Working Group had met between 10 and 14 October and had examined 25 cases, out of which one had been accepted, six rejected, and 18 had been recommended on merits. Mr. Shany reiterated concern about the growing backlog in the processing of petitions due to the lack of resources and lack of staff in the Petitions Unit to deal with the backlog.
Live webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available at http://webtv.un.org/
During its one hundred and eighteenth session, to be held at the Palais Wilson from 17 October to 4 November, the Committee will consider the reports of Slovakia, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Jamaica, Colombia, Azerbaijan, and Morocco. From 17 to 19 October, the Committee will consider reports by States parties in double chambers.
All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found at the webpage of the hundred and eighteenth session.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. this afternoon, to begin the consideration of the fourth periodic report of Slovakia (CCPR/C/SVK/4) in Chamber I, and the seventh periodic report of Poland (CCPR/C/POL/7) in Chamber II.
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