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18 October 1999
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HR/CT/99/30
18 October 1999
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS SIXTY-SEVENTH SESSION
High Commissioner for Human Rights Addresses Committee; Panel also adopts General Comment on Right to Liberty of Movement
The Human Rights Committee opened its sixty-seventh this morning by adopting its agenda and programme of work. Committee members also heard a report on the activities of its pre-sessional working group and adopted the written list of issues, as amended, to be raised during its current session in relation to the consideration of the country reports.
In an opening statement, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the members of the Committee that the special session of the Commission for Human Rights held in Geneva recently to discuss the situation in East Timor clearly reflected the gravity of the systematic violation of human rights in that region. It was the fourth time the Commissioner held a special meeting in its history, she said.
Last week, following the recommendation of the special session to create a commission of inquiry to investigate the human rights violations in East Timor, Ms. Robinson named five people to the panel. The experts come from Costa Rica, Nigeria, India, Papua New Guinea and Germany.
At the beginning of the meeting, a new member of the Committee, Louis Henkin of the United States, made a solemn declaration to undertake and to discharge his duties as a member of the Human Rights Committee impartially and conscientiously.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Cecilia Medina Quiroga, told her colleagues that she had received an invitation from China to visit Hong Kong, whose report the Committee will consider this session. She responded by saying that the Committee should first consider the situation of the Region before planning for a visit.
Also this morning, the Committee adopted its draft General Comment on article 12 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the right to Liberty of Movement.
During its three-week session, the 18-member body will consider the reports submitted by Norway, Morocco, Republic of Korea, Portugal (on Macau), Cameroon and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. The six countries are among 144 States parties to the Covenant, which was adopted in 1966 by the General Assembly. Government officials of those countries will introduce their respective country reports and respond to oral and written queries from the members of the Committee, acting in their personal capacity.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. in private to consider communications received from individuals claiming that their rights under the Covenant had been violated in the States parties which recognized the competence of the Committee to receive such complaints. It also expected that it will return to public session to discuss its methods of work and draft General Comments.
Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights
MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the past few weeks had been extremely busy ones with the meeting of the special session of the Commission for Human Rights in Geneva to discuss the situation in East Timor. It was the fourth time that the Commissioner held a special meeting in its history.
The convening of the special session of the Commission clearly reflected the gravity of the systematic violation of human rights in East Timor, she continued. Following the recommendations of the special session to create a commission to investigate the human rights violations in East Timor, five knowledgeable personalities were named, coming from Costa Rica, Nigeria, India, Papua New Guinea and Germany.
Mrs. Robinson told the members that the her Office and the Committee on the Rights of the Child had organized a two-day commemorative meeting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which various representatives of children, governments, United Nations specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations participated.
General Comment on Right to Liberty of Movement
In the General Comment it adopted, the Committee underlined that liberty of movement was an indispensable condition for the free development of persons. The permissible limitations which might be imposed on the rights protected under article 12 should not nullify the principle of liberty of movement, and were governed by the requirements of necessity and consistency with the other recognized in the Covenant.
Article 12 provided that "everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence; everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own; and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country".
The Committee had periodically issued General Comments on issues relating to the International Covenant since 1981. The 53-article Covenant entered into force in 1976 and protected such rights as the right to self-determination; life, liberty and security of persons; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and equal treatment before law. The Covenant also contained provisions prohibiting arbitrary detention, torture, slavery and forced labour, war propaganda, and advocacy of racial or religious hatred.
The purpose of the General Comment was to assist States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligation in order to promote their further implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant. The General Comments also drew attention to insufficiencies disclosed by the large number of reports and suggested improvements in the reporting procedures.
General Comments were also intended to stimulate the activities of States parties and international organizations in the promotion and protection of human rights. Those comments should also be of interest to other States, especially those preparing to become parties to the Covenant. The General Comments thus strengthen the cooperation of all States in the universal promotion and protection of human rights.
18 October 1999
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS SIXTY-SEVENTH SESSION
High Commissioner for Human Rights Addresses Committee; Panel also adopts General Comment on Right to Liberty of Movement
The Human Rights Committee opened its sixty-seventh this morning by adopting its agenda and programme of work. Committee members also heard a report on the activities of its pre-sessional working group and adopted the written list of issues, as amended, to be raised during its current session in relation to the consideration of the country reports.
In an opening statement, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the members of the Committee that the special session of the Commission for Human Rights held in Geneva recently to discuss the situation in East Timor clearly reflected the gravity of the systematic violation of human rights in that region. It was the fourth time the Commissioner held a special meeting in its history, she said.
Last week, following the recommendation of the special session to create a commission of inquiry to investigate the human rights violations in East Timor, Ms. Robinson named five people to the panel. The experts come from Costa Rica, Nigeria, India, Papua New Guinea and Germany.
At the beginning of the meeting, a new member of the Committee, Louis Henkin of the United States, made a solemn declaration to undertake and to discharge his duties as a member of the Human Rights Committee impartially and conscientiously.
The Chairperson of the Committee, Cecilia Medina Quiroga, told her colleagues that she had received an invitation from China to visit Hong Kong, whose report the Committee will consider this session. She responded by saying that the Committee should first consider the situation of the Region before planning for a visit.
Also this morning, the Committee adopted its draft General Comment on article 12 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the right to Liberty of Movement.
During its three-week session, the 18-member body will consider the reports submitted by Norway, Morocco, Republic of Korea, Portugal (on Macau), Cameroon and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. The six countries are among 144 States parties to the Covenant, which was adopted in 1966 by the General Assembly. Government officials of those countries will introduce their respective country reports and respond to oral and written queries from the members of the Committee, acting in their personal capacity.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. in private to consider communications received from individuals claiming that their rights under the Covenant had been violated in the States parties which recognized the competence of the Committee to receive such complaints. It also expected that it will return to public session to discuss its methods of work and draft General Comments.
Statement by High Commissioner for Human Rights
MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the past few weeks had been extremely busy ones with the meeting of the special session of the Commission for Human Rights in Geneva to discuss the situation in East Timor. It was the fourth time that the Commissioner held a special meeting in its history.
The convening of the special session of the Commission clearly reflected the gravity of the systematic violation of human rights in East Timor, she continued. Following the recommendations of the special session to create a commission to investigate the human rights violations in East Timor, five knowledgeable personalities were named, coming from Costa Rica, Nigeria, India, Papua New Guinea and Germany.
Mrs. Robinson told the members that the her Office and the Committee on the Rights of the Child had organized a two-day commemorative meeting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which various representatives of children, governments, United Nations specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations participated.
General Comment on Right to Liberty of Movement
In the General Comment it adopted, the Committee underlined that liberty of movement was an indispensable condition for the free development of persons. The permissible limitations which might be imposed on the rights protected under article 12 should not nullify the principle of liberty of movement, and were governed by the requirements of necessity and consistency with the other recognized in the Covenant.
Article 12 provided that "everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence; everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own; and no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country".
The Committee had periodically issued General Comments on issues relating to the International Covenant since 1981. The 53-article Covenant entered into force in 1976 and protected such rights as the right to self-determination; life, liberty and security of persons; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and equal treatment before law. The Covenant also contained provisions prohibiting arbitrary detention, torture, slavery and forced labour, war propaganda, and advocacy of racial or religious hatred.
The purpose of the General Comment was to assist States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligation in order to promote their further implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant. The General Comments also drew attention to insufficiencies disclosed by the large number of reports and suggested improvements in the reporting procedures.
General Comments were also intended to stimulate the activities of States parties and international organizations in the promotion and protection of human rights. Those comments should also be of interest to other States, especially those preparing to become parties to the Covenant. The General Comments thus strengthen the cooperation of all States in the universal promotion and protection of human rights.