HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE ADOPTS ADVANCE QUESTIONS FOR REPORTS OF NORWAY AND REPUBLIC OF KOREA

MORNING
HR/CT/99/22
27 July 1999



The Human Rights Committee held a brief public meeting this morning to consider lists of questions to be sent in advance to the Governments of Norway and the Republic of Korea, whose reports on efforts to implement the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights will be examined by the Committee during its next session.

During that session, to be held from 18 October to 5 November 1999, the Committee also will review reports from Cameroon, Morocco, Hong Kong and Macao.

The Committee decided, among other things, to ask the Republic of Korea about any legal changes made to provide better protection for the rights contained in the Covenant since the Committee’s review of the country’s initial report. In its conclusions on the initial report, the panel had expressed concern, among other things, over lack of precision in the legal definition of "national security", leading Committee members to express the fear that any person could be convicted and sentenced to prison in the Republic of Korea for the sole reason of expressing his opinion.

The Committee then adopted the list of advance questions for Norway’s fourth periodic report. Among other things, the Committee asks Norway to explain the application of laws on defamation and to describe the extent of the right of liberty of expression. It also asks about measures taken by the Government to award compensation to victims of telephone taping by the Government’s secret services.

At the end of its meeting the Committee began examination of the list of questions to sent to the Government of Morocco in relation its fourth periodic report.

The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its preparation of lists of questions.