HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DISCUSSES DRAFT GENERAL COMMENT ON EFFECTIVE REMEDIES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Human Rights Committee
76th session
15 October 2002



The Human Rights Committee this morning discussed a draft General Comment on article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on effective remedies for human rights violations.
The draft General Comment on article 2, entitled "The Nature of the General Legal Obligations Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant", emphasizes States parties responsibilities under the Covenant and their obligations to prevent and protect human rights. It also stresses the need for remedies to human rights violations and for the prosecution of those who commit such acts.
According to article 2 of the Covenant, each State party should undertake to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind; undertake to take the necessary steps to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to the rights recognized in the Covenant; ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms were violated should have an effective remedy; ensure that any person claiming such a remedy should have his or her rights determined by competent authorities; and ensure that the competent authorities should enforce such remedies when granted.
The purpose of the adoption of General Comments, among other things, is to assist States parties in their implementation of the provisions of the Covenant; to draw their attention to insufficiencies disclosed by a large number of reports; and to suggest improvements in the reporting procedure and to stimulate the activities of those States parties and international organizations in the promotion and protection of human rights.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Secretary of the Committee, Markus Schmidt, announced that the Committee had been informed that Suriname would send a Government delegation to meet with the Experts on 23 October. The Committee was scheduled to examine the situation in Suriname in private on 22 and 23 October in the absence of a second periodic report and a delegation from that country. If the presence of a delegation was confirmed, the Committee would examine the situation in Suriname in public.
The Committee's working group on communications is scheduled to meet in private at 3 p.m. this afternoon. On Wednesday, 16 October, the Committee will meet in private for one hour before opening its meeting at 11 a.m. to continue its discussion on the draft General Comment on article 2 of the Covenant.

Discussion
The draft text was introduced by Committee Expert Nigel Rodley, who highlighted the main elements of the draft by saying that all branches of the government -- executive, legislative and judicial -- could engage in State responsibilities. He also said that the text stressed the responsibility of States parties vis-a-vis each other. Article 41 of the Covenant encouraged States parties to declare that they recognized the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications to the effect that a State party claimed that another State party was not fulfilling its obligations.
Mr. Rodley said the text underlined the need for positive obligations on States parties to ensure Covenant rights by protecting individuals from non-official infringements, such as torture and death threats.
Article 2 of the Covenant stipulated, among other things, that each State party should undertake to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind; undertake to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the Covenant, to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to the rights recognized in the Covenant; ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms were violated should have an effective remedy; ensure that any person claiming such a remedy should have his or her rights determined by competent authorities; and ensure that the competent authorities should enforce such remedies when granted.
As the Committee Experts continued their discussion on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, they stressed the scope of the legal obligations undertaken by States parties to the Covenant. The draft also indicated that States parties were required to give effect to their obligations under the Covenant in good faith, which was a principle articulated in article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.



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