HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DISCUSSES DRAFT GENERAL COMMENT ON STATES OF EMERGENCY AND DEROGATIONS

Human Rights Committee
72nd session
17 July 2001
Morning





The Human Rights Committee this morning discussed a draft General Comment on article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on states of emergency and derogations of individual rights.

In the discussion on the last paragraph of the 17-paragraph draft General Comment, Experts made a number of amendments underlining the obligation of a State to notify the international community immediately if it resorted to its power of derogation under article 4. The commitment of a country to notify the world of the termination of the state of derogation was also underlined. Some members argued that "all" information should be included in the notification, while others said that "available" information would be satisfactory.

Article 4 of the Covenant stipulates that any State party to the Covenant availing itself of the right of derogation should immediately inform the other States parties, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it had derogated and of the reasons by which it was actuated; a further communication should be made on the date on which it terminated these derogations.

The article also states that in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation, the State parties to the Covenant might take measures derogating from their obligations under the Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, among other things.

The Committee will take action on the draft General Comment once the text is made available in the English, Spanish and English languages.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the second periodic report of Guatemala.


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