HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS NINETY-SIXTH SESSION

Human Rights Committee
MORNING

13 July 2009


The Human Rights Committee this morning opened its ninety-sixth session, adopting its agenda and programme of work and hearing an address by the Director of the Division of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Bodies at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the Division of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Bodies at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the Human Rights Committee was one of the pillars of the United Nations system for the protection of human rights. The various international actors, States, inter-governmental organizations, national institutions and non-governmental organizations appreciated the value of the Committee’s contribution to the promotion of civil and political rights. Mr. Ndiaye drew the Committee’s attention to the Durban Review Conference that took place in Geneva in April and which the High Commissioner for Human Rights had described as a platform for a new departure. It was important that all human rights treaty bodies, including the Human Rights Committee, would now examine how to include this document in its work. In May 2009, the fifth session of the Universal Periodic Review had been held which brought the number of countries examined to 80. Some of those examined under the Universal Periodic Review would be considered by the Human Rights Committee during its current session: the Netherlands, Azerbaijan and Chad.
Turning to the treaty body system, Mr. Ndiaye said the ninth Inter-Committee Meeting and the twenty-first Meeting of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies were held respectively from 29 June to 2 July and 3 and 4 July 2009. Discussions at the Inter-Committee Meeting once again focused on the working methods of treaty bodies, including their coordination and possibilities for further harmonization in various areas, such as standardization of terminology and cross-referencing the work of other treaty bodies, making the identity of the country rapporteur public, and cooperation with national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. The ninth Inter-Committee Meeting also discussed the issue of statistical information relating to human rights and the use of indicators to promote and monitor the implementation of human rights.
With regard to compliance of State parties with their reporting obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mr. Ndiaye said that since the Committee’s 95th session, Serbia had submitted its second periodic report, Slovakia its third report, Jordan its fourth report and Hungary and Mongolia their fifth periodic reports. Sri Lanka and Yemen both sent notes verbales informing the Committee that they would submit their due periodic reports in August 2009. Turning to the present session, in which the Committee would examine four State party reports - Chad, Tanzania, Netherlands and Azerbaijan - Mr. Ndiaye said that he was pleased that the Committee would devote the afternoon of 23 July to a meeting with States parties to the Covenant. He hoped that it would provide an opportunity for a fruitful exchange of views with State parties on the elaboration and consideration of periodic reports and on the follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations of the Human Rights Committee.
During the meeting, the Committee adopted its agenda. The Chairperson of the Committee, Yuji Iwasawa, welcomed the new Committee member, Mohammed Ayat (Morocco), who was sworn in. He addressed the Committee saying that he was now joining the Human Rights Committee in the same spirit as he had worked at the International War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda where he had contributed to awakening the conscience of the human race.
Introducing the report of the Working Group on Communications, Committee Expert Sir Nigel Rodley said that 30 drafts had been prepared of which 24 had been accepted. Of those accepted 11 were inadmissible and 13 would lead to an adoption of views. The Working Group on Communications wanted to draw the Bureau’s attention to the question of quorum, as there had been problems to reach such a quorum which had practical implications.
When the Committee resumes its work in public at 3 p.m. this afternoon it will begin consideration of the fourth periodic report of Tanzania (CCPR/C/TZA/4).

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For use of the information media; not an official record