HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS SEVENTY-SECOND SESSION

Human Rights Committee
72nd session
9 July 2001
Morning




Hears Statement by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights



The Human Rights Committee this morning opened its summer session by adopting its agenda and by hearing the reports of its pre-sessional working groups as well as a statement by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.

In his opening statement, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan told the Committee that the World Conference against Racism would open in Durban, South Africa, in less than eight weeks. He said that for the Conference to be a success, there remained numerous challenges; and the High Commissioner urged those Committee members who would be present in Durban to contribute actively to the parallel events during the Conference in which treaty bodies had been invited to participate.

During the meeting, the Committee heard a report by one of its members who had participated in the second preparatory meeting for the World Conference. The Expert briefed his colleagues about the debate.

Over the course of its three-week session, the 18-member Committee is scheduled to examine reports presented by the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Monaco, Guatemala and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Those countries are among 148 States parties to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was adopted in 1966 by the General Assembly.

Also this morning, the Committee briefly discussed how to handle the situation of Afghanistan in the absence of an updated report submitted by the legitime Government of the country, which was recognized by the United Nations. The pre-sessional working group had retained Afghanistan among the States parties whose reports would be considered during the Committee's October session. The Committee had at its disposal a second periodic report of Afghanistan due in 1989 (document CCPR/C/57/Add.5).

Following its discussion on the situation of Afghanistan, the Committee continued to consider its draft General Comment on article 4 of the Covenant on public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which was officially proclaimed. In the past, the Committee has adopted a number of General Comments to assist States parties in further promoting the implementation of the Covenant; to draw their attention to insufficiencies disclosed by a large number of reports; to suggest improvements in the reporting procedures; and to stimulate the activities of the States parties. The Committee will continue its consideration of the draft tomorrow afternoon.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will start its consideration of the third periodic report of the Netherlands.


Statement by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights


BERTRAND RAMCHARAN, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the World Conference against Racism would open in Durban, South Africa, in less than eight weeks. For the Conference to be a success, there remained numerous challenges. The High Commissioner urged those Committee members who would be present in Durban to contribute actively to the parallel events during the Conference in which treaty bodies had been invited to participate.

Mr. Ramcharan said that during the last session, the Committee had made substantial progress with the second reading of the draft General Comment on article 4, dealing with derogations from provisions of the Covenant. It was hoped that the General Comment would be adopted in the course of the current session; even more hopefully, it was hoped that States parties to the Covenant would take it into consideration as an authoritative pronouncement on the permissibility of derogations whenever they consider derogating from provisions of the Covenant. States parties were encouraged to notify derogations to the Secretary-General in the most timely manner possible -- all too often, they did not comply with the notification requirement.

Further, Mr. Ramcharan said that Bosnia and Herzegovina had become a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant on 16 June 2001, thereby bringing the number of States parties to the Protocol to 45. Several countries had submitted periodic reports since the last session, including New Zealand, Togo and Viet Nam.


Situation in Afghanistan

The Committee briefly discussed how to handle the situation of Afghanistan in the absence of an updated report submitted by the legitime Government of the country, which was recognized by the United Nations. The pre-sessional working group had retained Afghanistan among the States parties whose reports would be considered during the Committee's October session. The Committee had at its disposal a second periodic report of Afghanistan due in 1989 (document CCPR/C/57/Add.5). It had already drawn up a list of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of Afghanistan.


Some Experts said that the UN-recognized Government of Afghanistan held only 5 per cent of the territory while the Taliban regime was controlling the majority. The Committee's procedure might not be applied fully if the report was considered in the absence of a updated report and a delegation from the legitime Government. It was underlined by some Experts that the Committee could not draw any recommendations after considering the situation in Afghanistan in the absence of a body to address to. There was, however, consensus that the Committee should look closely at the human rights situation in Afghanistan.

An Expert said that there was a precedent in the Committee's work to examine situations in the absence of delegations or country reports. The Committee had the obligation to examine whether peoples' human rights were violated in a given situation. States parties had the obligation to respect the provisions of the Covenant. In the case of Afghanistan, the Committee should go ahead with its decision to consider the situation of Afghanistan in October.

The idea of inviting the Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan to discuss the situation with the Committee was also raised by some Experts. However, some Experts said that the tight working schedule of the Committee would not allow the dialogue between the Special Rapporteur and Committee members, except in an informal manner outside the meetings.

In conclusion, the Committee said it would go ahead with its schedule to examine the human rights situation of Afghanistan in October, together with Hungary, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Overseas Territories and Ukraine.


Draft General Comment on Article 4

During its last session held in New York, the Committee, in a second reading, adopted 13 out of 17 paragraphs of its draft General Comment on article 4 of the Covenant, which states that "in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin", among others.

Experts said that paragraph 14 of the draft General Comment should stress that other fundamental freedoms stipulated in the Covenant should not be derogated in time of states of emergency.



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