Human rights in Iceland to face scrutiny by UN treaty body

11 July 2012

GENEVA – The human rights record of Iceland will face the scrutiny of the United Nations Human Rights Committee on Monday 9 July and Tuesday 10 July in meetings that will be webcast live on the Internet.

As one of the 167 state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is one of the primary international human rights treaties, Iceland is required to undergo regular examinations of its human rights record before the Human Rights Committee. Iceland was last considered before the Human Rights Committee in 2005.

In meetings which will take place on Monday 9 July from 15h00 to 18h00 and Tuesday 10 July from 10h00 to 13h00 Geneva time, the Committee, which is composed of 18 independent experts, will engage in a dialogue with the delegation of Iceland on questions relating to the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

The list of issues that are likely to come up in the dialogue can be found on:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/AdvanceVersions/CCPR-C-ISL-Q5.pdf

The Government of Iceland has already submitted a State report on implementation of its human rights obligations to the Committee and a number of non-governmental organisations have also sent reports for the Committee’s consideration.

A live webcast of the session can be viewed on http://www.treatybodywebcast.org/ .

The concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee on Iceland will be made available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs105.htm on Friday 27 July, after which interviews can be arranged with Committee members.

To learn more about the Human Rights Committee, visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/index.htm

To learn more about the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

For additional information and media requests, please contact Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9310 /rshamdasani@ohchr.org)
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