OPENING REMARKS BY B. G. RAMCHARAN TO THE 78TH SESSION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

14 July 2003




Distinguished members of the Committee,

The successful implementation of the core human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is crucial to the future world order and to the realisation of peoples' aspirations for peace, justice, development, equity and social progress. I cannot state this too strongly.

The prevention of conflicts depends on implementation of the fundamental human rights norms. It is only through the faithful implementation of those norms that all parts of the population of a country can feel that they have a stake in the future of the society and that their rights will be protected through the rule of law in a functioning democracy.

Unless basic human rights are respected and protected the people will not be motivated to produce and development will lag or there could even be regression. We have seen this in many societies. A society without respect for human rights is a society that is lacking in justice, a society that is inefficient and often corrupt. This is hardly compatible with development.

Basic human rights norms, civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural, give development its core content. The aim of development is to help achieve realization of these norms while the implementation of human rights facilitates and accelerates development. Human rights norms also introduce the elements of non-discrimination and equity in the development process.

The implementation of the core human rights treaties is at the heart of the Secretary-General's concept of national protection systems in each country. As you know, in his second reform report, the Secretary-General has highlighted this concept. We in the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights have just written to all Member States of the United Nations asking them to submit succint presentations consider the key elements of their national protection systems. The aim is to share experiences and identify good practices.

When one takes into account the strategic centrality of implementation of the core human rights treaties to national, regional, and international efforts for the prevention of conflicts, peace, development and justice, one gets a true measure of the importance of the work of the Human Rights Committee. For it is in your charge to foster democratic societies grounded in the rule of law and respect for human rights, while taking into account the historical context and present-day realities of each country. Without democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, the edifice crumbles. This is an all too familiar story in different parts of the world.

A particular challenge that faces the human rights treaty bodies these days concerns the performance of an international economy that makes it harder for Governments to uphold international minimum standards when it comes to issues such as the administration of justice and fair dispensation of the role of law-enforcement officials - which require adequate resources, staffing, training and on-going instruction in human rights norms.

It must be right, as a matter of law and policy, however, to continue to insist on the faithful implementation by Governments of the legal obligations they have undertaken under treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. A duty of care is owed by Governments - even in the most difficult circumstances.

We must also continue to insist on the principle of international accountability. No country is or can be above the law. In the case of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, you, the Human Rights Committee, through your general and particular comments, and the views you formulate after considering petitions submitted to you, help identify, explain and elaborate upon the law. The fundamental premise of the international legal system is the supremacy of international law. International accountability is the principle that helps uphold this. This is the measure of the importance of your work.


Let me start by welcoming you to the 78th session of the Human Rights Committee. The agenda of this session is particularly charged – and we are pleased to that you will devote an additional week of the plenary to the consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol. Given the large number of complaints currently pending under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, this is indeed a welcome opportunity to reduce the backlog, and I might add develop your jurisprudence under the Optional Protocol.

Secretary-General’s report on further reform of the UN system and treaty body reform:

There has been much discussion on the Secretary-General’s reform proposals since you last met. In early May, a meeting on the issue was convened at Malbun, Liechtenstein, which brought together representatives of States parties, NGOs, specialized agencies, treaty body experts and members of the Secretariat. Mr. Wieruszewski and Sir Nigel represented the Committee. The debates were open and constructive, and the Points of Agreement emanating from this meeting are being made available to you.

- The Second Inter-Committee meeting was convened from 18 to 20 June and also focused to a large extent on options for implementing in a meaningful way the SG’s proposals. I am certain that the chairperson, Mr. Amor, will brief the plenary on the outcome. Very briefly, the meeting shared the Secretary-General’s overriding concerns and objectives, but considered that the proposal that each State should be allowed to produce a single report summarizing its adherence to the full range of international human rights instruments would not require further reflection. In fact, some of the concerns and objectives could be met by requiring States parties to the different instruments to prepare an expanded core or common document, to be updated regularly, as well as treaty-specific focused periodic reports to individual treaty bodies.

- The Inter-Committee meeting was followed by the 15th meeting of Chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies. It largely endorsed the recommendations of the second Inter-Committee meeting and recommended that the third Inter-Committee meeting in 2004 should examine draft guidelines for an expanded core documents to be submitted by all States parties to the principal human rights instruments. The Secretariat has started to work on these draft guidelines. During a meeting between the chairpersons and representatives of States parties, several delegates noted with interest the approach to focused or targeted reporting recommended by your Committee during its last session (i.e. after the second periodic report, a focused list of issues would be addressed to the State party, and replies to this list of issues would be deemed to constitute the next periodic report).

- I wish to thank you and all other treaty body experts for your contributions to the process I have just outlined. It will now fall to us, in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to craft all the different proposals and suggestions into a final document, which will be submitted to the Secretary-General in September. Key insights that have emerged in the process are that the reporting system is a positive and successful system, which allows for the creation of constituencies at the national level to encourage and foster domestic level implementation. Recent innovations by treaty bodies on follow-up to concluding observations have been welcomed. It has been pointed out that there might be a stronger role of national institutions for the protection of human rights in the treaty reporting system and its follow-up. The idea of a consolidated report under the different treaties has been discussed thoroughly. However, it has been noted that the preparation of such a report could be difficult and complex. Any State party remains at liberty to try such an approach, but this should be left to the discretion of each Government. Emphasis has been placed on expanding the content and scope of the Core Document, in tandem with treaty-specific focused or targeted reports. The proposal of your Committee fits well into this proposed solution.


Follow up to concluding observations

The discussions of the past few months have put a great deal of emphasis on the necessity of meaningful follow-up on recommendations contained in concluding observations. As I said earlier, follow-up to treaty body recommendations at the national level is crucial to the enhancement of national protection systems. Your Committee has implemented the new follow-up procedure for the past two years, and it is heartening to learn that it appears to be working well, since 15 out of 17 States parties to which the procedure has been applied have in effect provided follow-up information. As ALL treaty bodies have now indicated their intention to establish follow-up procedures, your working methods in relation to follow-up on concluding observations will provide very useful guidance for those treaty bodies currently considering the establishment of such procedures.

- Last year’s workshop in Quito was innovative in focusing on the implementation of treaty body recommendations from a regional perspective. Another more recent and equally successful example of this approach is the organization and conduct of a regional course in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on the preparation and presentation of reports to treaty bodies. Workshops on follow-up to concluding observations of the CRC, CERD and CEDAW will be convened in Syria (October 2003, CRC) and in Egypt (spring 2004, CERD and CEDAW). An African regional workshop on follow-up to your concluding observations is in the planning stage.

- I trust that before long, you will see the fruits of these and other similar exercises, in terms of a larger number of reports before you, and better follow-up to your concluding observations. Building on this approach, a staff member of the Support Services Branch has been funded to support the Office of the Regional Representative of the High Commissioner in Santiago de Chile, and tasked with supporting States in meeting their reporting obligations, as well as implementing the recommendations of the treaty bodies.


General Comment on article 2:

During the last session, you completed the first reading of your revised General Comment on article 2 of the Covenant. The draft has been posted on the website of the Office and was transmitted for comments to other treaty bodies and interested parties. A number of helpful observations have been received, including from most of the other treaty bodies, and transmitted to the rapporteur for the General Comment. I welcome this approach, which was endorsed by the participants in the recent meeting of the Chairpersons, as yet another welcome step towards better coordination and cooperation among the treaty bodies.


Resources

At the last session, you were informed about the measures the Office was envisaging to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Office for Internal Inspection and Oversight (OIOS), released last autumn. I am happy to inform you that the Office has implemented, or taken measures with a view to implementing, almost all the recommendations made by the OIOS, and a separate report on the issue is about to be submitted to the General Assembly.

- The OIOS report recommended that the Office’s support to individual complaints procedures be strengthened. In response, the Office proposed, for the forthcoming biennium budget, the establishment of a senior level regular budget post to head the Petitions Unit. This is currently under discussion with the budgetary authorities at Headquarters, and hopefully will be approved. In addition, three additional project posts for the processing of russophone and hispanophone complaints and for follow-up on decisions in individual complaints have been filled recently , and the successful incumbents are expected to joint the Petitions Unit shortly. We are confident that these measures will assist you and other treaty bodies in your important work on individual complaints.

In conclusion, I wish you a fruitful, productive and successful session.




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