人权事务委员会召开第一百零九届会议（部分翻译）

人权事务委员会

2013年10月14日

人权事务委员会今日上午召开第一百零九届会议，委员会主席和人权事务高级专员办事处人权条约司司长易卜拉欣·萨拉马（Ibrahim Salama）做了声明。会议通过了议程和工作方案以及来文工作组的报告。在会议期间，委员会将审议玻利维亚、乌拉圭、吉布提、毛里塔尼亚和莫桑比克的报告。美国的第四次定期报告本将按计划接受审议，但因为政府关门而推迟到三月。

委员会主席奈杰尔·罗德利先生（Nigel Rodley）宣布会议开幕，他说，美国代表团显然不是不愿参会，而是无法到会，其中的原因媒体已有不少报道了。亚伯拉罕·林肯的政党以战火和鲜血为代价终结了奴隶制，给数百万非洲裔人带来了自由，而如今，似乎有共和党成员认为财富不仅意味着健康，还决定着能否获得保健服务。共和党为了实现目标，让美国政府陷入僵局，并走到国家债务违约的边缘。他也谈到美国民间社会发展延迟的后果。

人权事务高级专员办事处人权条约司司长易卜拉欣·萨拉马说，随着全球、金融、政治和技术环境不断变动，保护公民与政治权利的挑战愈加复杂。会上提出了这样的问题：委员会作为最全面的公民与政治权利条约的监督机构，应如何向快速变化的环境做出贡献。他谈到了相关的进展，例如如何在数字时代保障隐私权问题。会上还讨论了人权理事会关于应对维权人士遭到报复问题的决议。

针对委员会来文工作组的报告，委员会得知14起案件已经过审查，在届会期间委员会也将收到建议。委员会成员还举行了一场简短的一般性讨论。

委员会继续进行上午的非公开会议，听取联合国组织和专门机构、国家人权机构和非政府组织的简报，其内容有关将在本周接受审议的国家的报告：即玻利维亚和吉布提。下周，委员会将审议毛里塔尼亚、莫桑比克和乌拉圭的报告。

委员会将在今天下午3点召开下一次公开会议，开始审议玻利维亚的第三次定期报告（CCPR/C/BOL/3）。

Opening Statements

SIR NIGEL RODLEY, Chairperson of the Committee, opened the session by saying that the Committee was scheduled to review the periodic reports of Bolivia and Uruguay, and the  initial reports of Djibouti, Mauritania and Mozambique.  The Committee should have been reviewing the fourth periodic report of the United States.  Unfortunately, the State party had requested a postponement until next March.  Despite the Committee’s policy of unwillingness to grant extensions at short notice, the Chairperson said he felt he had no choice but to acquiesce on behalf of the Committee.  It was clear that the delegation from the United States was not unwilling to come, but was seriously unable to do so, for reasons that had been widely covered in the media.  The political party of Abraham Lincoln that, in fire and blood ended slavery and gave freedom to millions of people of African descent, seemed now to have party members who thought that wealth did not just rhyme with health, but should also determine access to it.  To achieve its aim it had brought the Government of the United States to a standstill and to the brink of defaulting on its national debt. 

The United States’ Government’s ability to send a delegation to the session was hardly the greatest consequence of the shutdown, the Chairperson said, adding that on the positive side, the Committee would now be able to make additional progress on its work on a draft General Comment on liberty and security of person.  However, those who had been looking to the Committee to address their concerns about their treatment under the Covenant were left unsatisfied.  Furthermore, the Committee was aware that many members of civil society had been seriously financially disadvantaged by the late cancellation of the review.  The Chairperson was confident that the necessary adjustments would be made to make sure the Committee had the time and means at the next session to hear the essential contributions from the United States civil society.  The Chairperson recalled that without the persistent lobbying of the civil society of the United States the promotion of human rights would not have been written into the Charter of the United Nations, and their contribution was valued significantly.
                                                                       
IBRAHIM SALAMA, Director of the Human Rights Treaties Division, said as the global, financial, political and technological landscape remained in flux, the challenges for the protection of civil and political rights became increasingly complex, and the question was asked how the Committee, the monitoring body of the most comprehensive civil and political rights treaty, could contribute to the fast-changing environment.  Mr. Salama spoke about recent developments related to the Committee’s work that had taken place since the last session.  On 13 September the High Commissioner for Human Rights opened a side-event at the Human Rights Council on how to safeguard the right to privacy in the digital age, which was a very topical issue.  The digital revolution, which contributed greatly to social, economic and political change, also came with many challenges.  For the participants, the greatest challenge was how to strike a balance between legitimate public and security concerns and the right to privacy.  The High Commissioner referred to article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the important guidance that the Committee’s General Comment provided to all stakeholders. 

Another development was the Human Rights Council’s response to the increasing challenge of reprisals against human rights defenders.  At its last session the Council adopted a resolution requesting the Secretary-General to nominate a United Nations focal point against reprisals.  Under its Optional Protocol procedure the Committee had already experienced attempts to silence individuals who had submitted communications to it, including through the use of amnesty laws.  The Committee had also received allegations from non-governmental organizations that they had  been threatened for engaging under its reporting process.  The Committee may wish to consider its own options for combating reprisals. 

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted its first decision on article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which related to the right to participate in political and public life.  In a case in which six individuals in Hungary were deprived of their right to vote based on a perceived or actual intellectual disability; the Committee ruled that Hungary had failed to comply with its obligations under the Convention.  It was conscious of the Human Rights Committee’s views during its deliberations.  Such cross-fertilization across the treaty bodies was very positive, and led to harmonization and consistency of jurisprudence.  Mr. Salama also spoke about the intergovernmental process to strengthen the treaty body system, and said work was on-going on a possible draft resolution to go before the General Assembly.  A comprehensive solution to the treaty body strengthening process as well as an agreement on the Committee’s request for extra resources would go a long way to allowing the Committee to fulfil its mandate effectively and efficiently
Statement from the Working Group on Communications

GERALD L NEUMAN, Chairperson of the Committee’s Working Group on Communications, updated the Committee on the work of the Working Group on Communications, which met for four days last week during which time it examined 19 cases last month.  He said that one case was postponed, four were considered inadmissible and 14 were examined on merits.  Recommendations would be given to the Committee during the session. 

The report of the Working Group on Communications was adopted. 

Discussion with Committee Members

In a brief discussion Committee Members spoke about the draft General Comment on liberty and security of person, and said that the right to life would be a strong contender for the subject of the next General comment.  A Member asked about the High Commissioner’s lecture earlier this month at the Washington College of Law on the ‘International Human Rights Treaty System: Impact at the domestic and international levels’, in which she paid homage to the work of the treaty bodies and spoke about challenges to the system, and whether the Committee could be briefed on the highlights of that speech, and on the High Commissioner’s work at the General Assembly last month regarding the treaty body strengthening process. 
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For use of the information media; not an official record