STATES PARTIES TO COVENANT ON CIVIL, POLITICAL RIGHTS ELECT MEMBER TO ITS MONITORING BODY

16 January 1996

Press Release
HR/4276

STATES PARTIES TO COVENANT ON CIVIL, POLITICAL RIGHTS ELECT MEMBER TO ITS MONITORING BODY

19960116 Lord John Mark Alexander Colville to Succeed Rosalyn Higgins

The States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights this afternoon elected Lord John Mark Alexander Colville of the United Kingdom by acclamation to serve as a member of the Human Rights Committee for a term expiring on 31 December. The Human Rights Committee is charged with monitoring implementation of the Covenant.

Today's election was held in order to fill a vacancy resulting from the resignation of Rosalyn Higgins, expert from the United Kingdom, who on 12 July 1995 was elected to serve on the International Court of Justice. Ms. Higgins is the first woman to sit on the World Court.

In response to a request from the Secretary-General for nominations to the Committee, the following names had been submitted to fill the vacancy: Abdulrahman Salem Bin Brek (by Yemen); Lord John Mark Alexander Colville (by the United Kingdom); Soumaye Poutia (by Niger); Alice Aimee Rasehenosoa Randreza and Georges Razanakoto (by Madagascar); and Haby Dieng (by Guinea).

However, prior to the voting, the Chairman announced that all the nominations except that of Lord Colville had been withdrawn. The Committee then dispensed with the secret ballot and elected him by acclamation.

Lord Colville is currently Resident Judge at Harrow Crown Court and an independent member of Parliament, where he has served since 1954. Among his other positions, he served as leader of the United Kingdom delegation to the Commission on Human Rights, from 1980 to 1984.

He chaired the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and served as Special Rapporteur on human rights on Guatemala from 1983 to 1986.

The meeting was opened by Hans Corell, the United Nations Legal Counsel, who spoke on behalf of the Secretary-General. Herman A. Schaper (Netherlands) was elected Chairman, and Fidel Coloma (Chile) was elected Vice-Chairman.

Statement by Legal Counsel

Opening the meeting on behalf of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali, Hans Corell, Legal Counsel of the United Nations, said that, since the last meeting of States parties on 8 September 1994, five additional States had become parties to the Covenant, bringing the present total to 132. Those were Chad, Kyrgyz Republic, Namibia, Uganda and Uzbekistan.

He said an additional 11 States had become party to the Optional Protocol, bringing the current total to 87 States, while six new States had acceded to or ratified the Second Optional Protocol, bringing the total to 29 States parties. The increase in adherence to those and other United Nations human rights treaties reflected growing consensus on the importance of human rights and on the need to strengthen the relevant international legal norms.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Adopted by the General Assembly in 1966, the Covenant entered into force 10 years later. Its first article states that all peoples have the right to self-determination. It recognizes the rights to life, liberty and security of the person, and prohibits torture, cruel or degrading treatment or punishment and the arbitrary deprivation of life. It also states that anyone arrested is to be informed of the reasons for the arrest, and anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge is to be brought promptly before a judge or other legally authorized person.

The Covenant enshrines the right to freedom of movement and places limitations on the expulsion of aliens present lawfully in the territory of a State party. It recognizes the rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and to freedom of expression. It also prohibits any war propaganda or advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred. States parties are required to submit an initial report within one year of ratifying the Covenant, and periodic reports every five years thereafter.

States Parties to Covenant

The following 132 States have ratified or acceded to the Covenant: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape

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Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India and Iran.

Other parties are: Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Optional Protocols to Covenant

The First Optional Protocol to the Covenant provides for the confidential consideration of communications from individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of any of the rights proclaimed in the Covenant. No communications can be received by the Committee unless they concern a State party to the Covenant which is also a party to the Optional Protocol.

The following 87 States are parties to the First Optional Protocol: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zaire and Zambia.

The Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, which aims at the abolition of the death penalty, was adopted by the General Assembly on

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15 December 1989 and entered into force on 11 July 1991. It has been ratified or acceded to by 29 States: Australia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The Committee is also mandated, under article 41 of the Covenant, to consider communications from a State party alleging violation of the Covenant's provisions by another State party. This procedure can be applied when both States recognize this competence of the Committee by a relevant declaration.

So far, the following 45 States have done so: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Chile, Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Gambia, Germany, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Zimbabwe.

Committee Membership, Officers

The Committee's 18 expert members are elected by the States parties to the Covenant for a term of four years. According to the Covenant's rules of procedure, its members are to be experts of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights, who shall serve in their personal capacity. The Committee may not include more than one national of the same State.

The current members are: Francisco José Aguilar Urbina, of Costa Rica; Nisuke Ando, of Japan; Tamás Bán, of Hungary; Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati, of India; Marco Tulio Bruni Celli, of Venezuela; Thomas Buergenthal, of the United States; Christine Chanet, of France; Lord John Mark Alexander Colville, of the United Kingdom; Omran El-Shafei, of Egypt; Elizabeth Evatt, of Australia; Laurel Francis, of Jamaica; Eckart Klein, of Germany; David Kretzmer, of Israel; Rajsoomer Lallah, of Mauritius; Andreas V. Mavrommatis, of Cyprus; Cecilia Medina Quiroga, of Chile; Fausto Pocar, of Italy; and Julio Prado Vallejo, of Ecuador.

The officers of the Committee are: Chairman, Mr. Aguilar Urbina; Vice-Chairmen, Mr. Bán, Mr. El-Shafei and Mr. Bhagwati. The Rapporteur is Mrs. Chanet.

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