HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE APPROVES TENTATIVE WORK PROGRAMME FOR SESSIONS IN JULY AND OCTOBER
Press Release
HR/CT/516
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE APPROVES TENTATIVE WORK PROGRAMME FOR SESSIONS IN JULY AND OCTOBER
19980409 During its forthcoming session, to be held at Geneva in July, the Human Rights Committee is scheduled take up the reports of Algeria, Ecuador, Israel, Libya, United Republic of Tanzania and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, according to a tentative work programme approved this morning.Specifically, the Committee would consider the initial reports of Israel and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the second periodic report of Algeria and the third periodic reports of Ecuador, Libya and the United Republic of Tanzania. The initial report of Armenia and the fourth periodic report of Italy would be held in reserve, for consideration if any of the named countries prove unable to attend.
The tentative schedule for the Committee's following session, to be held also at Geneva in October, was also approved. At that time, the Committee is expected to consider the reports of Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Japan and Romania, with the reports of Cameroon, Chile and Poland being held in reserve.
During the current session, the Committee considered the reports of Cyprus, Finland, Uruguay and Zimbabwe. The due dates for submission of the next periodic reports of the four State parties are as follows: for Cyprus, August 2002; for Finland, August 2003; for Uruguay, March 2003; and for Zimbabwe, August 2002.
Also this morning, the Committee took up a proposal by its Task Force on Working Methods on procedures for considering initial and periodic reports. The paper summarizes the main suggestions agreed upon by the Task Force on the following subjects: the conduct of the discussion between the Committee and the delegation of the State party; drafting of the Committee's concluding observations on a State's report; guidelines for the preparation of States' reports; and the Committee's contacts with the media.
The Chairman of the Committee said the practices outlined in the paper would ensure that all States were treated equally and they would act as benchmarks to enable the Committee to refine its guidelines. One expert said most of the issues addressed by the Task Force were already included in the Committee's working method, but those methods should be reviewed periodically.
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