HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS SIXTY-NINTH SESSION

Press Release
HR/CT/567

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE OPENS SIXTY-NINTH SESSION

National Systems Should Reflect International Human Rights Standards, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Says

GENEVA, 10 July (UN Information Service) -- The Human Rights Committee opened its sixty-ninth session this morning at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Palais Wilson, by adopting its agenda and programme of work, and by hearing the reports of its working groups on various subjects.

In his opening statement, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, said High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson attached great importance to the universal human culture and the role played by treaty bodies, particularly the Human Rights and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committees, which were very important in implementing those principles of human rights values. The work of the Human Rights Committee was a central endeavour of the United Nations, he said.

Mr. Ramcharan made reference to national systems in which the constitution, legislation, judiciary and educational systems should reflect the international standards of human rights. The role played by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) at the national level was also important in promoting and protecting civil and political rights, he said.

Over the course of their three-week session, the Committee's 18 independent experts will consider the civil and political status in Kyrgyzstan, Ireland, Kuwait and Australia. Those States parties have already submitted their periodic reports for consideration by the Committee and were expected to send government delegations to defend the reports and to provide oral responses to queries put by the experts.

The countries presenting their periodic reports to the Committee are among the 145 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which was adopted in 1966 by the General Assembly. The Committee, as a monitoring body, periodically examines reports submitted by States parties on their promotion and protection of civil and political rights in their respective countries.

During its current session, the Committee will also examine confidential communications from individuals claiming to be victims of violations of any rights

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proclaimed under the treaty. The Optional Protocol of the Covenant on the Committee's competence to receive communication has been ratified by 95 States parties.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 July, it will start its consideration of the initial report of Kyrgyzstan (document CCPR/C/113/Add.1).

Statement by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights

BERTRAND RAMCHARAN, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said High Commissioner Mary Robinson was travelling to Lomé with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, where the thirty-sixth session of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Summit was taking place. He said the High Commissioner attached great importance to the universal human-rights culture and the role played by treaty bodies, particularly the Human Rights and the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committees, which were very important in implementing those principles of human rights values. The work of the Human Rights Committee was a central endeavour of the United Nations, he said.

Mr. Ramcharan said that as the international community was approaching the celebration of a century of the efforts of the International Labour Organization (ILO), it was essential to relate those efforts with the various United Nations principles in order to have their unified implementation. He said that the strategic nature of the Human Rights Committee was a flag-bearer in the implementation of the universal human-rights culture.

Mr. Ramcharan also made reference to national systems in which the constitution, legislation, judiciary and educational systems should reflect the international standards of human rights. The role played by the UNDP at the national level was also important in promoting and protecting civil and political rights.

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