HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE ADOPTS ANNUAL REPORT

Press Release
HR/CT/583

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE ADOPTS ANNUAL REPORT

Discusses Lists of Written Questions To Be Taken Up In Connection with Consideration of Reports of States Parties

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 24 July (UN Information Service) -- The Human Rights Committee this afternoon adopted its annual report, which will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly. The annual report contains details of the Committee's activities during the 1999 and 2000 sessions in which it considered reports submitted to it by States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Committee adopted its annual report on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis during its morning and afternoon meetings today before adopting the whole text. It also adopted annexes relating to the report which deal with 12 different issues.

In one of the chapters adopted this afternoon concerning follow-up activities under the optional protocol, the Committee reconfirmed that it will keep the functioning of the follow-up procedure under regular review. The Committee expressed its regret that its recommendation, formulated in its four previous reports, to the effect that at least one follow-up mission per year be budgeted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, had still not been implemented. It welcomed the High Commissioner's plan of action for improving the services of the treaty bodies and expressed its hope that when the plan took effect, the follow-up mandate would benefit from more effective servicing than before.

In the first annex, in which the Committee dealt with the Covenant and the optional protocol to the Covenant, and States which had made the declaration under article 41 of the Covenant, the Committee said that Jamaica had denounced the optional protocol on 23 October 1997, entering into effect from 23 January 1998.

Trinidad and Tobago had also denounced the optional protocol on 26 May 1998 and reacceded on the same day subject to reservations, with effect from 26 August 1998. Trinidad and Tobago's reservation had elicited objections from numerous States parties to the optional protocol. Following the Committee's decision in the "Kennedy versus Trinidad and Tobago” case of 2 November 1999, which declared the reservation invalid, Trinidad and Tobago again denounced the optional protocol on 27 March 2000 entering into effect from 27 June 2000.

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Pending cases against Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were still under examination before the Committee.

Further, Guyana, which was also a State party to the optional protocol, had denounced it on 5 January 1999 and reacceded on the same day subject to reservations, with effect from 5 April 1999. Guyana's reservation had also elicited objections from numerous States parties to the optional protocol.

Also this afternoon, the Committee adopted written lists of questions to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the periodic reports of Denmark, Argentina and Uzbekistan. Those countries have already submitted their respective reports to the Committee, and the lists of questions drawn up by the experts will be sent to the Governments so that they will bring their answers when their respective reports are considered during the next session.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 25 July, it will continue to adopt its lists of issues to be taken up in connection with States' reports to be considered during its next session.

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