PRESS CONFERENCE BY HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

press conference by human rights committee

Experts from the United Nations panel monitoring implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights held a press conference at Headquarters today, wrapping up a three-week session at which the Human Rights Committee considered and adopted concluding observations and recommendations on the reports submitted by Colombia, Uganda, Germany, Suriname and Lithuania.

Those countries had sent government delegations to answer questions raised by the 18-member Committee of independent experts, which monitors compliance with the Covenant and its two Optional Protocols -- the first allows individuals to submit complaints to the Geneva-based Committee, and the second seeks to abolish the death penalty.  There are currently 152 States party to the Covenant.

The Covenant was adopted by the General Assembly and opened for signature in 1966, together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.  Both entered into force in 1976.  The Civil and Political Rights Covenant states that all peoples have the right of self-determination.  It recognizes that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.  It prohibits torture, cruel or degrading treatment or punishment, and the arbitrary deprivation of life.  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.

Today, Nigel Rodley, expert from the United Kingdom and one of the Committee’s Vice-Chairmen, said the panel -- back in New York for the first time in two years -- had begun its eightieth session with a review of Colombia’s fifth periodic report on efforts to promote and guarantee respect for human rights.  The Committee had requested more information within the next 12 months on Colombia’s efforts to address the persistence of arbitrary detention, torture, kidnappings, politically motivated abductions and extrajudicial executions.

Those practices had been well-documented and had been a longstanding concern of the Committee and other United Nations human rights bodies, he said.  It was disturbing that all sides –- Colombia’s military forces, political opposition factions, and paramilitary forces –- were involved.  He added that human rights defenders were frequently targeted with threats –- often by high-level political or military officials -- and in some instances had been abducted or killed.

The experts had also been concerned by draft laws proposed by Colombia’s Government to Congress for constitutional reforms, which would have potentially far-reaching human rights implications, such as limiting the possibility of challenging judicial decisions on constitutional grounds, preventing constitutional challenges to certain acts the presidency could take in the context of states of emergency, and giving the status of judicial police to the military.

In this case, Mr. Rodley said he had been encouraged to hear informally that, while the Committee had been meeting, Colombia’s two congressional houses had rejected those proposals.  And now with the Committee having adopted relevant concluding comments, one could only hope that the executive branch would think twice before deciding to reintroduce something similar, he added.

Among the findings on Uganda’s initial compliance report, he said the Committee had expressed serious concern about the terrorist acts being carried out in the northern part of that country by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  Although the committee was cautious about using that word, he said there was no other way to describe the LRA’s anti-government strikes in the region, most recently an attack on a refugee camp in which some 200 people, mostly women and children, were hacked with machetes or burned to death.  There were also problems with the State failing to adequately protect refugees, displaced persons and others.

But it was not just the activities of the rebels that caught the expert’s attention.  The overall lack of protection of life and liberty of Ugandan citizens was troubling, and there was plenty evidence that State forces themselves were engaged in very serious violations of human rights, including arbitrary detention, prison raids and widespread torture.  Among other things, the Committee was calling on Uganda to ensure that law enforcement officials were prosecuted for the disproportionate use of firearms.

Another of the Committee’s Vice-Chairmen, Rafael Rivas Posada, expert from Colombia, discussed the panel’s recommendations on Suriname’s second periodic report.  He said that the Surinamese delegation had been very frank during the Committee’s review, and the experts had tried to make suggestions and recommendations that would help the Government search for effective measures to deal with the human rights situation in the country.  The experts had been most concerned by continuing impunity for those responsible for rights violations committed during the period of military rule, he said.

The Committee had also noted with concern the treatment of Suriname’s indigenous population and maroons, he said.  Despite measures taken by the Government, incidents of domestic violence persisted.  Also troubling were the country’s prison conditions and the treatment of detainees.  He added that the experts had been seriously concerned that criminal responsibility in Suriname had been set at age 10, which was totally outside international standards and which the Committee strongly recommended that the Government consider changing.

Speaking on Germany’s fifth periodic report, Vice-Chair Roman Wieruszewski, expert from Poland, said the Committee was concerned that the Government had not yet taken a position on the applicability of the Covenant to German troops or police forces operating abroad.  The experts invited Germany to reconsider the question of persons subject to the country’s jurisdiction acting abroad to ensure that such persons were upholding international human rights standards.  Some other aspects mentioned had been the need to enhance gender equality strategies, to address excessive use of force by the police, as well as trafficking against women and domestic violence and abuse of women.

Turning to Lithuania’s report, Mr. Wieruszewski said that country’s delegation had been able to present many serious improvements, particularly institutional changes, aimed at more effectively protecting and promoting human rights.  As for problematic areas, he said the Committee had closely examined Lithuania’s counter-terrorism measures -- some of which would allow the country to extradite persons to countries where they might be tortured.  It had invited the Government to look at its relevant laws and ensure that they were in line with the Covenant.  Incidents of domestic violence, trafficking in women and persistent institutional detention for administrative offences had also taken place.

In the course of the current session, Mr. Rodley said that after two or three years of discussion, the Committee also adopted a General Comment on article 2 of the International Covenant, entitled “The Nature of the General Legal Obligations Imposed on States Parties to the Covenant”.  It clarified that States parties must respect and ensure the rights confirmed in the Covenant to all persons who may be within or subject to the jurisdiction of a State party.  By adopting the Comments, the Committee reiterates its desire to assist States parties in fulfilling their reporting obligations.  The Comments draw attention to aspects of the treaty, but do not purport to be limitative or to attribute any priority to different aspects of the Covenant.

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