STATES PARTIES TO COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ELECT NINE MEMBERS TO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
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| Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights
27th Meeting (AM)
states parties to covenant on civil and political rights
elect nine members to human rights committee
The twenty-seventh Meeting of States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights this morning elected nine members of the Human Rights Committee to replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December 2008.
Those elected today were: Michael O’Flaherty ( Ireland); Rajsoomer Lallah ( Mauritius); Mohammed Ayat ( Morocco); Krister Thelin ( Sweden); Fabian Omar Salvioli ( Argentina); Ahmad Amin Fathalla ( Egypt); Nigel Rodley ( United Kingdom); Rafael Rivas Posada ( Colombia); and Lazhari Bouzid ( Algeria).
The nine members whose mandates expire on 31 December 2008 are: Maurice Glėlė-Ahanhanzo ( Benin); Edwin Johnson López ( Ecuador); Ahmed Tawfic Khalil ( Egypt); Rajsoomer Lallah ( Mauritius); Michael O’Flaherty ( Ireland); Elizabeth Palm ( Sweden); Rafael Rivas Posada ( Colombia); Nigel Rodley ( United Kingdom); and Ivan Shearer ( Australia).
Other members of the Human Rights Committee, who will continue to serve until their mandates expire on 31 December 2010, are: Abdelfattah Amor ( Tunisia); Prafullachandra Bhagwati ( India); Christine Chanet ( France); Yuji Iwasawa ( Japan); Helen Keller ( Switzerland); Zonke Zanele Majodina ( South Africa); Iulia Antonoanella Motoc ( Romania); Jóse Luis Pérez Sanchez-Cerro ( Peru); and Ruth Wedgwood ( United States).
The Human Rights Committee was established to monitor the implementation of the Covenant and the Protocols to the Covenant in the territory of States parties. It comprises 18 independent experts of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights. The Committee convenes three times a year for sessions of three weeks’ duration, normally in March, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, and in July and November at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
In addition to electing José Luís Cancela ( Uruguay), by acclamation, as its Chairman, the twenty-seventh Meeting elected Joseph Nsengimana ( Rwanda), Emil Breki Hreggvidsson ( Iceland) and Magdalena Kopicova ( Czech Republic) as Vice-Chairpersons. It also adopted the agenda for its work today.
Speaking earlier as he opened the Meeting on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Ngonlardje Mbaidjol, Director of the Human Rights Office in New York, said that since the twenty-fifth meeting in September 2006, five more Member States -- Andorra, Bahrain, Maldives, Montenegro and Samoa -- had become parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Following the accession on 21 July 2008, the Covenant would enter into force in Papua New Guinea on 21 October, thus bringing the number of States parties to 162. Albania, Andorra, Maldives, Moldova and Turkey had become parties to the First Optional Protocol, bringing the total number of States parties to 111. Albania, Andorra, France, Honduras, Mexico, Philippines, Moldova and Ukraine had also become parties to the Second Optional Protocol, which aims at the abolition of the death penalty, thus bringing the number of States parties to that Protocol to 66.
Mr. Mbaidjol said the examination of initial and periodic reports submitted by States parties was an essential tool in fostering an informed and high-quality dialogue between members of the Committee and State party delegations. Since 2006, the Committee had examined 23 reports submitted by States parties and adopted concluding observations on them. It had also reviewed the implementation of the Covenant in two States parties in the absence of a report following the procedure adopted in 2001 so as to deal with the situation of States parties that did not comply with their reporting obligations.
He went on to say that some 1,799 communications had been registered since the entry into force of the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Since September 2006, the Committee had adopted views on 88 communications under the First Optional Protocol procedure, declared 15 communications admissible and 55 inadmissible. The consideration of 33 communications had been discontinued.
The Committee’s workload had continued to grow, as demonstrated by the large number of State party reports received and cases registered, he said. In that connection, 22 initial or periodic reports and 409 communications were currently pending consideration. The Committee was considering special measures, such as lengthening one of its sessions, to clear the backlog.
He noted that the Committee had continued to contribute to the discussion prompted by the Secretary-General’s proposals on reform and streamlining of the treaty body system, and it viewed favourably ongoing efforts to harmonize the treaty bodies’ working methods.
Voting
Number of ballots:
157
Number of invalid ballots:
0
Number of valid ballots:
157
Abstentions:
0
Number of votes:
157
Required majority:
79
Results
1.
Michael O’Flaherty ( Ireland)
136
2.
Rajsoomer Lallah ( Mauritius)
117
3.
Mohammed Ayat ( Morocco)
115
4.
Krister Thelin ( Sweden
115
5.
Fabian Omar Salvioli ( Argentina)
114
6.
Ahmad Amin Fathalla ( Egypt)
111
7.
Nigel Rodley ( United Kingdom)
94
8.
Rafael Rivas Posada ( Colombia)
93
9.
Lazhari Bouzid ( Algeria)
86
10.
El Hadji Lamine dit Moctar Bousso ( Senegal)
80
11.
Maurice Glėlė-Ahanhanzo ( Benin)
79
12.
Edwin Johnson López ( Ecuador)
77
13.
Majed Fayad ( Lebanon)
60
14.
Mounkaila Nouhou Hamani ( Niger)
35
15.
Konaté Modibo ( Mali)
35
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For information media • not an official record