I. Introduction
1.
Since the adoption of its resolution 37/44 on 3 December 1982,
the General Assembly has continuously kept under review the issue
of the effective implementation of international instruments on
human rights, including reporting obligations under international
instruments. Those matters have also received careful attention
during the various sessions of human rights treaty bodies, at some
of the meetings of States parties and at meetings of other organs
such as the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Human
Rights.
2. The
meetings of the chairpersons were convened by the Secretary-General
biennially from 1988 until 1994 and, in accordance with General
Assembly resolution 49/178 of 23 December 1994, annually since
1995. In its resolution 53/138, the Assembly welcomed the reports
of the chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies on their
ninth and tenth meetings, held at Geneva from 25 to 27 February
1998 and 14 to 18 September 1998, respectively (A/53/125, annex;
and A/53/432, annex), and took note of their conclusions and
recommendations. The General Assembly noted with appreciation the
efforts of the chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies to
propose appropriate reforms of the reporting system with a view to,
inter alia, reducing the reporting burden on States parties while
maintaining the quality of reporting, and encouraged them to
continue those efforts, including through the continued examination
of the benefits of reports focused on a limited range of issues and
of opportunities for harmonizing the general guidelines regarding
the form and content of reports, the timing of the consideration of
reports and the methods of work of the treaty bodies. The Assembly
decided to continue to give priority consideration at its
fifty-fifth session to the conclusions and recommendations of the
meetings of chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies, in the
light of the deliberations of the Commission on Human Rights, under
the item entitled "Human rights questions".
3. The
eleventh and twelfth meetings of chairpersons of the human rights
treaty bodies were convened by the Secretary-General pursuant to
General Assembly resolution 49/178. The report of the eleventh
meeting of chairpersons, which was held from 31 May to 4 June 1999,
was submitted to the Assembly on 21 March 2000 (A/54/805, annex).
The twelfth meeting was convened from 5 to 8 June 2000 and the
report of that meeting is contained herewith.
II. Organization of the meeting
4. The
meeting was held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 5 to 8
June 2000. The following chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies
attended: Mrs. Virginia Bonoan-Dandan (Chairperson of the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), Mr. Peter T. Burns
(Chairperson of the Committee against Torture), Mrs. Cecilia Medina
Quiroga (Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee), Mr. Michael E.
Sherifis (Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination) and Mrs. Awa Ouedraogo (Chairperson of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child). No representative of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was
able to attend, in the light of a special session of the General
Assembly on Beijing+5 taking place from 5 to 9 June 2000. Mrs.
Dandan was elected Chairperson/Rapporteur of the meeting and Mr.
Sherifis was elected Vice-Chairperson. At their opening meeting the
chairpersons adopted the agenda, with modifications, and a
programme of work. The agenda, as adopted, is contained in annex I
to the present report. The list of documents made available to the
meeting is contained in annex III and the list of participants is
contained in annex IV.
5. On
behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights,
addressed the chairpersons on 5 June 2000.
6. The
meeting was also addressed by Mr. Victor Rodriguez Cedeño,
Vice-Chairperson of the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on
Human Rights, and Mr. Asbjorn Eide, member of the fifty-first
session of the Subcommission on the Protection and Promotion of
Human Rights.
7.
Representatives of the following United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies participated in the meeting: Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA); Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR); International Labour Organization (ILO); United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
and World Health Organization (WHO). Representatives of Amnesty
International also intervened during the meeting.
8. The
chairpersons were also addressed by Ms. Anne Bayefsky of York
University, Canada, who was conducting a study on the effective
functioning of the human rights treaties, including their impact at
the national level. Ms. Bayefsky presented extensive statistical
data in respect of both reporting by States parties and the
individual communications procedures, for which the chairpersons
expressed appreciation.
9. The
chairpersons were briefed by the Secretariat on the following
issues: status of the Plans of Action; establishment of human
rights indicators; and OHCHR regional strategies of the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The
briefings were followed by discussions.
10. On the morning
of 7 June 2000, the chairpersons convened a meeting with the
representatives of States parties to discuss views on the
functioning of the human rights treaty bodies. Forty-two States
were represented at the meeting.
11. On the
afternoon of 7 June, the chairpersons held a joint meeting with the
participants at the seventh meeting of special rapporteurs and
representatives, experts and chairpersons of working groups of the
special procedures system of the Commission on Human Rights and of
the advisory services programme. The joint meeting was opened with
an address and exchange with the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights by videoconference in closed meeting.
12. On 8 June, the
chairpersons considered the draft report on their twelfth meeting.
The report, as amended during the course of the meeting, was
adopted unanimously.
13. The
chairpersons tentatively agreed to hold their thirteenth meeting at
the United Nations Office at Geneva to coincide with the next
annual meeting of special rapporteurs and representatives, experts
and chairpersons of working groups, from 18 to 22 June 2001.
III. Address by the Deputy High Commissioner for
Human Rights
14. The Deputy
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Bertrand Ramcharan,
addressed the chairpersons on the opening day of the meeting on
behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Deputy High Commissioner, inter alia, stressed the important
role of the treaty bodies in the activities of the United Nations
and the Office of the High Commissioner in the field of human
rights, including in the regional approaches being pursued by the
Office. He saw a special role of the treaty bodies in helping
States parties to identify and overcome obstacles to the full
implementation of human rights, particularly by providing normative
guidance in this regard and identifying good practices.
15. Referring to
the lack of adequate resources for the treaty bodies, the Deputy
High Commissioner stressed that this was a constraint shared by
both the Secretariat and the treaty bodies. He noted that although
the increase in the regular budget for human rights activities was
clearly insufficient, it was the highest allotted to any United
Nations programme and had been supported by the Secretary-General
himself. He assured the chairpersons that the provision of adequate
support to the treaty bodies, specifically with regard to the
special procedures system, continued to be a high priority for the
High Commissioner and urged patience until the benefits of the
annual appeal for extrabudgetary contributions recently launched by
the High Commissioner materialized.
16. The Deputy
High Commissioner also commended the substantive contributions by
the treaty bodies to the sessions of the Preparatory Committee for
the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001 and expressed the hope
that the treaty bodies would continue to play an active role in the
next session of the Preparatory Committee, as well as in the World
Conference itself.
IV. Review of recent developments relating to
the work of the treaty bodies
17. The
chairpersons briefed the meeting on recent developments in the work
of their respective treaty bodies. Notably, the Committee on the
Rights of the Child had recently begun to examine as many as nine
State party reports during each session, in contrast to the six
reports examined on average in the past, in an effort to reduce the
backlog of reports it had received and were awaiting examination.
The results of the new approach would be examined later with a view
to formalizing it. The Committee was also preparing its first
general comment on the aims of education. In addition, the recent
adoption by the General Assembly of two new Optional Protocols to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child was expected to increase
significantly the workload of the Committee as a result of the
reporting requirements foreseen therein.
18. Attention was
drawn to recent denunciations of the Optional Protocol to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Concern was
expressed with regard to difficulties relating to the
non-appearance at meetings of the Human Rights Committee by several
States parties that had been scheduled to appear before it for the
examination of their reports, which posed serious disruptions to
its work. A positive development had been the submission of a
periodic report by another State party that had attempted to
withdraw from the Covenant. Measures being taken by the Committee
to cope with the growing number of overdue reports and reports
pending examination included a review of its methods for dealing
with reports of States parties.
19. The workload
of the Committee against Torture was steadily growing, particularly
as a result of the increased use of the inquiry procedure under
article 20 of the Convention against Torture. In order to better
take into account issues of discrimination, gender and children,
the Committee had appointed three rapporteurs on those themes.
20. The Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had adopted three
general recommendations at its August 1999 and March 2000 sessions
on: the definition of racial discrimination; the gender dimensions
of racial discrimination; and the right to seek just and adequate
reparation or satisfaction for any damage suffered as a result of
racial discrimination. During the two sessions, the Committee had
examined reports from 26 States parties, including three special
reports, and reviewed the implementation of the Convention in five
States parties that were long overdue in the submission of a report
(see para. 52). Under its "prevention of racial discrimination,
including early warning and urgent action procedures", the
Committee had considered the situation in five countries and
adopted eight decisions. It had decided to devote three meetings of
its forthcoming session in August 2000 to a thematic discussion on
the situation of Roma. In addition, it was noted that geographical
representation on the Committee, in particular that of the African
group, had improved as a result of the most recent election of
members.
21. The Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had undertaken a revision
of its guidelines for the preparation of reports. It had recently
adopted two general comments, one on the right to education and the
second on the highest attainable standard of health, in which the
technical expertise of United Nations organizations active in those
fields had been most valuable. Its next Day of General Discussion
would be devoted to cultural rights, intellectual property rights
and the right to benefit from scientific progress, with a view to
the eventual formulation of a general comment on those rights. The
Committee was seeking to facilitate involvement by non-governmental
organizations by preparing a briefing paper on NGO participation in
its work. Like the Human Rights Committee, it shared the concern
about the disruptions to its work caused by States parties that
failed to appear when their reports were due to be examined.
22. In reviewing
recent developments within the treaty bodies, the chairpersons also
expressed concern over continuing problems such as the large
backlog of reports of States parties to be examined and the growing
backlog of correspondence awaiting response; the unbalanced
geographical and gender representation in their committees; and,
despite the additional meeting time allowed to two committees, the
continuing serious inadequacy of the allowed meeting time to deal
with their workloads.
23. Victor
Rodriguez Cedeño, Vice-Chairperson of the fifty-sixth session
of the Commission on Human Rights, addressed the meeting to discuss
cooperation between the Commission and the treaty bodies. He
highlighted a number of specific provisions in resolutions that
invited one or more of the treaty bodies to offer their views on a
wide range of issues. With regard to topics of the "special
dialogues" organized by the Commission, the treaty bodies were
invited to address their suggestions to the Commission through its
Bureau. In response to a question posed during the discussion, he
stated that the Bureau was engaging in consultations with the
Economic and Social Council about the possibility of the committees
being granted formal status at the General Assembly, the Economic
and Social Council and the Commission on Human Rights to enable
their participation on matters of relevance to them. He agreed that
the Commission should envisage modalities for making dialogue and
consultations with treaty bodies more effective, in particular to
make the best use of the limited time available during sessions of
the Commission.
24. The
chairpersons were also addressed by Mr. Asbjorn Eide, a member
of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human
Rights at its fifty-first session. He referred to a number of
studies being undertaken by the Subcommission on matters of direct
relevance to the treaty bodies, including: (a) traditional
practices; (b) slavery-like practices (systematic rape) during
conflict; (c) indigenous populations and the right to land; and (d)
human rights and terrorism. Furthermore, the following common areas
of interest were addressed by the Subcommission in inter-sessional
and sessional working groups: (a) minorities; (b)
indigenous populations; (c) contemporary forms of slavery; (d)
administration of justice; and (e) human rights and transnational
corporations (dealing with labour rights and labour practices).
Reference was made to the great possibilities afforded by the
continued development of the web site of the Office of the High
Commissioner, which he considered to be an achievement of
tremendous usefulness for the human rights mechanisms in drawing on
the insights and lessons elaborated by other bodies. He pointed to
the need for closer consultations on cross-cutting issues, similar
to the dialogue and process launched with some treaty bodies with
respect to the right to food.
V. Cooperation of human rights treaty
bodies with specialized agencies, United Nations departments,
funds, programmes and mechanisms and non-governmental
organizations
25.
Representatives of FAO, ILO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCR and
WHO informed the chairpersons about the extent to which human
rights were being integrated into the activities of their
organizations and about endeavours to mainstream the specific
rights relevant to their work within the human rights activities of
the United Nations. Considerable progress was discernible with
respect to both. Many of the organizations contributed valuable
insights which assisted some treaty bodies in elaborating normative
concepts, most significantly in the formulation of general comments
and general recommendations, as well as continuing to regularly
provide country-specific information in relation to the State
reporting process. The chairpersons welcomed this trend and
expressed the hope that these forms of cooperation would continue
to evolve in mutually beneficial ways.
26. A
representative of UNFPA stated that major developments had occurred
in advancing the mainstreaming of the primary human rights concerns
of his organization, namely reproductive health rights, in the
human rights and development activities of the United Nations, as
well as the mainstreaming of human rights in the operational
activities of his organization. He informed the chairpersons that a
full-time UNFPA staff member was currently serving on secondment to
the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
to enhance the collaboration among the two organizations. He
suggested that future collaboration could focus in the immediate
future on: (a) follow-up to the December 1996 meeting held at Glen
Cove, New York, which had explored ways to improve implementation
of sexual and reproductive rights; (b) follow-up to the Workshop on
Gender Integration into the Human Rights System, which had been
held in 1999 immediately prior to the eleventh meeting of
chairpersons and in which the chairpersons had participated,
through a meeting on reproductive health and reproductive rights to
be held during the forthcoming session of the Commission on Human
Rights; and (c) to organize together with the Office of the High
Commissioner a workshop or seminar with representatives of the
treaty bodies and with the Special Rapporteurs and independent
experts to further discuss ways in which reproductive health rights
issues could be included in their activities. He presented a
proposal for the last suggestion, which was welcomed by the
chairpersons.
27. The
representative of FAO explained that active collaboration was
taking place with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women. The work of the former Committee was of particular
interest for FAO by virtue of article 11 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the right to an
adequate standard of living, including the right to adequate food.
FAO had proposed a working meeting with members of that Committee,
its secretariat and other relevant staff members of the Office of
the High Commissioner, with a view to identifying the most
effective ways of sharing information, discussing indicators and
promoting interaction between that Committee and the Committee on
Food Security. The World Food Summit had mandated the establishment
of a Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping
System (FIVIMS) to identify, within a gender-sensitive framework,
food-insecure people, their location and the causes of their food
insecurity, and to provide information on food insecurity in
different countries. With the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, FAO had been providing country
information, inter alia, on gender-disaggregated data, statistics,
policies and legislation affecting women. The chairpersons of the
treaty bodies were requested to reflect on the types of future
cooperation desired with FAO, which hoped to strengthen its
relations with both Committees and expand them with the other
treaty bodies.
28. In her
statement, the representative of UNDP drew attention to several
areas of cooperation of relevance to the treaty bodies that were
currently being undertaken within the framework of the Memorandum
of Understanding concluded between UNDP and the Office of the High
Commissioner in March 1998. A regular working relationship had been
established with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, in which country-specific information from UNDP field
offices was provided to the Committee on a regular basis in
relation to its State reporting procedure. Initial discussions were
under way regarding the possibility of establishing similar
involvement of UNDP with the Human Rights Committee. Among other
noteworthy initiatives were several regional training workshops in
human rights for UNDP resident representatives that had been
organized by UNDP in collaboration with the Office of the High
Commissioner; a UNDP training manual on human rights for
development staff which was due to be finalized shortly; and a
significant number of technical cooperation activities on human
rights and development that were advancing under the joint
programme "Human Rights Strengthening" (HURIST). Furthermore, the
theme of the 2000 UNDP Human Development Report, which was due to
be launched in June 2000, was human rights and development. The
treaty bodies were invited to actively consider how their work
could be reflected in the work of United Nations organizations such
as UNDP and the mutual benefits of closer working relationship with
it.
29. In his
statement, the representative of UNAIDS identified three
interrelated ways in which the promotion and protection of human
rights were important in the context of HIV/AIDS: impact, response
and vulnerability. The representative pointed out that
discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS, or those
thought to be infected, was a violation of their human rights as
discrimination based on health status was prohibited in
international human rights instruments. UNAIDS welcomed the
numerous accomplishments that the Commission on Human Rights and
the Subcommission had achieved in this area by integrating HIV/AIDS
issues into their mandates. Many of the treaty bodies had done the
same, despite the fact that States parties often did not report on
the situation of human rights from an HIV/AIDS perspective. The
Human Rights Committee and the Committee against Torture were two
bodies which had not been addressing the issue of HIV/AIDS and with
which UNAIDS would welcome ways of strengthening cooperation. The
treaty bodies were essential to a rights-based response to the
epidemic because they could: (a) articulate human rights norms
related to HIV/AIDS; (b) assist and guide States in translating
international human rights norms into practical observance and
contribute to monitoring HIV-related human rights violations; and
(c) thus encourage observance by States of HIV-related human
rights.
30. In her
statement, the representative of WHO emphasized the deep commitment
of WHO to strengthen its work in the field of human rights. She
informed the chairpersons of the development of the first ever WHO
Strategy on Health and Human Rights, which aimed to provide
direction for integrating human rights into the work of WHO and
thereby serve as an institutional platform for its future work in
health and human rights. With regard to cooperation with the treaty
bodies, WHO had contributed significant technical input in the
drafting of General Comment 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights on article 12 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which dealt with the right to
health. The Committee on the Rights of the Child had been receiving
information on a regular basis from the relevant unit in WHO, and
WHO had been participating actively in deliberations of the
Committee. The representative of WHO expressed hope that her
organization could continue to work together on human rights and
health with the treaty bodies and other human rights entities and
mechanisms.
31. The
representative of UNESCO outlined the considerable efforts being
made by his organization to disseminate the international human
rights instruments and the work of the treaty bodies. Fruitful
cooperation was taking place with the Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights; improved cooperation with the Committee on the
Rights of the Child could similarly yield mutual benefits. The
representative invited the treaty bodies to identify and indicate
specific ways in which the involvement of UNESCO in their work
could be made more useful to them.
32. Coordinating
with the treaty bodies was part of the normal work of ILO.
Information was being provided to the treaty bodies on a regular
basis, with the exception of the Committee against Torture, with
the work of which there was considered to be no obvious link. ILO
had established especially close working relations with the
Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The representative requested
the treaty bodies to indicate how ILO reports could be made more
useful for their work.
33. In his
statement, the representative of UNHCR expressed satisfaction at
the cooperation it had formed with the treaty bodies. In 1997, a
UNHCR policy paper had been issued concerning ways to enhance its
work in the field of human rights, focusing on three main aspects:
(a) the position of UNHCR with regard to human rights violations
encountered in its activities; (b) the promotion of human rights
standards; and (c) interaction with the human rights mechanisms,
which should be reciprocal and based on quick and reliable transfer
of information. UNHCR worked in a number of areas where close
cooperation would be useful, particularly xenophobia and the
situation of refugees, displaced persons and stateless persons.
34. In her
intervention, the representative of Amnesty International welcomed
the practice of some treaty bodies of holding pre-sessional working
groups and adopting lists of issues in advance of their examination
of reports of States parties, which she suggested could serve as
useful working methods for all treaty bodies. Amnesty International
believed that the current system of separate reporting to each
treaty body remained more effective than a single consolidated
report to all bodies would be. NGOs that reported on the
implementation on the various treaties had a different composition.
She also saw benefits in the creative diversity of approaches with
which individual treaty bodies had been able to test new procedures
that, once proven effective, could be taken up by other treaty
bodies. She welcomed the efforts made by the treaty bodies to
ensure closer cooperation and coordination with the special
rapporteurs, representatives, independent experts and working
groups of the Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission.
VI. Informal consultations with Governments
35. On 7 June, the
chairpersons held an informal meeting with representatives of
States parties in which they were able to outline the difficulties
faced by treaty bodies, individually and collectively, and to hear
the views of States parties on topics relating to their
interactions with treaty bodies. The chairpersons once again
reminded States parties of the importance of submitting instruments
of acceptance of the proposed amendments to the various treaties
and of ensuring the allocation of sufficient resources by the Fifth
Committee and through direct contributions to the Annual Appeal of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The
chairpersons also reiterated their appeal to States parties: (a) to
consider the need for gender and geographical balance in the
membership of the treaty bodies and the independence of experts
when electing new members; and (b) to initiate steps to remedy the
discrepancies among the treaty bodies regarding the payment of
honoraria.
36.
Representatives of States parties expressed their appreciation for
the work of the treaty bodies under their respective mandates,
which were considered to be central to the international human
rights system, and in particular for the continued efforts of the
treaty bodies to rationalize their working methods to deal with
their growing workloads. Particular mention was made of the
effectiveness of some practices, such as the examination of the
situation in non-reporting States parties by some treaty bodies, in
encouraging the States parties concerned to submit a report.
Concerns were expressed and suggestions and recommendations offered
on this process of improvement, particularly on the need to ensure
consistency of normative interpretation, and the urgency of
addressing the problem of reporting periodicities and overlapping
reporting obligations under the different treaties. Representatives
of several States expressed interest in learning whether the
Committees had come any closer in harmonizing their working
practices. In order to be able to address these issues more
adequately in the future, representatives of several States
suggested that future meetings of chairpersons should allow time
for a more extensive dialogue with them.
37. In response,
the chairpersons agreed that a full day should be set aside for
informal consultation with Governments at its next meeting and that
henceforth it would begin with a report on the measures taken to
follow up on its discussions held at the previous meeting. The
chairpersons also agreed that a formal agenda for that meeting
should be prepared sufficiently in advance to enable all
participants to engage in a focused exchange on select key issues,
and encouraged States parties to suggest topics for it.
VII. Joint meeting with participants in the
twelfth meeting of chairpersons of human rights treaty bodies and
the seventh meeting of special rapporteurs and representatives,
experts and chairpersons of working groups of the special
procedures system of the Commission on Human Rights and of the
advisory services programme and with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
38. The second
joint meeting, held on 7 June 2000 between the chairpersons and the
special rapporteurs and representatives, experts and chairpersons
of working groups of the special procedures system of the
Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services programme,
was welcomed.
39. The meeting
was preceded by a videoconference with the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, who addressed the chairpersons and
the mandate holders of special procedures and exchanged views with
them in closed meeting. Appreciation was expressed for the efforts
of the High Commissioner in bringing the work of the treaty bodies,
and particularly the relevant concluding observations of treaty
bodies and recommendations of special rapporteurs, to the attention
of Governments when visiting countries or meeting with government
officials. The High Commissioner pledged to provide the feedback to
treaty bodies on her activities to promote their work.
40. The High
Commissioner and experts raised the need for adequate
administrative and substantive support from the Office of the High
Commissioner for both the treaty bodies and the special procedures.
They also discussed the possibility of contributions to the World
Conference against Racism and Xenophobia; the role of treaty bodies
and the special procedures in the regional approaches of the
Office; the urgent problem of periodicity in reporting and the
backlog of reports facing treaty bodies; and the mainstreaming of
human rights into peacemaking/peacekeeping activities of the United
Nations.
41. The High
Commissioner informed the meeting that the promotion of universal
ratification would be a focus of the upcoming Millennium Assembly.
She understood that such endeavours could not be separated from
questions of resources, and she intended to raise this with the
appropriate bodies in New York.
42. The joint
meeting was briefed about the status of implementation of the
recommendations that had emanated from the first joint meeting (see
A/54/805, annex, paras. 35 and 60-62). It identified the following
areas of common concern:
• The need to improve the exchange of information
between the treaty bodies and the special procedures mandates. The
implementation of recommendations adopted after the first joint
meeting in 1999 in this respect was found wanting;
• The issue of follow-up: an exchange of best
practices in the area of follow-up to concluding observations,
decisions and opinions on individual cases and recommendations made
by special rapporteurs would be beneficial to both sets of
mechanisms;
• The possibility of joint or coordinated
contributions to the 2001 World Conference against Racism and
Xenophobia.
43. The
conclusions of the joint meeting are presented in paragraphs 84 to
89 below.
VIII. Status of the Plans of Action
(a) For strengthening the implementation
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(b) For strengthening the implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
(c) For strengthening the implementation
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
44. The
chairpersons were briefed by the secretariat on the status of the
three plans of action, which had been converted into "projects"
that were harmonized as part of a consolidated Annual Appeal by the
High Commissioner to donors for extrabudgetary contributions. The
chairpersons expressed satisfaction that treaty experts had been
consulted on the formulation of the plans and therefore had had an
opportunity to reflect on the needs of their committees and to play
a role in establishing the priorities for improved support to the
treaty bodies. While there was a natural gap between the time when
the appeal was made and the actual time of receipt of contributions
that could be drawn upon to implement the projects, the
chairpersons welcomed the considerable interest that the needs of
treaty bodies had thus far received.
45. It was noted
with satisfaction that concrete progress had been made with respect
to several activities foreseen in the Plan of Action to Strengthen
the Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. These included, notably, efforts aimed at reducing the
backlog of individual communications before the Human Rights
Committee through the hiring of additional staff to deal with them
and the provision of additional meeting time to enable the
Committee to consider complaints. It was noted that, owing to the
rapid increase in the number of communications being submitted to
the Committee against Torture, that Committee may also need to draw
on this facility under the Plan of Action in the future. Other
areas where strong progress was visible were the activities
relating to modern information technology, including improvements
to the treaty body database and the operationalization of a
tracking system for communications.
46. In addition,
activities undertaken to strengthen support to the Committee on the
Rights of the Child and to assist at the national level were
continuing. The Plan of Action for strengthening the implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child had afforded improved
analytical support to the Committee, closer monitoring of follow-up
to its recommendations, the organization of national workshops on
child rights, as well as the organization of special events, such
as those related to the tenth anniversary of the Convention in
1999. The Plan of Action for strengthening implementation of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had
also resulted in improved analytical support to the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in respect of the State
reporting process and the formulation of general comments, closer
liaison with key partners in the United Nations system and better
integration of economic, social and cultural rights into the
activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights.
47. The
chairpersons agreed on the need to engage the treaty bodies in a
continuous articulation of their priority needs so that they may be
reflected when in future annual appeals for funds.
IX. Periodicity of reporting
48. The
chairpersons discussed their practices in the area of reporting
periodicity, which had been a growing concern common to many of the
treaty bodies. The chairpersons engaged in an exchange on the
rules, practices and experiences of their respective Committees
with regard to periodicity, the delayed submission of reports by
States parties and the backlog of reports awaiting consideration by
treaty bodies.1
49. Under the new
consolidated guidelines adopted by the Human Rights Committee,
State reports were required to include information concerning the
period during which the report concerned had been overdue up to the
time of submission, which should be no later than ten weeks before
the session at which the report is to be considered by the
Committee. This rule was aimed at avoiding the possibility of the
submission of an overdue report that covered a period in the past
rather than the actual situation, as had happened on several
occasions. With regard to the reporting cycle, the Committee had
established a practice of determining, upon concluding its
consideration of a State party report, the date by which that State
was to submit its next report. Flexibility could thus be exercised
on the time allowed between reports from State to State, depending
on the Committee's findings about the situation of the rights that
it monitored.
50. The Committee
on the Rights of the Child was also experiencing problems relating
to periodicity. In addition to a serious backlog of reports
submitted and the growing number of reports overdue, the Committee
faced an increasing incidence of a report by a State party falling
due soon after, or even before, the previous report of the State
concerned could be examined by the Committee. These incongruities
had led the Committee to consider allowing States parties to
combine their second and third periodic reports in a single
document, to be submitted by the due date of the third periodic
report. The Committee considered the due dates for third periodic
reports to be sufficiently far in the future so as to allow
adequate preparation time for the requested combined second and
third periodic report.2 It was noted that the Committee
had not formally adopted this approach as a method of work. It was
an emergency interim measure that the Committee would later review
in that regard after having gained sufficient experience to be able
to judge its effectiveness.
51. While the
Committee against Torture was not facing large backlogs of either
submitted or overdue reports, it was confronted with similar
situations of reports of States parties falling due before or soon
after the examination of the previous report of those States. The
Committee had also adopted an interim measure of allowing the next
two reports falling due to be combined in a single submission. The
date by which the combined report should be submitted would be
specified in the concluding observations adopted on the previous
report. This had only been instituted several years earlier, but it
had thus far proved to be a useful solution and had been largely
respected by States parties.
52. The Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had adopted a "review
procedure" of considering the situation of States parties that were
more than five years overdue in the submission of their reports, a
practice that had had some success in, inter alia, prompting States
parties to submit a report. The Committee accepted a single
submission as representing several overdue reports, and in this way
it was able to bring States parties fully up to date with their
reporting obligations when they submitted a report. The obligation
of States parties to report every two years was alleviated by the
Committee's practice, since 1990, of requesting comprehensive
reports only every four years and updating reports in the two-year
intervals.
53. In the light
of the above and noting that the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women was reviewing its methods of dealing
with the matters raised, the chairpersons considered that the
issues raised in relation to periodicity of reporting merited
in-depth, working-level discussions among members of each
Committee.
X. Development of indicators and benchmarks to
assess the realization of human rights
54. The
chairpersons were updated by the Secretariat on efforts being made
to develop human rights indicators. The Office of the High
Commissioner was seeking to remedy the imbalance, on one hand, of
the abundant information available on economic and social rights,
which although insufficient from a human rights perspective
nevertheless formed a good foundation for the measurement of the
implementation of those rights, and on the other hand, the lack of
tools to identify the needs of countries in the area of civil and
political rights. To this end, the Office was exploring how
indicators could be developed that could measure the enjoyment of
all human rights as defined in the principal treaties, and had
begun by pressing for the development of civil and political rights
indicators. In doing so, it was attempting not to create a way to
rank countries or to reprimand them, but to identify where scarce
international resources could be effectively utilized in countries
in need of assistance.
55. At the expert
seminar organized by the Office of the High Commissioner in
September 1999, discussion focused on a wide range of issues,
including the nature of human rights indicators and of civil and
political rights indicators, as well as specific examples of the
types of data that could serve as useful indicators. Attention was
also drawn to an initiative of the International Association for
Official Statistics (IAOS). IAOS, which had a special interest in
the possible contribution of official statistics to democratic
society, was organizing through the Swiss national statistical and
aid agencies a conference on "Statistics, Development and Human
Rights" in September 2000. By bringing together statisticians,
sociologists, development economists together with human rights
specialists, the conference aimed at advancing the discussion from
conceptual considerations, such as the possible human rights
content of indicators, to include also concrete practical
considerations relating to data collection and management.
56. The
chairpersons welcomed the progress made on the subject since their
last meeting. They considered that the indicators to be developed
would provide critical information not only to those working in
human rights and development at the national level, but also to the
treaty bodies as they examined reports of States parties. The
Chairperson of the Committee against Torture suggested that the
phenomenon of torture, which was clearly defined in the Convention
against Torture, could be a useful starting point in examining how
quantitative data could be useful in assessing compliance with
civil and political rights.
57. The
chairpersons also revisited a recommendation of its previous
meeting that the Office of the High Commissioner should organize a
workshop to identify progressive developmental benchmarks and
indicators related to the right to education, taking into account a
proposal on the subject developed by the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. The chairpersons welcomed Commission on
Human Rights resolution 2000/9 of 17 April 2000, in which the
Commission had requested the Office of the High Commissioner to
organize such a workshop in 2001. They expressed satisfaction at
information received from the Secretariat to the effect that the
workshop would be organized in consultation with the treaty bodies,
particularly the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as the
Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the right
to education.
XI. Regional strategies
58. The
chairpersons were briefed by the Special Adviser of the High
Commissioner on regional strategies on the new regional approaches
of the Office of the High Commissioner for the promotion and
protection of human rights. She explained that the High
Commissioner was seeking to make the best use possible of the
limited resources available to her Office by taking advantage of
regional and subregional commonalities. While the fulfilment of
human rights would always remain a national and local matter, the
High Commissioner could use regional and subregional approaches: to
provide relevant advice to Governments, if requested; to keep
herself better attuned to developments on the ground; and to
facilitate capacity-building and the sharing of experiences among
countries sharing common characteristics. To date, the main
activities had concentrated on the Asia-Pacific region, as its
regional arrangements in the field of human rights were relatively
less advanced, and regional advisers had been appointed by the High
Commissioner for three regions: the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and
the Caribbean, and Africa. The Office looked to the treaty bodies
to contribute in moving the process forward by suggesting specific
issues that would enable the Office to take a more proactive
approach, by informing the work of the regional advisers through
their views and concluding observations and by identifying national
best practices.
59. The
chairpersons expressed their appreciation for these initiatives of
the High Commissioner and for the briefing thereon. Affirming the
importance of regional and subregional human rights
capacity-building and exchange of information grounded in the
international human rights treaties, they agreed to present the
issue of regional strategies to their respective Committees, in
order to consider the role that they might play in the process.
XII. World Conference against Racism
60. The
chairpersons updated each other on the contributions being prepared
by each treaty body to the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. Each treaty
body was undertaking, or planning to undertake, a review of its
past work in the area, the formulation of new general comments
and/or studies on themes of direct relevance to the World
Conference.
61. The Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was actively
participating in preparations for the World Conference. In addition
to eight studies prepared by Committee members in their individual
capacities, the Committee had suggested a number of specific themes
for the agenda of the World Conference in its decisions 9
(53)3 and 5 (55).4 The Committee would
continue to consider at its upcoming sessions further action and
additional material that the Committee could contribute as a
whole.
62. The Human
Rights Committee had undertaken a review of its past work in areas
related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance, including concluding observations adopted on reports
of States parties, decisions or views adopted on individual
complaints and general comments. It had decided to update its
general comment on discrimination, which it plans to have ready for
submission to the second session of the Preparatory Committee, to
be held in May 2001.
63. The
contributions of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child focused on the
central role of the right to education in efforts to combat racism
and racial discrimination. The Committee on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights had recently adopted two general comments on this
right, Nos. 11 and 13.
64. As its
contribution to the World Conference, the Committee on the Rights
of the Child had embarked on the elaboration of its first general
comment on the topic of the aims of education. It plans to finalize
the general comment in time for submission to the Preparatory
Committee at its second session.
65. Having
reviewed these contributions, the chairpersons reaffirmed the
central role of international human rights standards and of the
treaty bodies in efforts to combat racism. They decided to submit
to the World Conference a joint statement of the chairpersons
conveying this message (see annex II to the present report).
XIII. Other matters
66. The
chairpersons expressed deep dissatisfaction at the continuing
inequality of treatment of experts whereby members of three treaty
bodies received a token honorarium and others received none. They
considered the system not only to be unfair to individual experts
but also to contradict the principles of indivisibility and
interdependence of all human rights which were the foundations of
the international human rights system. They regretted that the
General Assembly had failed to take action to remedy this matter at
its fifty-fourth session.
67. The
chairpersons discussed procedural questions regarding the
functioning of the meetings of chairpersons. The chairpersons
agreed that the substance of the discussions needed to be shared
with the members and that any proposals emanating from the meetings
must be agreed upon by all treaty bodies. To that end, the
chairpersons should each encourage fuller discussions within their
own treaty bodies as to the matters to be raised in the
chairpersons' meetings as well as the results thereof.
68. In addition,
the chairpersons were briefed by the Secretariat, in closed
meeting, about the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS),
a new electronic system designed to expedite administrative
procedures in the United Nations system, including the processing
of travel authorizations and travel claims, and its impact on
treaty body experts. They were also informed of new administrative
policies that aimed to enforce existing United Nations
administrative rules. The chairpersons expressed deep
dissatisfaction at several recent instances of delayed processing
of travel authorizations, the complications caused to individuals
and the potentially disruptive impact of the new policies on the
work of the Committees.
69. The
chairpersons were assured that IMIS, once the records of all
experts were fully entered into the system, would significantly
expedite all processes relating to travel.
XIV. Recommendations
70. The
chairpersons agreed on the need to consider harmonizing practices
with regard to the examination of reports of States parties,
including periodicity, whenever possible. It was suggested that the
issue could be addressed in a joint meeting of representatives of
all treaty bodies, as called for at their eleventh meeting, to
discuss matters of common interest or concern (A/54/805, annex,
para. 62). They recalled the provisions of the Plan of Action for
strengthening the implementation of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, reflected in the Annual Appeal of the High
Commissioner, which would enable the organization of such
inter-Committee meetings. Subject to consultation by the
chairpersons with their treaty bodies on the desirability of this
topic and agreement by the treaty bodies, the chairpersons
recommend that the Office of the High Commissioner should take the
necessary steps to organize such a meeting.
71. The
chairpersons agreed that their thirteenth meeting should contain,
among the initial items on the agenda, an item on follow-up to the
recommendations of their twelfth meeting. The Chairperson, the
Vice-Chairperson, and the secretariat of the current meeting were
given the responsibility of following up on those recommendations,
and of reporting on the measures taken thereon at the thirteenth
meeting.
72. The
chairpersons recommended that the practice of holding an informal
meeting with representatives of States parties should be continued
at the thirteenth meeting. They requested the Office of the High
Commissioner to organize such a meeting of one full day's duration
and to consult with them and with the States parties about the
elements of a possible agenda.
73. The
chairpersons strongly recommended that the Chairperson and the
Vice-Chairperson of the current meeting and the Secretariat should
follow up on the recommendations adopted at previous meetings of
chairpersons concerning the equal payment of honoraria to members
of all treaty bodies. In that connection, the meeting authorized
its Chairperson to address a letter to the Secretary-General
requesting him to take all appropriate measures to resolve the
issue at the forthcoming session of the General Assembly.
74. The
chairpersons request the secretariat to examine the practices of
the meetings of chairpersons and to compile, in a background
document for their thirteenth meeting, those elements that might be
taken into consideration for the eventual formulation of rules of
procedure for future meetings of chairpersons.
75. The
chairpersons reiterated their view that treaty body chairpersons,
or designated members, should be present when the annual reports of
treaty bodies are considered by their supervisory organ, whether it
be the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council. They
recommended that this recommendation be vigorously pursued and
brought to the attention of the Assembly and the Council at their
forthcoming sessions.
76. The
chairpersons also reiterated their recommendation that they should
be granted formal status within the Economic and Social Council,
and hence with its functional commissions, to enable them to
participate in discussions on matters of relevance to their
respective committees.
77. The
chairpersons welcomed the information provided by the Secretariat
that the Plan of Action to strengthen the implementation of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment had been launched
earlier in the current year, in consultation with all treaty body
experts. They recommended that the Secretariat should provide a
similar presentation to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination and the Committee against Torture to inform them of
the status of the plan and, more significantly, to convey the
importance of treaty bodies articulating their priority needs in
order to facilitate the prioritization of the activities for which
the High Commissioner should seek extrabudgetary contributions in
her next Annual Appeal. Similarly, the chairpersons expressed the
hope that the Human Rights Committee would continue to receive
support from the Secretariat to facilitate the ongoing involvement
of its members in the prioritization of needs.
78. The
chairpersons express appreciation that, under the Plan of Action
for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, it would be possible
to organize technical briefings for new members in the near future.
They requested the Office of the High Commissioner to ensure that
such briefings were prepared for the next group of new treaty body
members immediately prior to their first session; the contents of
the briefings should be finalized in consultation with the
chairperson of the concerned treaty bodies.
79. The
chairpersons agreed on the usefulness of human rights indicators
that would enable the measurement of the level of enjoyment of all
human rights. In that regard, they encouraged the Office of the
High Commissioner to continue to lead in the development of civil
and political rights indicators. They agreed to discuss within the
treaty bodies how they might provide guidance and input in that
respect.
80. The
chairpersons also welcomed the organization of a workshop in 2001
to develop indicators on the right to education. They urged the
Office of the High Commissioner not to allow the Workshop to be
delayed any further and to ensure that it was held in close
consultation with the treaty bodies, particularly the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the
Rights of the Child.
81. The
chairpersons recommended that the Special Adviser on Regional
Strategies, whose briefing at the current meeting was most useful,
should appear before each treaty body to present the new regional
approaches of the High Commissioner and to exchange views with a
wider membership of the treaty bodies.
82. The
chairpersons requested the Administration Unit of the Office of the
High Commissioner to brief them thoroughly at their next meeting on
the rules, regulations and procedures affecting treaty body
experts. They further requested the preparation of a brief paper on
these matters for the reference of all treaty body experts.
83. The
chairpersons requested that their joint statement on the World
Conference against Racism and Xenophobia should be submitted to the
second session of the Preparatory Committee. They agreed to
consider once again at their thirteenth meeting the status of
contributions to the World Conference by the treaty bodies and the
chairpersons. In that respect, they agreed to discuss the matter
within the treaty bodies with a view to identifying issues that
could be included in a common statement by the chairpersons at
their next meeting.
Recommendations of the joint meeting with the special procedures
system
84. The second
joint meeting between the chairpersons and special procedures
mandate holders agreed on the following recommendations.
Follow-up to the recommendations of the second meeting
85. The
Secretariat was requested to prepare, in writing, a concise
background note setting out the status of implementation of
recommendations emanating from the current joint meeting.
Improving the exchange of information between treaty bodies and the
special procedures mandates
86. The joint
meeting noted with appreciation the minutes of a meeting convened
by the Deputy High Commissioner on 7 June 2000, which had discussed
the necessity of improving the information exchange between the
special procedures system and the treaty bodies. The participants
in the joint meeting endorsed the relevant recommendations
emanating from that meeting and requested the Office of the High
Commissioner to monitor their implementation on an ongoing basis,
particularly the following:
• Information notes should be regularly submitted
to each treaty body session about the activities of relevant
special procedures mandates;
• Periodic lists of planned country visits of
special procedures mandate holders should be prepared in chart form
and made available to members of the treaty bodies;
• Executive summaries prepared for reports of
special procedures mandate holders should be rapidly distributed to
members of treaty bodies;
• A schedule of the consideration of reports of
States parties to the major human rights treaty bodies should be
prepared in chart form and circulated to all members of treaty
bodies and special procedures mandate holders;
• The reports of special procedures mandate
holders concerning specific countries should be distributed to
treaty bodies when the latter are scheduled to consider the report
of those specific countries and, conversely, the concluding
observations of the treaty bodies on those countries should be
circulated to special procedures mandate holders;
• Staff working with treaty bodies should
facilitate the participation of country and thematic officers
assisting special rapporteurs in the preparation of lists of issues
on periodic reports to be considered by treaty bodies; conversely,
assistants of special procedures mandate holders should seek from
staff members servicing treaty bodies lists of issues and other
relevant information from the treaty bodies for the purpose of
preparation of country visits;
• A meeting between the treaty body teams and the
country and thematic officers servicing special procedures should
be called in a timely manner, to address existing problems or
bottlenecks in information exchange.
Follow-up to concluding observations and recommendations of
rapporteurs
87. The
participants agreed that the third joint meeting in June 2001
should focus on the subject of follow-up.
Preparations for the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
88. Participants
in the joint meeting interested in exploring possible collaboration
in contributing to the preparatory process for the World Conference
were encouraged to formulate proposals in writing. The written
proposals would be compiled by the secretariat of the two meetings
and circulated to all treaty body members and special rapporteurs
well in advance of the third joint meeting, to be held in 2001.
Third
joint meeting
89. The
participants agreed to schedule a half-day joint meeting for their
respective annual meetings in 2001.
Notes
1
The rules and practices of the six treaty bodies were detailed in a
background document of the meeting (HRI/MC/2000/Misc.1).
2
Since the Convention on the Rights of the Child had entered into
force in 1990, the earliest reports due under the Convention would
have been the initial reports due in 1992 from the first States
parties to report. The second periodic reports of this group would
have been due in 1997 and their third periodic reports would have
been due in 2002.
3
See Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third
Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/53/18), chap. VIII.
4
Ibid., chap. VIII.
Annex I
Agenda of the meeting
1.
Opening of the meeting and election of officers.
2.
Adoption of the agenda.
3.
Organizational and other matters.
4.
Review of recent developments relating to the work of the treaty
bodies.
5.
Cooperation of human rights treaty bodies with United Nations
departments, specialized agencies, funds, programmes and
non-governmental organizations.
6.
Plans of action (status of projects related to treaty bodies and
annual appeal):
(a) To strengthen the implementation
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
(b) To strengthen the implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(c) To strengthen the implementation
of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
7.
Periodicity of reporting.
8.
Establishment of indicators/benchmarks to assess the realization of
human rights.
9.
Preparations for the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
10. Joint
meeting with special rapporteurs/representatives, experts and
chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures system of
the Commission on Human Rights and of the advisory services
programme.
11. Informal
consultation with Governments.
12. Regional
strategies.
13. Adoption of
the report and setting of dates for the thirteenth meeting of
chairpersons.
Annex II
Statement by the chairpersons to the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related
Intolerance
The
chairpersons of the human rights treaty monitoring bodies reaffirm
the important contribution that the World Conference against
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
can make to the eradication of these abhorrent phenomena and urge
the World Conference to resolutely address them in all their forms.
The treaty bodies, in their wide experience in examining these
questions in countries from all regions of the world, have
highlighted the tragic results that can eventually occur when
societies tolerate such practices. They underscore the importance
of a reaffirmation by the World Conference of international human
rights standards and the role of the treaty bodies in continuously
monitoring their implementation. The chairpersons thus call upon
the World Conference to urge in the strongest possible terms the
universal ratification of the international human rights treaties
and to urge States to place the international standards at the
centre of their efforts to combat racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance.
Annex III
Documents made available at the meeting
1.
Provisional agenda and annotations (HRI/MC/200/1).
2.
Tentative programme of work.
3.
General Assembly resolution 49/178.
4.
Summary record of the 33rd meeting of the Third Committee, held on
16 November 1994 (A/C.3/49/SR.33).
5.
General Assembly resolution 53/138.
6.
Summary record of the 49th meeting of the Third Committee, held on
16 November 1998 (A/C.3/53/SR.49).
7.
Report of the Secretary-General on the status of overdue reports
(HRI/MC/2000/2).
8.
Report of the Secretariat on follow-up to the eleventh meeting on
cooperation of human rights treaty bodies with
United Nations departments, specialized agencies, funds,
programmes and mechanisms and non-governmental
organizations;
status of the Plans of Action; and establishment of indicators/
benchmarks to assess the realization of human rights
(HRI/MC/2000/3).
9.
Results of the twenty-second session of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination
against Women: note by the Secretary-General
(E/CN.6/2000/CRP.1).
10. Report of
the ninth meeting of chairpersons (February 1998) (A/53/125).
11. Report of
the tenth meeting of chairpersons (September 1998) (A/53/432).
12. Report of
the eleventh meeting of chairpersons (June 1999) (A/54/805).
13. Compilation
of general comments (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.4).
14. Compilation
of reporting guidelines (HRI/GEN/2).
15. Recent
reporting history under the principal international human rights
instruments as at 31 March 2000
(HRI/GEN/4).
16. "Status of
instruments": status as at 1 June 2000.
17. Report of
the independent expert, Mr. Philip Alston, on enhancing the
long- term
effectiveness of the human rights treaty system
(E/CN.4/1997/74).
18. Report of
the Secretary-General on consultations conducted on the report of
the independent expert
(E/CN.4/1998/85, Add.1, Corr.1).
19. Report of
the Secretary-General on the second round of consultations
conducted on the report of the
independent expert (E/CN.4/2000/98, Add.1).
20. Commission
on Human Rights resolution 2000/75.
21. Report of
the Secretary-General on effective implementation of international
instruments on human
rights, including reporting obligations under
international instruments on human
rights (E/CN.4/2000/186).
22. Plan of
Action for strengthening the implementation of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
(HRI/MC/2000/4).
23. Project
document to implement the Plan of Action for Strengthening the
Implementation of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child - phase II
(English only).
24. Plan of
Action for strengthening the implementation of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E/1997/22, annex VII).
25. Background
paper on the present rules and practices of the six human rights
treaty bodies on the topic of
periodicity of reporting (HRI/MC/2000/Misc.1).
26. General
Assembly resolution 54/154.
27. Commission
on Human Rights resolution 2000/14.
28. Annotations
to the provisional agenda of the first session of the Preparatory
Committee on Intolerance (1-5 May
2000) for the World Conference against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
(A/CONF.189/PC.1/1/Add.1).
29. Background
paper on the causes of, and remedies for, racial discrimination,
prepared by
Michael Banton, member of the Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination
(English only) (E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.6).
30. Background
paper on United Nations strategies to combat racism and racial
discrimination: past
experiences and present perspectives, prepared by
Theodoor van Boven, member of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (English only)
(E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.7).
31. "Zimbabwe
and South Africa: the lessons we can learn", background paper
prepared by Shanti
Sadiq Ali, member of the Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (English only)
(E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.8).
32. Background
paper on preventing genocide, prepared by Agha Shahi, Luis
Valencia Rodríguez and Ivan Garvalov, members of the Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (English only)
(E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.9).
33. Background
paper on the definitions of racial discrimination, prepared by Ion
Diaconu, member of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (English only) (E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.10).
34. "De
l'utilité de l'application complémentaire des
procédures de plaintes individuelles
devant les organes universels et régionaux de protection des
droits de l'homme", background
paper prepared by Régis de Gouttes, member
of the Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination (French only)
(E/CN.4/1999/WG.1/BP.11).
35. "An analysis
of the gender dimensions of racial discrimination", by Gay
McDougall, member of the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(English only) (CERD/C/56/Misc.19).
36.
"Reservations to the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination: the role of
CERD", by Ion Diaconu and Yuri Rechetov, members of the Committee
on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (English only) (CERD/C/53/Misc.23).
37. Contribution
of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(A/CONF.189/PC.1/12).
38. Contribution
of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(A/CONF.189/PC.1/14).
39. Contribution
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
(A/CONF.189/PC.1/15).
40. Report of
the annual meeting of special rapporteurs/representatives, experts
and chairpersons of working
groups of the special procedures and the advisory services
programme of the Commission on Human Rights, held from 31 May
to 4 June 1999 (E/CN.4/2000/5).
41. List of
special rapporteurs, rapporteurs/representatives, experts and
chairpersons of working groups of the special procedures and the
advisory services programme of the
Commission on Human Rights.
Annex IV
Participants in the twelfth meeting of chairpersons
A. Government representatives
Afghanistan
Mr. Humayun Tandar, Chargé d'affaires
Argentina
Mr. Sergio Cerda, Counsellor
Austria
Ms. Gabriela Kühtreiber, Counsellor
Azerbaijan
H.E. Mr. Isfandiyar Vahabzada, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative
Mr. Tofig Nusayev, Second Secretary
Mr. Ismayil Asadov, Third Secretary
Brazil
Mr. Alexandre Peña Ghisleni, Third Secretary
Bulgaria
Mr. Syargei Mikhnevich, Deputy Permanent Representative,
Chargé d'affaires a.i.
Mr. Sergei Anoshko, First Secretary
Canada
Ms. Deborah Chatsis, First Secretary
Ms. Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, Deputy Permanent Representative
China
Ms. Qi Xiaoxia, Second Secretary
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mr. Justin Biaboroh-Iboro, Minister-Counsellor
Croatia
Ms. Vesna Kos, First Secretary
Cuba
Mr. Jorge-Alberto Ferrer Rodríguez, First Secretary
Estonia
Ms. Merike Kokajev, First Secretary
Finland
Mr. Antti Rytovuori, First Secretary
France
Mr. Hervé Magro, Counsellor
Mr. Jean-Philippe Charlemagne, Chargé de mission
Germany
Mr. Peter Rothen, First Counsellor
Haiti
Ms. Moetsi Duchatellier, First Secretary
Hungary
Mr. István Lakatos, Third Secretary
India
H.E. Ms. Savidri Kunadi, Permanent Representative
Mr. Sharat Sabharal, Deputy Permanent Representative
Mr. R. N. Prasad, Counsellor
Ireland
Mr. Eamonn Mac Aodha, First Secretary
Israel
Ms. Teizu Guluma, Adviser
Japan
Ms. Nobuko Iwatani
Lesotho
Ms. Reneiloe Lesoli, Minister Counsellor
Lithuania
Mr. Edvardas Borisovas, Minister Counsellor, Permanent
Representative
Mexico
Mr. Arturo Hernández, Minister
Netherlands
Mr. Henk Cor Van der Kwast, Counsellor
New Zealand
Ms. Deborah Geels, First Secretary
Norway
Mr. Roald Naess, Minister Counsellor
Ms. Ingrid Mollestad Sylow, First Secretary
Oman
Mr. Abdulghaffar Al-Baloushi, First Secretary
Peru
Mr. Luis-Enrique Chávez, Counsellor
Portugal
Mr. Luis Faro Ramos, Counsellor
Republic of Korea
Mr. Shin Gil-Sou, Counsellor
Russian Federation
Mr. Vladimir Parshikov, Senior Counsellor
Mr. Grigory Lukiyantsev, Third Secretary
Slovenia
Mr. Franc Miksa, Minister Plenipotentiary
Spain
Mr. D. Iñigo de Palacio España, Counsellor
Sri Lanka
H.E. Mr. H. S. Palihakkara, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative
Mr. S. S. Ganegama-Arachchi, First Secretary
Mr. Sumedha Ekanayake, Second Secretary
Sweden
Ms. Ulrike Lundberg, Counsellor
Switzerland
Mr. Jean-Daniel Vigny, Minister
Tunisia
H.E. Mr. Hadem Ben Salem, Ambassador, Permanent Representative
Mr. Raouf Chatty, Counsellor
Ukraine
Ms. Ivanna Markina, Second Secretary
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland
Mr. Kevin Lyne, First Secretary
Ms. Lucy Foster, Assistant
United States of America
Mr. Steve Solomon, Legal Adviser
Ms. Pam Holmes, Second Secretary
Ms. Cheryl Sim, First Secretary
Venezuela
Mr. Alfredo Michelena, Minister Counsellor
B. Participants from United Nations departments,
specialized agencies, funds, programmes
|
Name and title |
Organization |
| |
|
|
Mr. Themba N. Masuku, Director |
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Liaison Office in Geneva |
|
Ms. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Director, Department of Policy Strategy
and Research
Ms. Miriam Maluwa, Law and Human Rights Adviser |
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS) |
|
Ms. Constance Thomas, Chief, Equality and Employment |
International Labour Organization (ILO) |
|
Ms. Lesley Miller, Consultant, Division of Evaluation, Policy
and Planning |
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) |
|
Ms. Odile Sorgho-Moulinier, Director
Ms. Marit Gjelten, Programme Officer |
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Office in
Geneva |
|
Mr. Janusz Symonides, Director, Department for Peace, Human
Rights, Democracy and Tolerance |
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) |
|
Mr. Richard Towle, Senior Human Rights Liaison Officer, Division
of International Protection |
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) |
|
Ms. Marie Heuzé, Director |
United Nations Information Service at Geneva
(UNIS) |
|
Mr. Alphonse MacDonald, Director
Mr. Hishyar Barzani, Consultant
Mr. Erik Palstra |
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Office in
Geneva |
|
Ms. Helena Nygren-Krug, Focal Point on Health and Human
Rights |
World Health Organization (WHO) |
C. Participants from non-governmental
organizations
|
Name and title |
Organization |
| |
|
|
Ms. Fiona McElree
Ms. Sara Johansson |
Amnesty International
|
|
Mrs. Anki Flores, Acting Secretary-General |
Anti-Racism Information Service (A.R.I.S.) |
|
Mr. Georg Stein, United Nations Programme Assistant |
Association pour la Prevention de la Torture (APT) |
|
Ms. Joanna Weschler |
Human Rights Watch |
|
Ms. Jelena Pejic, Adviser |
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) |
|
Mr. Alexandre Owona |
Jeunesse Etudiante Catholique Internationale
(JECI) |
|
Mr. J-Fernando Mejía |
Organisation Mondiale contre la Torture (OMCT) |
|
Ms. Eun-Ah Choi, Representative |
Pax Romana - International Catholic Movement for Intellectual
and Cultural Affairs |
