A/53/40
United Nations
Report of the
Human Rights Committee
Volume I
General Assembly
Official Records • Fifty-third Session
Supplement No. 40 (A/53/40)
A/53/40
Report of the
Human Rights Committee
Volume I
General Assembly
Official Records • Fifty-third Session
Supplement No. 40 (A/53/40)
United Nations • New York, 1998
NOTE
Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document.
ISSN 0255-2353
[Original: English]
[15 September 1998]
CONTENTS
Chapter Paragraphs Page
I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OTHER MATTERS ..................... 1–31 1
A. States parties to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights ....................... 1–4 1
B. Sessions ......................................... 5 1
C. Elections, membership and attendance ............. 6–8 1
D. Solemn declaration ............................... 9 2
E. Guidelines ....................................... 10 2
F. Working groups ................................... 11–14 2
G. Other United Nations human rights activities ..... 15–17 2
H.Minimum humanitarian standards/fundamental
standards of humanity ............................18–213
I. Staff resources .................................. 22 4
J. Publicity for the work of the Committee .......... 23 4
K. Documents and publications relating to the work
of the Committee ................................. 24–29 4
L. Future meetings of the Committee ................. 30 5
M. Adoption of the report ........................... 31 5
II. METHODS OF WORK OF THE COMMITTEE UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF
THE COVENANT: OVERVIEW OF PRESENT WORKING METHODS .... 32–40 7
A. Recent decisions on procedures.................... 33–34 7
B. Links to other human rights treaties and treaty
bodies ...........................................35–397
C. Other issues relating to methods of work under
article 40 ....................................... 40 8
III. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT ........................... 41–44 9
A. Reports submitted by States parties under
article 40 of the Covenant ....................... 42 9
B.Observations of States parties on the Committee’s
concluding observations ..........................43–449
CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Paragraphs Page
IV. STATES THAT HAVE NOT COMPLIED WITH THEIR OBLIGATIONS
UNDER ARTICLE 40 ..................................... 45–48 10
V. CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT ..................... 49–412 13
A. Senegal .......................................... 50–68 13
B. Jamaica .......................................... 69–89 15
C. Iraq ............................................. 90–111 18
D. Sudan ............................................ 112-136 22
E. Belarus .......................................... 137–157 26
F. Lithuania ........................................ 158–179 30
G.Cyprus ..........................................180–20233
H. Zimbabwe.......................................... 203-233 35
I. Uruguay ......................................... 234–250 38
J. Finland .......................................... 251–273 40
K. Ecuador .......................................... 274–296 43
L. Israel ........................................... 297–328 45
M. Italy ........................................... 329–348 50
N. Algeria........................................... 349–367 52
O. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ........ 368–384 55
P. United Republic of Tanzania ...................... 385–412 57
VI. GENERAL COMMENTS OF THE COMMITTEE UNDER ARTICLE 40,
PARAGRAPH 4, OF THE COVENANT ......................... 413–417 61
VII. CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNICATIONS UNDER THE OPTIONAL
PROTOCOL ............................................. 418–479 62
A. Progress of work ................................. 420–427 62
B. Growth of the Committee's caseload under the
Optional Protocol ................................ 428–432 63
C. Approaches to examining communications under the
Optional Protocol ................................ 433–435 64
D. Individual opinions .............................. 436–437 65
E. Issues considered by the Committee ............... 438–477 65
F. Remedies called for under the Committee's Views .. 478–479 71
VIII. FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL ..... 480–510 72
CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter Page
Annexes
I. STATES PARTIES TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND
POLITICAL RIGHTS AND TO THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOLS AND STATES
WHICH HAVE MADE THE DECLARATION UNDER ARTICLE 41 OF THE
COVENANT AS AT 31 JULY 1998 ..................................80
A. States parties to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights .....................................80
B. States parties to the Optional Protocol .................. 84
C. States parties to the Second Optional Protocol aiming
at the abolition of the death penalty ....................87
D. States which have made the declaration under article 41
of the Covenant ..........................................88
II. MEMBERSHIP AND OFFICERS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE,
1997-1998.....................................................90
A. Membership ............................................... 90
B. Officers ................................................. 90
III. GUIDELINES FOR THE EXERCISE OF THEIR FUNCTIONS BY MEMBERS
OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE.................................91
IV. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BY STATES
PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT DURING THE PERIOD
UNDER REVIEW .................................................93
V. STATUS OF REPORTS CONSIDERED DURING THE PERIOD UNDER REVIEW
AND OF REPORTS STILL PENDING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ............97
VI. LIST OF STATES PARTIES’ DELEGATIONS THAT PARTICIPATED IN
THE CONSIDERATION OF THEIR RESPECTIVE REPORTS BY THE HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMITTEE AT ITS SIXTY-FIRST, SIXTY-SECOND AND
SIXTY-THIRD SESSIONS .........................................99
VII. GENERAL COMMENTS UNDER ARTICLE 40, PARAGRAPH 4, OF THE
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ......... 102
VIII. DOCUMENT ON PROCEDURE FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL AND
PERIODIC REPORTS UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT, ADOPTED
on 9 APRIL 1998 ..............................................103
IX. LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMITTEE TO THE CHAIRMAN
OF THE INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION AND SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR
ON TREATY RESERVATIONS, DATED 9 APRIL 1998 ...................105
X. LIST OF DOCUMENTS ISSUED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD ......... 106
CONTENTS (continued)
Chapter
XI. VIEWS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE UNDER ARTICLE 5, PARAGRAPH 4,
OF THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL
AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
A. Communication No. 532/1993, M. Thomas v. Jamaica (adopted on
3 November 1997, sixty-first session)
Appendix
B. Communication No. 554//1993, R. LaVende v. Trinidad and Tobago (adopted on 29 October 1997, sixty-first session)
Appendix
C. Communication No. 555/1993, R. Bickaroo v. Trinidad and Tobago (adopted on 29 October 1997, sixty-first session)
Appendix
D. Communication No. 564/1993, J. Leslie v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 July 1998, sixty-third session)
E. Communication No. 569/1993, P. Matthews v. Trinidad and Tobago (adopted on 31 March 1998, sixty-second session)
F. Communication No. 577/1994 R. Espinoza de Polay v. Peru (adopted on 6 November 1997, sixty-first session)
G. Communication No. 585/1994, T. Jones v. Jamaica (adopted on 6 April 1998, sixty-second session)
H. Communication No. 591/1994, I. Chung v. Jamaica (adopted on 9 April 1998, sixty-second session)
I. Communication No. 609/1995, Williams v. Jamaica (adopted on 4 November 1997, sixty-first session)
J. Communication No. 615/1995, B. Young v. Jamaica (adopted on 4 November 1997, sixty-first session)
Appendix
K. Communication No. 617/1995, A. Finn v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 July 1998, sixty-third session)
L. Communication No. 619/1995, F. Deidrick v. Jamaica (adopted on 9 April 1998, sixty-second session)
M. Communication No. 623-624-626-627/1995, V.P. Domukovsky, Z. Tsiklauri, P. Gelbakhiani and I. Dokvadze v. Georgia (adopted on 6 April 1998, sixty-second session)
N. Communication No. 635/1995, E. Morrison v. Jamaica (adopted on 27 July 1998, sixty-third session)
Appendix
O. Communication No. 650/1995, Perel v. Latvia (adopted on 30 March 1998, sixty-second session)
P. Communication No. 651/1996, J. Snijders, A. A. Willemen and Ch. C. M. Van der Wouw (adopted on 27 July 1998, sixty-third session)
CONTENTS (continued)
Q. Communication No. 672/1995, C. Smart v. Trinidad and Tobago (adopted on 29 July 1998, sixty-third session)
R. Communication No. 676/1996, A. S. Yasseen and N. Thomas v. Guyana (adopted on 30 March 1998, sixty-second session)
Appendix
S. Communication No. 704/1996, S. Shaw v. Jamaica (adopted on 2 April 1998, sixty-second session)
Appendix
T. Communication No. 705/1996, D. Taylor v. Jamaica (adopted on 2 April 1998, sixty-second session)
Appendix
U. Communication No. 706/1996, G. T. v. Australia (adopted on 4 November 1997, sixty-first session)
Appendix
V. Communication No. 732/1997, B. Whyte v. Jamaica (adopted on 27 July 1998, sixty-third session)
Appendix
W. Communication No. 733/1997, A. Perkins v. Jamaica (adopted on 30 July 1998, sixty-third session)
X. Communication No. 734/1997, A. McLeod v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 March 1998, sixty-second session)
Appendix
Y. Communication No. 749/1997, D. McTaggart v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 March 1998, sixty-second session)
Appendix
Z. Communication No. 750/1997, S. Daley v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 July 1998, sixty-third session)
AA. Communication No. 813/1998, D. Chadee v. Trinidad and Tobago (adopted on 29 July 1998, sixty-third session)
Appendix
XII. DECISIONS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE DECLARING COMMUNICATIONS
INADMISSIBLE UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE INTERNATIONAL
COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
A. Communication No. 640/1995, McIntosh v. Jamaica (adopted on 7 November 1997, sixty-first session)
B. Communication No. 735/1997, Kalaba v. Hungary (adopted on 6 November 1997, sixty-first session)
C. Communication No. 611/1995, H. Morrison v. Jamaica (adopted on 31 July 1998, sixty-third session).
I. ORGANIZATIONAL AND OTHER MATTERS
A. States parties to the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights
1. As at 31 July 1998, the closing date of the sixty-third session of the Human Rights Committee, 140 States had ratified, acceded or made a declaration of succession1 to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and 92 States had ratified or acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.2 Both instruments were adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 and opened for signature and ratification in New York on 19 December 1966. They entered into force on 23 March 1976. Also, as at 31 July 1998, 45 States had made the declaration envisaged under article 41, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, which came into force on 28 March 1979.
2. The Second Optional Protocol, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, which was adopted and opened for signature, ratification or accession by the General Assembly in resolution 44/128 of 15 December 1989, entered into force on 11 July 1991. As at 31 July 1998, there were 33 States parties to the Second Optional Protocol, an increase of three in the past year.
3. A list of States parties to the Covenant and to the Optional Protocols, indicating those which have made the declaration under article 41, paragraph 1, of the Covenant, is contained in annex I to the present report.
4. Reservations and other declarations made by a number of States parties in respect of the Covenant and/or the Optional Protocols are set out in document CCPR/C/2/Rev.4 of 24 August 1994 and in the notifications deposited with the Secretary-General.
B. Sessions
5. The Human Rights Committee held three sessions since the adoption of its previous annual report. The sixty-first session (1616th to 1644th meetings) was held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 20 October to 7 November 1997, the sixty-second session (1645th to 1670th meetings), at United Nations Headquarters from 23 March to 9 April 1998, and the sixty-third session (1671st to 1699th meetings), at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 13 to 31 July 1998.
C. Elections, membership and attendance
6. At the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties to the Covenant, held at United Nations Headquarters on 7 October 1997, Mr. Abdallah Zakhia (Lebanon) was elected to the seat left vacant following the death of Mrs. Laure Moghaizel (A/52/40, para. 7) for a term to end on 31 December 2000.
7. By letter of 10 July 1998, the Chairperson notified the Secretary-General of the resignation of Mr. Danilo Türk (Slovenia), with effect from 6 July 1998. At its 1671st meeting, on 13 July 1998, the Committee expressed its appreciation for Mr. Türk’s contribution. Mr. Türk’s mandate was due to expire on 31 December 2000, and the vacancy will be filled at the election to be held in New York on 10 September 1998, at the Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties.
8. All the members of the Committee participated at the sixty-first and sixty-third sessions. Mrs. Pilar Gaitan de Pombo did not attend the sixty-second session.
D. Solemn declaration
9. At the 1616th meeting (sixty-first session), on 23 October 1997, Mr. Abdallah Zakhia, who had been elected at the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties to the Covenant, made a solemn declaration in accordance with article 38 of the Covenant before assuming his functions.
E. Guidelines
10. At its 1644th meeting (sixty-first session), the Committee adopted guidelines for the exercise of their functions by members. The guidelines (CCPR/C/61/GUI) are annexed to the present report (annex III).
F. Working groups
11. In accordance with rules 62 and 89 of its rules of procedure, the Committee established working groups which met before its sixty-first, sixty-second and sixty-third sessions. Working groups were entrusted with the tasks of making recommendations to the Committee regarding communications received under the Optional Protocol and of preparing concise lists of issues concerning the initial, second, third and fourth periodic reports scheduled for examination by the Committee. The working group on periodic reports under article 40 was also mandated to study the Committee's working methods, and it systematically held discussions with representatives of the specialized agencies and subsidiary bodies, particularly the International Labour Office, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, in order to obtain advance information on the reports to be considered by the Committee. To that end, the working group also met representatives of non-governmental organizations - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, the International Service for Human Rights, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Equality Now and several local organizations. The Committee noted with satisfaction the great interest shown in its work by these agencies and organizations, and thanked them for the information provided.
12. Sixty-first session (13-17 October 1997): the Working Group on Communications and the Working Group on Article 40 were composed of Mr. Bhagwati, Lord Colville, Mr. El Shafei, Ms. Evatt and Mr. Yalden; Lord Colville was elected Chairman/ Rapporteur.
13. Sixty-second session (16-20 March 1998): the Working Group on Communications and the Working Group on Article 40 were composed of Mr. Ando, Mr. Bhagwati, Mr. Buergenthal, Mr. El Shafei, Ms. Evatt and Ms. Medina Quiroga; Mr. Ando was elected Chairman/Rapporteur.
14. Sixty-third session (6-10 July 1998): the Working Group on Communications and the Working Group on Article 40 were composed of Mr. Bhagwati, Lord Colville, Mr. Klein, Mr. El Shafei, Ms. Evatt, Mr. Pocar, Mr. Prado Vallejo, Mr. Scheinin and Mr. Yalden; Mr. Yalden was elected Chairman/Rapporteur.
G. Other United Nations human rights activities
15. At each of the Committee’s sessions, the representative of the Secretary-General informed the Committee about activities carried out by United Nations bodies dealing with human rights issues. In particular, results of sessions of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee against Torture were presented to the Human Rights Committee. Recent activities of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights relevant to the work of the Committee were also described. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, addressed the sixty-first and sixty-third sessions of the Committee.
16. On 24 November 1997, Mr. Alain Pellet, Chairman of the International Law Commission and Special Rapporteur on treaty reservations, wrote to the Chairperson of the Committee to invite the Committee to comment on the Commission’s Preliminary Conclusions on Reservations to Normative Multilateral Treaties, including Human Rights Treaties. The Preliminary Conclusions were considered at the sixty-second session in the light of the Committee’s General Comment on issues relating to reservations made on ratifications of the Covenant or the Optional Protocol. On 9 April 1998, the Committee decided that the Chairperson would write to Mr. Pellet to inform him of the Committee’s first reactions to the Preliminary Conclusions. The Chairperson’s letter of 9 April to Mr. Pellet is annexed to this report (annex IX). The letter indicated that the Committee would study the Preliminary Conclusions more carefully and formulate its comments at a later stage. A working group of the Committee took up the matter again at the sixty-third session and is preparing a further response for the Committee to consider at its sixty-fourth session.
17. At the 1621st meeting (sixty-first session) on 22 October 1997, a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Carol Batchelor, addressed the Committee on the subject of statelessness.
H. Minimum humanitarian standards/fundamental standards of humanity
18. The Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 1997/21 on minimum humanitarian standards, requested the Secretary-General, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross, to prepare an analytical report on the issue of fundamental standards of humanity, taking into consideration in particular issues raised in the report of the International Workshop on Minimum Humanitarian Standards, held in Cape Town in September 1996. The study should identify, inter alia, common rules of human rights law and international humanitarian law that are applicable in all circumstances. According to the resolution, the Secretary-General is requested, in preparing his study, to seek the views of and information from, inter alia, human rights treaty bodies.
19. At the 1644th meeting (sixty-first session), on 7 November 1997, Mr. Tom McCarthy of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, addressed the Committee concerning the above resolution of the Commission on Human Rights. Following this, the Committee established a working group to deal with issues relating to fundamental standards of humanity. The working group met during the sixty-second session and discussed various approaches and arguments as to the relationship of human rights law and humanitarian law in general, and the interpretation of article 4, paragraph 1, of the Covenant in particular.
20. The mandate of the Human Rights Committee is to monitor compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. When faced with situations of armed conflict, both external and internal, which affect States parties to the Covenant, the Committee will necessarily examine whether these States parties are complying with their Covenant obligations. The crucial question in these situations is likely to relate to the power of the States parties to derogate from their Covenant obligations in times of public emergency. The Committee takes note of the fact that article 4, paragraph 1, of the Covenant establishes as one of the conditions for any derogation from a State party’s obligations under the Covenant that such measures are not inconsistent with the State party’s other obligations under international law. Although the practice of the Committee under the Covenant and its two Optional Protocols has not produced much material on the interpretation of this clause, it is evident that the Committee has to take the State party’s other international obligations into account when monitoring compliance with article 4, paragraph 1. The Committee intends to prepare a general comment on this question, revising its existing general comment 5(13) on article 4 of the Covenant.
21.
The Committee supports the conducting of a further study on the matter identified by the Commission and looks forward to being consulted in the process.
I. Staff resources
22. The Committee regrets that the staff situation referred to in the previous annual report (A/52/40, para. 19) has continued to deteriorate in the past year and that there have been further reductions in the secretariat staff available to the Committee. Some of the Committee’s most experienced professional officers were assigned to other duties, leaving the Committee with insufficient staff for the effective performance of its functions under the Covenant. This led to difficulties, especially at the sixty-second and sixty-third sessions (including inadequate preparation, late documentation and lack of follow-up activities). Members of the Committee met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, during the sixty-third session to discuss these problems. The Committee emphasized the need for sufficient professional and other staff to be allocated with experience in the Committee’s work and specific responsibilities for that work. The Committee regrets that its repeated pleas for the allocation of the necessary staff for the effective performance of its functions, as required by article 36 of the Covenant, have gone unheeded and that instead of improvement there has been a continual deterioration of the situation.
J. Publicity for the work of the Committee
23. The Chairperson, accompanied by members of the Bureau, met with the press at each of the Committee's three sessions. Some of these meetings were held in mid-session to create better opportunities for the media to be informed about the Committee’s activities.
K. Documents and publications relating to the work of the Committee
24. The Committee continued to be seriously concerned about the difficulties it faced in regard to the issuing of Committee documents, particularly reports by States parties, as a consequence of delays in translations and the strict application of the rule relating to the simultaneous distribution of documents in all languages. As was also noted in the previous report (A/52/40), several reports scheduled by the Committee for discussion at each session in the current year were not translated in time to be distributed to all members before the beginning of those sessions, a factor which seriously inhibited the work of the Committee. One report was not translated into any other language.
25. The Committee emphasised that to carry out its mandate effectively, members must have copies of State reports in advance of the working group or session at which they are to be considered.
26. Members of the Committee expressed concern about the fact that the second volume of its annual report, containing the Views adopted by the Committee under the Optional Protocol, although prepared, had not been published for the past three years. The last to be published was 1993-1994. Such lack of publication limits the dissemination of the Committee’s jurisprudence.
27. The Committee noted with concern that publication of its Official Records had been at a standstill since the production of 1992/1993, volume II, and that resources have not been made available for the production of further volumes. It repeated its serious concern expressed in the previous annual report (A/52/40, para. 25). It noted that while the donation from the Sasakawa Foundation had made it possible to reduce the backlog, the funds of that donation were nearly exhausted. The Committee urges that an alternative source of financing be sought for this very important publication and that the matter be brought to the attention of the Publication Board of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
28. The Committee welcomed the opening of the Web site of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.unhchr.ch), in which Internet users have access to the treaty bodies database, including some Views under the Optional Protocol. The Committee, however, notes that this opportunity is not fully effective, because the input of material is incomplete, especially in regard to the Committee’s Vie