Summary Records - CCPR - Suriname - CCPR/C/SR.2056 (2002)

Distr.

GENERALCCPR/C/SR.2056
25 October 2002
Original: ENGLISH

Summary record of the first part (public) of the 2056th meeting: Suriname. 25/10/2002.

CCPR/C/SR.2056. (Summary Record)

Convention Abbreviation: CCPR

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Seventy-sixth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE FIRST PART (PUBLIC)* OF THE 2056th MEETING

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva,
on Wednesday, 23 October, at 3 p.m.

Chairperson: Mr. BHAGWATI

CONTENTS

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT (continued)

Examination in the absence of the second periodic report of Suriname (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 3.15 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENANT (agenda item 7) (continued)

Examination in the absence of the second periodic report of Suriname (continued) (CCPR/C/75/L/SUR)

1. The CHAIRPERSON invited the Committee to continue its discussion on the procedure to be followed in the case of Suriname.

2. Mr. KLEIN (Country rapporteur) suggested that those members who felt their questions had been misunderstood by the delegation, and those who had further questions to put to it, should provide the secretariat with written versions of their questions, which could then be annexed to the provisional concluding observations that would be forwarded to the State party with a request that it provide answers and a comprehensive report within six months. The Committee would have until March 2003, at the latest, to decide what measures to take if the State party did not comply with that request. He proposed to prepare a draft, with the help of the secretariat, of the provisional concluding observations and circulate them to Committee members in order to give them an opportunity to suggest amendments. He considered that the draft should not be restricted to procedural issues but should also refer to the Committee's substantive concerns. That would strongly encourage the State party to submit its report while giving it an opportunity to defend itself. Such a procedure would also leave the door open for the Committee to make its provisional concluding observations public if the State party failed to submit its report on time. The Committee had not yet decided to take that step, but it should be one of the options considered. If the Committee decided to proceed in the way he suggested, he would advise against publishing the draft immediately, although a statement could still be issued on behalf of the Committee to publicize its decision to adopt the provisional concluding observations and request the State party to submit a comprehensive report by the end of April 2003.

3. Sir Nigel RODLEY stressed that the status of the provisional concluding observations should be on the agenda for the next session of the Committee.

4. Ms. MEDINA QUIROGA pointed out that the Committee needed to decide how it would deal with the written replies that the State party had been asked to provide by the following Monday.

5. Mr. KLEIN (Country rapporteur) said that he would draft his text of the provisional concluding observations in the light of those replies.

6. The CHAIRPERSON said that, if he heard no objection, he would take it that the Committee wished to proceed along the lines suggested by Mr. Klein.

7. It was so decided.

The public part of the meeting rose at 3.25 p.m.

_______________

* The summary record of the second part (closed) of the meeting appears as document CCPR/C/SR.2056/Add.1.

This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.