UNITED

NATIONS

International

Human Rights

Instruments

Distr.

GENERAL

HRI/MC/1994/3

15 August 1994

Original: ENGLISH

Fifth Meeting of Chairpersons

of Treaty Bodies

Geneva, 19-23 September 1994

Item 6 of the provisional agenda

STATUS OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS

AND THE GENERAL SITUATION OF OVERDUE REPORTS

Report of the Secretary-General

1.	The present report contains updated information on the status of the international human rights instruments and the general situation of overdue reports as at 30 June 1994 in regard to the following seven instruments:

(a)	The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 3 January 1976;

(b)	The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and entered into force on 23 March 1976;

(c)	The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1965 and entered into force on 4 January 1969;

(d)	The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, adopted by the General Assembly on 30 November 1973 and entered into force on 18 July 1976;

GE.94-18519 (E)

(e)	The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 1979 and entered into force on 3 September 1981;

(f)	The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1984 and entered into force on 26 June 1987; and

(g)	The Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly on 20 November 1989 and entered into force on 2 September 1990.

2.	Since the Fourth meeting of persons chairing human rights treaty bodies, there has been a significant increase in the number of States parties to the human rights instruments. As at 30 June 1994, there were a total of 869 States parties to the seven treaties listed above, as compared with 762 States parties as at 1 September 1992.

3.	On 30 June 1994 10 of the 184 Member States of the United Nations were not a party to any of the seven human rights instruments. Those States are the following: Andorra, Brunei Darussalam, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and Uzbekistan.

4.	The system of reporting under the seven instruments as at 30 June 1994 involved 177 States as compared with 164 in 1992 that were parties to at least one of these instruments. The number of overdue reports of these States parties totalled 1,040 (as compared with 871). Detailed information on the submission of reports and the general situation of overdue reports is contained in tables 1, 2 and 3 below.

Table 1

5.	Table 1 below shows the total number of States parties to the seven instruments as at 30 June 1994 and at 1 September 1992 (for the sake of comparison) and the number of overdue reports under each instrument. It should be noted that article 9 (1) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination specifies a periodicity of one year for initial reports and every two years thereafter for periodic reports, which accounts, in part, for the very high number of reports overdue under that Convention.

Table 2

6.	Table 2 below shows the number of reports which have been received each year by the treaty bodies from their inception through the first half of 1994. It should be noted that combined reports, which consist of two or more periodic reports submitted in a single document, have been counted in the table as one report. The listing does not include revised reports, additional information or special reports submitted in accordance with a special decision of the Committee concerned. Included in the totals are reports received from the German Democratic Republic (which united with the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990 to form a single State) and from Czechoslovakia (which changed its name to the Czech and Slovak Republic in 1991 and was succeeded by the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993).

7.	Table 2 clearly indicates that a majority of States parties are not respecting the obligation to report periodically under each of the treaties concerned.

8.	It may be noted in table 2 that there has been an overall decrease in the number of reports submitted under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. This decrease reflects, in part, changes in the reporting procedures which were recommended by the two treaty bodies concerned. By resolution 1988/4 of 24 May 1988, the Economic and Social Council endorsed the recommendation made by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that States parties be requested to submit a single comprehensive initial report within two years of the entry into force of the Covenant for the State party concerned, and thereafter comprehensive periodic reports at five-year intervals. That arrangement replaced one under which partial reports were to be submitted every two years starting within one year of entry into force. Consequently, States parties to the Covenant have been submitting fewer reports covering only certain articles of the Covenant rather than comprehensive reports. Similarly, at its thirty-sixth session, held in August 1988, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination endorsed the proposal made at the eleventh meeting of States parties to the Convention that, following the submission of initial comprehensive reports to the Committee, States are to submit further comprehensive reports every four years (i.e. on every second occasion when reports are due) and to submit brief updating reports on the intervening occasions. Consequently, States parties to that Convention have been submitting more combined comprehensive reports.

Table 3

9.	Table 3 below lists the States parties to the various instruments and the number of overdue reports under each instrument. The total number of treaties to which a given State is a party and the total number of overdue reports of each State is also given. The absence of any number indicates that the State is not a party to the instrument concerned.

10.	It should further be noted, with respect to the practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), that successive overdue reports may be submitted in a single consolidated document. This practice has also been followed by the Committee against Torture (CAT), which reviews the situation of overdue reports on a case-by-case basis.

Table 1. Changes in the number of States parties

and overdue reports by treaty, 1992-1994

International instrument	30 June 1994	1 September 1992
States parties	Overdue reports	States parties	Overdue reports
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights	129	105	116	70
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights	127	98	113	69
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination	139	381	132	336
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid	99	213	94	189
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women	133	117	117	116
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment	82	47	68	34
Convention on the Rights of the Child	160	79	122	a/

a/ No reports were overdue since the Convention entered into force on 2 September 1990 and initial reports were not due until two years after ratification.

Table 2. Number of reports received each year under each treaty

(as at 30 June 1994)

YEAR Treaties Total Total States

ESC CCPR CERD CEDAW CAT CRC APART parties a/

1969 - - 1 - - - - 1 37

1970 - - 30 - - - - 30 45

1971 - - 17 - - - - 17 56

1972 - - 34 - - - - 34 70

1973 - - 23 - - - - 23 75

1974 - - 42 - - - - 42 81

1975 - - 26 - - - - 26 87

1976 - - 50 - - - - 50 193

1977 13 16 26 - - - 6 61 224

1978 11 10 46 - - - 11 78 254

1979 14 12 38 - - - 3 67 282

1980 13 5 40 - - - 16 74 295

1981 21 7 31 - - - 10 69 344

1982 10 5 48 7 - - 13 83 378

1983 27 19 38 12 - - 11 107 406

1984 15 19 49 5 - - 6 94 429

1985 20 19 29 4 - - 9 81 452

1986 19 20 47 16 - - 15 117 472

1987 12 16 25 19 - - 6 78 508

1988 8 31 19 12 11 - 12 93 523

1989 14 26 19 11 9 - 7 86 541

1990 9 30 11 14 7 - 2 73 624

1991 5 33 14 23 10 - 7 92 705

1992 7 18 13 19 15 13 0 85 786

1993 12 18 21 19 9 18 0 97 851

1994 b/ 1 12 2 8 6 10 0 39 869

a/ Total number of States parties to all instruments as at 31 December of the year indicated.

b/ Period from 1 January to 30 June 1994.

Table 3. Overdue reports by State party and by treaty

(as at 30 June 1994)

Treaty Total Total

State party CESCR CCPR CERD APART CEDAW CAT CRC due treaties

Periodicity of reporting:

Initial reports 2 1 1 2 1 1 2

Periodic reports 5 5 2 4 4 4 5

Afghanistan 0 1 5 3 . 1 0 7 5

Albania 1 1 0 . 0 0 1 3 6

Algeria 1 0 1 0 . 0 0 2 5

Angola 1 1 . . 2 . 1 5 4

Antigua and Barbuda . . 3 3 1 0 0 4 4

Argentina 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 3 6

Armenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

Australia 1 1 0 . 1 0 1 4 6

Austria 0 1 1 . 1 1 0 4 6

Azerbaijan 1 0 . . . . 0 1 3

Bahamas . . 6 2 0 . 1 7 3

Bahrain . . 2 1 . . 1 3 2

Bangladesh . . 1 1 0 . 1 2 3

Barbados 1 1 4 3 0 . 1 8 5

Belarus 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 6 6

Belgium 0 1 1 . 0 . 1 3 5

Belize . . . . 1 1 1 3 3

Benin 1 1 . 5 1 1 1 5 5

Bhutan . . . . 3 . 1 4 2

Bolivia 1 1 5 2 0 . 0 7 5

Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 6

Botswana . . 5 . . . . 5 1

Brazil 1 1 4 . 3 1 1 11 6

Bulgaria 1 1 2 0 2 1 1 8 6

Burkina Faso . . 5 4 1 . 0 6 3

Burundi 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 6 6

Cambodia 1 1 4 3 1 1 0 8 6

Cameroon 2 0 2 3 . 1 0 5 5

Canada 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 6

Cape Verde 0 0 5 2 3 1 0 9 6

Treaty Total Total

State party CESCR CCPR CERD APART CEDAW CAT CRC due treaties

Central African Republic 1 2 5 3 1 . 1 10 5

Chad . . 5 4 . . 1 6 2

Chile 1 1 0 . 0 0 0 2 6

China . . 2 1 1 1 1 5 4

Colombia 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 6

Comoros . . . . . . 0 0 1

Congo 1 1 3 3 3 . 0 8 5

Costa Rica 1 0 2 2 2 0 0 5 6

Côte d'Ivoire 1 1 7 . . . 1 10 4

Croatia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6

Cuba . . 2 0 0 . 1 3 3

Cyprus 1 1 0 . 0 0 1 5 6

Czech Republic 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 6

Democratic People's

Republic of Korea 1 2 . . . . 1 4 3

Denmark 1 1 2 . 0 1 0 5 6

Djibouti . . . . . . 1 1 1

Dominica 0 0 . . 3 . 1 4 4

Dominican Republic 1 1 3 . 0 . 1 6 5

Ecuador 1 1 1 3 0 0 1 4 6

Egypt 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 4 6

El Salvador 1 2 5 3 1 . 0 9 5

Equatorial Guinea 1 2 . . 0 . 0 5 4

Estonia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 6

Ethiopia 0 0 3 3 0 0 1 4 6

Fiji . . 6 . . . 0 6 2

Finland 1 0 2 . 0 0 1 4 6

France 1 1 0 . 1 1 0 4 6

Gabon 1 3 6 3 2 . 0 12 5

Gambia 1 2 7 4 1 . 1 12 5

Georgia 0 0 . . . . 0 0 3

Germany 0 1 1 . 1 0 1 4 6

Ghana . . 2 3 0 . 1 3 3

Greece 1 . 1 . 2 0 0 4 5

Treaty Total Total

State party CESCR CCPR CERD APART CEDAW CAT CRC due treaties

Grenada 1 1 . . 1 . 1 4 4

Guatema 1 1 0 . 1 1 1 5 6

Guinea 1 0 8 5 3 1 1 14 6

Guinea-Bissau 1 . . . 2 . 1 4 3

Guyana 2 2 9 4 2 2 1 18 6

Haiti . 1 2 4 3 . . 6 3

Holy See . . 1 . . . 0 1 2

Honduras 1 . . . 0 . 0 1 3

Hungary 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 5 6

Iceland 0 1 0 . 0 . 0 1 5

India 1 1 4 1 0 . 0 6 5

Indonesia . . . . 2 . 0 2 2

Iran, Islamic Republic of 0 1 1 2 . . . 2 3

Iraq 1 0 2 1 1 . . 4 4

Ireland 1 0 . . 1 . 0 2 4

Israel 1 1 2 . 0 0 1 6 6

Italy 0 0 0 . 0 1 1 3 6

Jamaica 1 2 5 3 2 . 0 10 5

Japan 1 0 . . 0 . 0 1 4

Jordan 1 0 2 1 1 1 0 5 6

Kenya 0 2 . . 1 . 1 4 4

Kuwait . . 1 3 . . 1 2 2

Lao People's Democratic

Republic . . 5 3 3 . 1 9 3

Latvia 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 5 6

Lebanon 0 3 6 . . . 1 10 4

Lesotho 1 0 5 3 . . 1 7 4

Liberia . . 9 5 3 . 0 12 3

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2 2 3 5 1 1 0 9 6

Liechtenstein . . . . . 1 . 1 1

Lithuania 1 1 . . 0 . 1 3 4

Luxembourg 1 0 1 . 2 1 0 4 6

Madagascar 3 2 4 2 1 . 0 10 5

Malawi 0 0 . . 1 . 1 2 4

Maldives . . 1 2 0 . 1 2 3

Mali 0 2 4 3 1 . 1 8 5

Treaty Total Total

State party CESCR CCPR CERD APART CEDAW CAT CRC due treaties

Malta 1 0 3 . 1 1 1 7 6

Marshall Islands . . . . . . 0 0 1

Mauritania . . 3 1 . . 1 4 2

Mauritius 1 2 4 . 1 0 1 9 6

Mexico 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 6

Micronesia (Federated

States of) . . . . . . 0 0 1

Monaco . . . . . 0 0 0 2

Mongolia 1 0 2 2 1 . 1 5 5

Morocco 0 0 1 . 0 0 0 1 6

Mozambique . 0 5 3 . . 0 5 3

Myanmar . . . . . . 0 0 1

Namibia . . 3 3 1 . 0 4 3

Nepal 1 1 4 4 1 0 1 8 6

Netherlands 2 1 2 . 0 0 . 5 5

New Zealand 0 0 2 . 1 0 0 3 6

Nicaragua 0 1 4 4 0 . 0 5 5

Niger 1 1 3 4 . . 0 5 4

Nigeria 0 0 1 2 1 . 1 3 5

Norway 1 0 1 . 0 0 0 2 6

Pakistan . . 4 1 . . 0 4 2

Panama 2 2 4 2 2 0 1 11 6

Papua New Guinea . . 5 . . . 0 5 2

Paraguay 1 0 . . 0 0 0 1 5

Peru 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 5 6

Philippines 0 1 3 2 0 1 0 5 6

Poland 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 6

Portugal 0 1 2 . 0 1 1 5 6

Qatar . . 1 0 . . . 1 1

Republic of Korea 0 0 1 . 1 . 1 3 5

Republic of Moldova 0 1 1 . . . 0 2 4

Romania 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 6

Russian Federation 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 6 6

Rwanda 2 1 3 0 0 . 0 6 5

Saint Kitts and Nevis . . . . 3 . 1 4 2

Treaty Total Total

State party CESCR CCPR CERD APART CEDAW CAT CRC due treaties

Saint Lucia . . 2 . 3 . 0 5 3

Saint Vincent and Grenadines 1 2 5 2 0 . 0 8 5

Samoa . . . . 1 . . 1 1

San Marino 1 1 . . . . 1 3 3

Sao Tome and Principe . . . 4 . . 1 1 1

Senegal 0 0 1 2 1 1 1 4 6

Seychelles 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 8 6

Sierra Leone . . 10 . 2 . 1 13 3

Slovakia 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 3 6

Slovenia 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 4 6

Solomon Island 1 . 5 . . . . 6 2

Somalia 1 1 5 5 . 1 . 8 4

Spain 1 0 1 . 1 0 0 3 6

Sri Lanka 1 1 4 2 1 0 0 7 6

Sudan 1 2 1 4 . . 0 4 4

Suriname 0 2 5 3 1 . 0 8 5

Swaziland . . 10 . . . . 10 1

Sweden 0 0 0 . 0 0 0 0 6

Switzerland 1 1 . . . 0 . 2 3

Syrian Arab Republic 1 2 2 1 . . 0 5 4

Tajikistan . . . . 0 . 0 0 2

Thailand . . . . 1 . 1 2 2

The Former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia 0 0 0 0 1 . 1 2 5

Togo 1 0 6 3 3 2 1 13 6

Tonga . . 1 . . . . 1 1

Trinidad and Tobago 1 1 0 3 1 . 1 4 5

Tunisia 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 4 6

Turkey . . . . 0 1 . 2 2

Turkmenistan . . . . . . 0 0 1

Uganda 1 . 6 2 0 2 1 10 5

Ukraine 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 6

United Arab Emirates . . 4 2 . . . 4 1

United Kingdom of

Great Britain and

Northern Ireland 1 0 1 . 0 1 0 3 6

United Republic of Tanzania 2 1 4 5 1 . 0 8 5

United States of America . 1 . . . . . 1 1

Uruguay 0 1 2 . 2 1 1 7 6

Vanuatu . . . . . . 0 0 1

Venezuela 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 9 6

Viet Nam 0 1 1 3 2 . 0 4 5

Yemen 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 4 6

Yugoslavia 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 9 6

Zaire 1 1 7 4 1 . 1 12 5

Zambia 2 1 0 3 0 . 1 5 5

Zimbabwe 1 1 2 1 1 . 1 6 5

TOTAL NUMBER OF

OVERDUE REPORTS 105 98 381 213 117 47 79 1040

TOTAL NUMBER OF

STATES PARTIES 129 127 139 99 133 82 160 869

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