Human Right Committee Opens One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh Session

The Human Right Committee this morning opened its one hundred and thirty-seventh session, during which it will examine the reports of Egypt, Panama, Peru, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan and Zambia on their implementation of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and adopted its agenda and programme of work for the session.

In her opening remarks, Wan-Hea Lee, Chief, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Section, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, Representative of the Secretary-General declared the one hundred and thirty-seventh session of the Human Rights Committee open. Noting that human, civil and political rights were under threat, she said that measures introduced in response to the pandemic had been used to limit civic space. Freedom of speech, assembly and association as well as access to information had been limited, while emergency measures were used as pretexts to consolidate governmental authority. The vulnerability of certain populations had been exacerbated. Democratic principles were challenged in countries where they were firmly established, and human rights defenders and journalists were targeted or forced to flee. In this crucial moment we must build back better, she said.

While 2023 was the seventy-fifth and the thirtieth anniversaries of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, respectively, not a single right was universally respected in the world. The High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk had initiated the “Human Rights 75” campaign to promote the three goals of universality, progress and engagement. Further, the Office of the High Commissioner would spotlight a theme each month in 2023. The theme for March was racial justice, a need born out of an outpouring of hated on social media and use of lethal force against people of African descent by law enforcement agents, as well as the increase in anti-Asian hate worldwide since the start of the pandemic. The High Commissioner had pledged to counter discrimination with an emphasis on a preventative response.

The fifty-second session of the Human Rights Council had opened today. During the session, the Council would consider items related to civil and political rights, including the reports of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and promotion and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. At the same time, the Office of the High Commissioner was continuing to strengthen the treaty bodies; it was finalising the implementation plan of the Chairs’ report from last June, through which it would facilitate the treaty bodies’ work by introducing a predictable review calendar. The High Commissioner would make every effort to secure funding for the human rights mechanisms during his tenure. She wished the Committee a successful session.

During the session, Tania María Abdo Rocholl (Paraguay) was elected as Chair of the Committee, and José Manuel Santos Pais (Portugal) and Changrok Soh (Republic of Korea) were elected as Vice-Chairs. Elections for the third Vice-Chair and Rapporteur were deferred.

New members elected to the Committee from this session were Farid Ahmadov (Azerbaijan), Rodrigo A. Carazo (Costa Rica), Yvonne Donders (Netherlands), Laurence R. Helfer (United States), Bacre Waly Ndiaye (Senegal), Tijana Šurlan (Serbia) and Koji Teraya (Japan).

Marcia V. J Kran, Chair of the Working Group on Individual Communications, presented the report on its activities for the one hundred and thirty-seventh session. The Working Group had reviewed 27 drafts of views, covering 37 communications from 15 State parties dating from 2014-2019. Issues examined included arbitrary detention, torture, freedom of expression and assembly, non-refoulement and the use of lethal force by law enforcement. The Working Group would put forward to the plenary 26 communications including 16 drafts with findings of violation, one communication with a finding of non-violation, five inadmissibility proposals, one admissibility proposal, and four communications for which the Working Group was putting forward two options for the consideration in the plenary. The report was adopted.

All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found at the session’s webpage. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available via the following link: http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 February, to begin its consideration of the fifth report of Egypt (CCPR/C/EGY/5).