Address to the UN Human Rights Committee on the Occasion of the Commemoration of its 100th Session
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411102900110 |
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Part C: Appendices |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/1, 131–137, 2011.
© Netherlands I nstitute of Human Ri ghts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands. 131
PART C: APPENDICES
ADDRess to tHe Un HUMAn RIgHts
CoMMIttee on tHe oCCAsIon oF tHe
CoMMeMoRAtIon oF Its 100tH sessIon
A A C T*
1. INTRODUCTION
is is a signi cant day to all those devoted to the international protection of human
rights: we all gather tod ay, 29 October 2010, here at the United Nations Headquarters
in Geneva, to commemorate the 100th session of the U N Human Rights Comm ittee,
the organ established by the International C ovenant on Human R ights to superv ise
compliance with its provisions. e Committee ha s been doing so, a long the years
of its e xistence, in t he faithful exercise of its f unctions, by mea ns either of its Views
on communicat ions under the Optional Protocol (Ar ticle 5(4)), or of its Concluding
Observations on reports of States parties to the Covenant, or else of its General
Comments.
I am particul arly honoured by, and grateful for, the kind invitation to address this
commemorative act of the 100th session of the Committee. More than three decades
ago, by the end of 1977 and the beginni ng of 1978, I had the occasion to assist in the
processing, i n the old UN Division of Human Rights, here at the Palais de s Nations
in Geneva, of the rst lot of communications, for examination by the Human Rights
Committee. e g reat majority of them conformed what ca me to be known, in those
days, as the cycle of cases concern ing Uruguay. Much of South America was, in those
years, plagued by aut horitarian and repressive regimes, which became one of the
earliest challenges fa ced by t he Human Rights Com mittee in its histor y. Today, 33
years later, if we look back, we are bound to express our recognition for the signicant
contribution, in all conti nents, of the Human Rights Committee, to t he international
protection of human rights.
* Former President of Inter Inter-American Court of Human Rig hts; Judge of the International Court
of Justice; Honorary Profes sor Comparative Human Rig hts Law, Netherla nds Institute of Human
Rights (SIM), School of Law, Utrecht Univer sity; Emer itus Profes sor of International Law of the
University of Brasília, Bra zil; Member of the Curatori um of e Ha gue Academy of I nternational,
and of the Institut de Droit International. e address was delive red at the Palais des Nations, United
Nations at Geneva on 29 Oc tober 2010.
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