I UNITED NATIONS
| Author | Ineke Boerefijn |
| DOI | 10.1177/092405190001800105 |
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
Part B: Human Rights News
IUNITED NATIONS
Ineke Boerefijn
A.
Treaty
Bodies
The Human Rights Committee
The Human Rights Committee held its 67th session from 18 October - 5 November 1999
in Geneva. It considered the second periodic report
of
the Republic
of
Korea, the third
periodic report
of
Cameroon and fourth periodic reports submitted by Norway, Morocco
and Portugal (on Macau). The Committee considered the fifth report concerning Hong
Kong, which was submitted by the People's Republic
of
China. China is itself not a State
Party to the Covenant, but has become responsible for reporting on the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region. The Committee adopted new, consolidated, guidelines for
reporting, replacing all earlier versions. 1The guidelines entered into force on 31
December 1999. The guidelines reiterated that Article 40
of
the Covenant requires every
State Party to submit an initial report within a year
of
the Covenant's entry into force for
that State. The guidelines specify that the report should deal specifically with every article
of
the Covenant, and it should explain whether the Covenant was incorporated into
domestic law, and
if
not, whether the Constitution guaranteed Covenant rights. Further,
information should be given about the judicial, administrative or other competent
authorities having jurisdiction in respect
of
Covenant rights. Practices on subsequent
periodic reports changed with the entry into force
of
the guidelines. Originally, the
Committee wanted reports submitted every five years, but on the basis
of
the new
guidelines the Committee, in its concluding observations, will announce the date for
submission
of
the State Party's next report. The guidelines also state that the objective
of
the follow-up report should be a continuation and up-dating
of
the previous dialogue, with
emphasis made towards fulfilment
of
the State Party's obligations under the Covenant.
The Committee considered general comments on Articles 3 (equal rights
of
men and
women) and 4 (derogation
of
rights in times
of
public emergency). The general comment
on Article 3 was adopted in first reading; it is expected to be adopted during the 68th
session.
The Human Rights Committee held its 66th session from 12-30 July 1999. In the previous
issue
of
the NQHR, attention was paid to matters under the reporting procedure.' The
present contribution deals with the Committee's case-law under the Optional Protocol to
the Covenant.
Communication No. 613/1995, Anthony Leehong v. Jamaica, views
of
13 July 1999
The author
of
the communication is a Jamaican citizen who at the time
of
submission
of
the communication was awaiting execution. Subsequently, the death sentence was
commuted to life imprisonment. The Committee found violations
of
Articles 7 and 10(1),
9(1) and 9(3)
of
the Covenant. No violations were found
of
Articles 9(2) and l4(3)(a).
1UN Doc. CCPRJC/66/GUIIRev.1.
2NQHR, Vol. 17,
No.4,
1999, p. 479.
Netherlands Quarterly
of
Human Rights. Vol. 18/1, 67-108. 2000.
©Netherlands Institute
of
Human Rights (SlM). Printed in the Netherlands. 67
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