I United Nations
| Published date | 01 December 2009 |
| Author | Ineke Boerefijn |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410902700405 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 27/4, 567–624, 2009.
© Netherlands I nstitute of Human Rig hts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands. 567
PART B: HUMAN RIGHTS NEWS
I UNITED NATIONS
I B*
1. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE, 95TH AND 96TH SESSIONS
e Human Rig hts Committee held its 95th session from 16 March – 3 Apri l 2009 in
New York. It held its 96th session from 13–31 July 2009 in Geneva.
Activities under t he Reporting Procedure
At its 95th session, the Human Rights Commit tee discussed reports from Austr alia,
Rwanda and Sweden. As the delegat ion of Chad was late, consideration of that
country’s report was rescheduled to t he Committee’s 96th session. At that session,
it further considered reports submitted by Az erbaijan, the Netherlands (including
the Netherlands Anti lles and Aruba) and Tanzania. e Com mittee decided to make
public its concludi ng observ ations on the situation of civi l and political rights in
Grenada, which the C ommittee reviewed in the absence of a report at its 90th session
(July 2 007). Grenada’s initia l report was due on 5 Decembe r 1992. e Committee
considered t he failure to submit a report ‘a serious breach by the State party of its
obligations under Ar ticle 40 of the Covenant.’1 Fur thermore, the Committee i s
draing a new general comment on the right to freedom of expres sion (Article 19 of
the Covenant).
Activities under the Ind ividual Complaints Procedure: Select ion of View s and
Decisions (95th session)
Communication No. 1334/2004, Mavlonov and Sa’di vs Uzbekistan, Views of 19 March
2009 (Violation of Articles 19 and 27 read togethe r with Article 2)
e ref usal by the Uzbek authorities to re-register t he newspaper Oina, which was
published almost exclusively in the minority language Tajik, was reason for the editor,
* Professor of gender and law, Maastricht University, Maastricht ; and associate professor, Netherlands
Institute of Huma n Rights (SIM), Utrecht Scho ol of Law, the Netherlands.
1 Human Rights Committee , Concluding Observat ions on Grenada (2009), UN Doc. CCPR/C/GRD/
CO/1, para. 2.
Human Right s News
568 Intersentia
Mr Mavlonov, and a regular reader, Mr Sa’di, to allege a violation of Articles 19 and 27.
On the basis of the information before it, the Committee concluded that the content
of the pap er appeared to be the reason for t he denial of the re-registration, and that
this violated Mr Mavlonov’s right to publish Oina and M r Sa’di ’s right to receive
information and ideas in print. Accordi ng to the Committee, the public has a right to
receive information as a corollary of the specic func tion of a journalist and/or editor
to impart information. It considered that Mr Sa’di’s right to receive information as an
Oina reader was violated by its non-registrat ion.
With respect to Article 27, the Committee noted t hat Oina publis hed a rticles
containing educ ational and other materia ls for Tajik students and young p ersons on
events and matters of cu ltural interest to this rea dership, as well as reported on the
particula r diculties facing t he continued provision of education to Tajik youth in
their own language, i ncluding shortages i n Tajik-language textbooks , low wages for
teachers and the forced opening of Uzbek-language classes in some Tajik schools .
e Committee considered that in t he context of Article 27, education in a minority
language is a f undamental par t of minor ity culture. It recalled that the question of
whether Article 27 has been violated is whether the impact of the rest riction is so
substantial that it eectively denies the right to enjoy cultural rights. It held that the use
of a minority language press as mea ns of airing issues of signicance and importa nce
to the Tajik minority community in Uzbekistan, by both editors and readers, is a n
essential element of the Tajik minority’s culture. Taking into account the denial of the
right to enjoy minority Tajik culture, t he Committee found a violation of Article 27,
read together with Article 2. Two Committee members held the view that there was no
separate violation of Article 19 with respec t to Mr Sa’di, but that he had been a victim
of a violation of Article 19 read together wit h Article 27.
According to the Com mittee, Mr Mavlonov and Mr Sa’di were entitled to an
eective remedy, including the reconsideration of Oina’s application for re-registration,
and compensation for Mr Mavlonov.
Communication No. 1406/2005, Weerawansa vs Sr i Lanka, Views of 17 March 2009
(Violation of Articles 6(1) and 10(1))
e present communication is interesting because of the position the Committee takes
on the mandatory imposition of the death penalty in Sri Lanka for certain crimes. e
Committee’s position that this violated Article 6(1) of the Covenant is in itself not new.
e Committee reiterated t hat the automatic and mandatory imposition of t he death
penalty constituted a n arbitrary deprivation of life, in circums tances where the death
penalty was imposed without any possibi lity of ta king into a ccount the defendant’s
personal circums tances or the circumstances of t he particular oence. In t he present
case it added that there wa s a violation also when the State party had applied a
moratorium on the death penalty for nearly 30 yea rs – it was the i mposition of the
death penalty that gave rise to a violation. According to one Committee member, there
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