The
Human Rights Committee is a
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions (spring session at UN headquarters in New York, summer and fall sessions at the UN Office in Geneva) to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsThe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976...
, and to examine individual petitions concerning 112 States parties to the Optional Protocol .
The Committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies.
States that have ratified or acceded to the
First Optional ProtocolThe First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is an international treaty establishing an individual complaint mechanism for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR). It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and...
(currently 112 countries) have agreed to allow persons within their jurisdiction to submit complaints to the Committee requesting a determination whether provisions of the Covenant have been violated.
The
Human Rights Committee is a
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions (spring session at UN headquarters in New York, summer and fall sessions at the UN Office in Geneva) to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the
International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsThe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976...
, and to examine individual petitions concerning 112 States parties to the Optional Protocol .
The Committee is one of eight UN-linked human rights treaty bodies.
States that have ratified or acceded to the
First Optional ProtocolThe First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is an international treaty establishing an individual complaint mechanism for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR). It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 1966, and...
(currently 112 countries) have agreed to allow persons within their jurisdiction to submit complaints to the Committee requesting a determination whether provisions of the Covenant have been violated. For those countries, the Human Rights Committee functions as a mechanism for the international redress of human rights abuses, similar to the regional mechanisms afforded by the
Inter-American Court of Human RightsThe Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica.Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
or the
European Court of Human RightsThe European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is an international judicial body established under the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 to monitor respect of human rights by states...
. The First Optional Protocol entered into force on 23 March 1976.
The
Second Optional ProtocolThe Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty is a side agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 December 1989, and entered into force on 11 July 1991. As of...
, in force since 11 July 1991, addresses the abolition of the
death penaltyCapital punishment or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences....
and has been
ratified by 71 states.
The Human Rights Committee should not be confused with the more high-profile Commission on Human Rights, a
CharterThe United Nations Charter is the treaty that forms and establishes the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the Herbst Theatre of the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on June 26, 1945, by 50 of the 51 original...
-based mechanism, or its replacement, the
Human Rights CouncilThe United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
. Whereas the Commission on Human Rights was a political forum where states debated all human rights concerns (since June 2006, replaced by the Council in that function), the Human Rights Committee is a
treatyA treaty is an agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as: agreement, protocol, covenant, convention, exchange of letters, etc...
-based mechanism where a group of experts examines reports and rules on individual communications pertaining only to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It remains disputed whether the Human Rights Committee's "Views under artible 5(4) of the Optional Protocol" qualify as decisions of a
quasi-judicial bodyA quasi-judicial body is an individual or organization which has powers resembling those of a court of law or judge and is able to remedy a situation or impose legal penalties on a person or organization.-Powers:...
or simply constitute authoritative interpretations on the merits of the cases brought before them.
The members of the Human Rights Committee, who must be "of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights", are elected by the member states but on an individual basis, not as representatives of their countries. They serve four-year terms, with one-half of their number elected every second year at the
General AssemblyFor two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:*General Assembly members*General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
.
Members
| Name | State | Term |
|---|
| Abdelfattah Amor |
Tunisia |
2006–2010 |
| Mr. Mohammed AYAT |
Morocco |
2008–2012 |
| Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati shortly P. N. Bhagwati was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from 12-July-1985 until his retirement on 20-December-1986.He became Judge of Gujarat High Court in July-1960...
|
India |
2006–2010 |
| Christine Chanet |
France |
2006–2010 |
| Mr. Ahmad Amin FATHALLA |
Egypt |
2008–2012 |
| Yuji Iwasawa |
Japan |
2006–2010 |
| Helen Keller |
Switzerland |
2008–2010 |
| Rajsoomer Lallah |
Mauritius |
2008–2012 |
| Mr. Bouzib LAZHARI |
Algeria |
2008–2012 |
| Zonke Zanele Majodina |
South Africa |
2006–2010 |
| Iulia Motoc Iulia Motocis one of the most proeminent Romanian international law professors and international experts, now Member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Moţoc is a professor at the University of Bucharest, where she holds courses on International law, Human rights, European law...
|
Romania |
2006–2010 |
| Michael O'Flaherty |
Ireland |
2008–2012 |
| José Luis Pérez Sánchez-Cerro |
Peru |
2006–2010 |
| Mr. Rafael RIVAS POSADA |
Colombia |
2008–2012 |
| Nigel S. Rodley Sir Nigel Simon Rodley KBE is an international human rights lawyer and professor.-Current positions:Rodley is:*a member of the UN Human Rights Committee, a body of 18 human rights experts that monitors UN member states' compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and*a...
|
United Kingdom |
2006–2010 |
| Mr. Fabian Omar SALVIOLI |
Argentina |
2008–2012 |
| Mr. Krister THELIN |
Sweden |
2008–2012 |
Ruth WedgwoodRuth Wedgwood holds the Edward B. Burling Chair in International Law and Diplomacy at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, D.C.- Family origins :Ruth Wedgwood is the daughter of labor lawyer Morris P...
|
United States |
2006–2010 |
External links