UN Human Rights Committee Interferes with National Domestic Policies
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
During its recently concluded 97th Session, the United Nations Human Rights Committee instructed Moldova, Switzerland, and the Russian Federation to implement changes in their domestic policies to ensure the realization of civil and political rights that is best left to the democratic process.
The Human Rights Committee (the “Committee”) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties. All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year after becoming a party to the Covenant and, thereafter, whenever the Committee requests (usually every four years). The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding observations.”
During the 97th session, which lasted from October 12 to 30, the Committee reviewed the reports filed by Moldova , Switzerland, and the Russian Federation.
In the case of its concluding observations pertaining to Moldova, the Committee determined that:
• Moldova should make “serious efforts” to disseminate knowledge of the provisions of the Covenant among judges to enable them to apply the Covenant in relevant cases. Moldova also should inform lawyers and the public about the Covenant in order to enable them to invoke its provisions before the courts. In this way, the Committee seeks to use the judicial process to develop the Covenant’s civil and political rights into binding international law. The Committee instructed Moldova to include in its next periodic report detailed examples of the application of the Covenant by the domestic courts.
• Moldova should adopt comprehensive non-discrimination legislation expressly outlawing all the grounds of discrimination set out in the Covenant, as well as provisions on adequate sanctions and compensation. Basically, the Committee is calling for the complete and immediate realization of all civil and political rights in Moldova, subject to the ongoing monitoring by the Committee.
• Moldova should take measures to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation, including training programs for police officers and health-care professionals, as well as campaigns aimed at raising awareness among potential victims of their rights and the existing mechanisms for redress of their grievances.
• Moldova should facilitate the participation of civil society organizations in the preparation of future reports under the Covenant. By demanding the participation of civil society organizations in the preparation of future reports to the Committee, the Committee is assured of having sympathetic “boots on the ground” in Moldova to ensure that the Committee’s directives are implemented.
In the case of its concluding observations pertaining to Switzerland, the Committee determined that:
• Switzerland should establish a national human rights institution with a broad human rights mandate, and provide it with adequate financial and human resources. By having Switzerland create a national human rights institution, the Committee will be assured of having advocates for the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations regarding civil and political rights in Switzerland.
• Switzerland should review its legislation and practices in order to restrict the conditions of access to, and legitimate use of, firearms. In addition, Switzerland should create a national registry of privately owned firearms.
In the case of its concluding observations pertaining to the Russian Federation, the Committee determined that:
• The Russian Federation should provide effective protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, in particular through the enactment of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation and intensify its efforts to combat discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, including by launching a “sensitization campaign” aimed at the general public.
By using the reporting process to demand the realization of all civil and political rights by State Parties to the Covenant and by calling for the empowerment of national human rights institutes and NGOs, the Committee is involving itself in domestic affairs beyond that level which was contemplated by countries when they agreed to the Covenant. A thorough discussion of this phenomenon is contained in an amicus curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court of the United States.
Jim Kelly is the President of Solidarity Center for Law and Justice, P.C., a public interest civil and human rights law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The opinions expressed herein are his own.
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