Grenada breached obligations under the Covenant of Human Rights

31 July 2009 The Human Rights Committee concluded today its ninety-sixth session, during which it considered and adopted concluding observations and recommendations on the reports submitted by Tanzania, the Netherlands, including the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, Chad and Azerbaijan on how those countries implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During this session, it also finalized its concluding observations on the situation of civil and political rights in Grenada, which the Committee reviewed in the absence of a report on 18 July 2007, at its ninetieth session. In concluding observations on the fourth periodic review of Tanzania, the Committee welcomed the enactment of the Spinsters and Single Parent Child Protection Act of 2005 in Zanzibar, abolishing the imprisonment of unmarried women who had become pregnant, as well as the de facto moratorium on the death penalty, which has been in force since 1994. The Committee was concerned at the high number of reported incidents of mutilations and killings of persons with albinism. Other concerns included that the practice of female genital mutilation still persisted and that impunity for perpetrators prevailed and that corporal punishment was still available as part of judicial sentences and was also permitted within the education system. Following its consideration of the fourth periodic report of the Netherlands, including the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, the Committee welcomed, for the European part of the Netherlands, a new law that allowed for the exclusion from the home of perpetrators of domestic violence. It noted with concern, among others, the low participation of women in the labour market and the existing pay gap; the high number of euthanasia cases; and inadequate measures taken to combat child abuse. For the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, the Committee recommended, respectively, that prison conditions be improved and that the duration of pre-trial detention be brought in line with the Covenant. Regarding the initial report submitted by Chad, the Committee welcomed the adoption of a law prohibiting female genital mutilation, early marriage and domestic and sexual violence. Among principal concerns was the impunity with which serious human rights violations were committed, including murder, rape, forced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture, destruction of property, forced displacement and attacks against the civilian population. The continuing high level of corruption in Chad also concerned the Committee. Among recommendations, the Committee asked Chad to consider abolishing the death penalty or re-implementing the moratorium on it and that it take appropriate measures to enforce the rights of persons in custody. Having reviewed the third periodic report of Azerbaijan, the Committee welcomed, inter alia, the agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross to conduct regular visits in prisons and detention facilities and the adoption of a national programme to combat domestic violence. One of the major concerns of the Committee remained the extensive limitations to the right to freedom of expression of the media and reports of killings or beatings of journalists. The Committee also expressed concern regarding the persistence of violence against women, in particular domestic violence, and reported incidents of violation of non-refoulement of asylum-seekers. Having considered the situation of civil and political rights in Grenada in the absence of a report, the Committee regretted that Grenada had not submitted its initial report, due on 5 December 1992, which amounted to a serious breach of its obligations under the Covenant. Among positive aspects, the Committee welcomed the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in 2002. The Committee was concerned that corporal punishment, including flogging and whipping, was still administered in accordance with the Criminal Code, the Prisons Act, and the Education Act of 2002. Among recommendations, the Committee said Grenada should provide without further delay for an independent judicial review of the convictions of the 10 members of the “Grenada 17” still in detention. During the session, the Committee considered 34 communications from individuals submitted under the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant. The first Optional Protocol, for the 111 States that have ratified it, allows review by the Committee of complaints from persons alleging violations of the terms of the Covenant. In private meetings the Committee's decided that 9 communications were inadmissible, 14 Views were adopted, 2 communications were deemed admissible and consideration would be discontinued for 9 communications. The Chairperson informed the Committee that 3 new State party reports had been received this week, two of which were initial reports. The Committee also held its fifth informal meeting with States Parties, where States and Experts addressed, inter alia, the harmonization of working methods with other treaty bodies; the complementarity of the work of the Human Rights Committee with the Universal Periodic Review; and collaboration between the Committee and the Human Rights Council. The Committee also held a discussion on human rights indicators and the influence of parliamentarians on the implementation of human rights. Also during the session, the Committee considered progress reports on follow-up to its concluding observations and follow-up to the Committee's decisions on individual communications. During its next session, which will take place in Geneva from 12 to 30 October 2009, the Committee is scheduled to consider reports from Moldova, Switzerland, Croatia, Russian Federation, and Ecuador. Concluding Observations on Grenada under Review Procedure Having considered the situation of civil and political rights under the Covenant in Grenada in the absence of a report on 18 July 2007, the Committee regretted that Grenada, despite numerous reminders, had not submitted its initial report, which had been due on 5 December 1992. The Committee considered that that amounted to a serious breach of Grenada’s obligations under article 40 of the Covenant. Among positive aspects in the review, the Committee welcomed the abolition of the mandatory death penalty by Grenada in 2002. It also welcomed the adoption of the Domestic Violence Act 2001 and the Domestic Violence Summary Procedure Rules, as well as of the Child Protection Act of 1998. The Committee noted with concern that the state of emergency proclaimed in 2004 in Grenada had not been brought to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Grenada should provide the Committee with more detailed information on the way it ensured that measures derogating from its obligations under the Covenant did not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion and social origin. It should also establish a mechanism by which it informed other States parties to the Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General, of the rights it had derogated from in time of public emergency. Another concern was the potentially overbroad reach of the definition of terrorism under the Terrorism Act of 2003, which might extend to conduct, which, although unlawful, should not be understood as constituting terrorism. The Committee was also concerned at the seemingly mandatory nature of life imprisonment sentences for those convicted of terrorist acts. The Committee was concerned that corporal punishment, including flogging and whipping, was still administered in accordance with the Criminal Code, the Prisons Act, and the Education Act of 2002, and that the law provided for the sentencing of women and girls to solitary confinement in lieu of corporal punishment. It was also noted with concern that, despite indications that the convictions of the “Grenada 17” rested on a trial not respecting all the guarantees of the Covenant, 10 of the original “Grenada 17” remain detained, having recently been re-sentenced to 40-year terms, of which they had already served the majority. Grenada should provide without further delay for an independent judicial review of the convictions of the 10 members of the “Grenada 17” still in detention. The Committee was further concerned about information received according to which overcrowding was a serious problem in places of detention in Grenada, and about reported poor conditions of detention, as well as the fact that, under domestic law, reduction of the diet of a detainee for up to three weeks without even medical supervision might be and had been imposed as a punishment for violation of prison regulations. Other concerns included that the Criminal Code penalized same-sex sexual activities between consenting adults and that libel might be pursued in criminal courts. Members of the Committee The States parties to the Covenant elect the Committee's 18 expert members who serve in their individual capacity for four-year terms. Article 28 of the Covenant requires that "they shall be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights." The Committee members are: Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia); Mohammed Ayat (Morocco); Lazhari Bouzid (Algeria); Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati (India); Christine Chanet (France); Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt); Yuji Iwasawa (Japan); Helen Keller (Switzerland); Rajsoomer Lallah (Mauritius); Zonke Zanele Majodina (South Africa); Iulia Antoanella Motoc (Romania); Michael O'Flaherty (Ireland); José Luis Perez Sanchez-Cerro (Perú); Rafael Rivas Posada (Colombia); Krister Thelin (Sweden); Nigel Rodley (United Kingdom); Fabian Omar Salvioli (Argentina); and Ruth Wedgwood (United States). The Committee Chairperson is Mr. Yuji Iwasawa.