Overview of the 141st Session of the Human Rights Committee (1 - 23 July 2024)

The Committee reviewed seven countries on the application of the ICCPR. India was reviewed for the first time since 1997, while the delegation of Syria opted to participate online from Damascus.

Human rights defenders from Suriname during the formal NGO briefings with the Committee

This session was touched by the on-going UN liquidity crisis and, as a result, was shorter than normal, lasting 3 weeks and a half rather than the usual 5 weeks, though the Committee hopes to return to its prescribed five weeks schedule of five days for the next session.

Despite the abbreviated session, the Human Rights Committee was still able to review the periodic reports and adopted Concluding Observations for seven countries: Croatia, Malta, Honduras, Maldives, Suriname, Syria, and India. The Committee also adopted the List of Issues in relation to Chad, and the List of issues prior to reporting of Austria, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone.

This session followed the recent elections of new members during the 40th Meeting of State Parties in New York. Five current Committee members were re-elected and four new members were selected and will join the Committee in 2025. 

The review of the India report came along with the significant participation of Indian NGOs, with 53 participants registered for the informal briefing with the Committee. While some participants traveled from India, there was also large representation of civil society members from the Indian diaspora.

The continued use of hybrid format for State reviews was another highlight. Following Guyana’s request for a hybrid review in the 140th session, Syria also opted to have its review in hybrid format. Three members of the delegation were present in Geneva with the rest of the members speaking over video call in Damascus.