Overview 109 session – Follow-up to Concluding Observations
On Monday 28 October 2013, the Human Rights Committee adopted the report of the new Rapporteur on Follow-up to Concluding Observations, Fabian Salvioli. The report assessed recent information on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations in relation to Kosovo, Kuwait Uzbekistan, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Guatemala and Turkmenistan, using the new evaluation system. For the first time, the Committee discussed at length the grade given to each recommendation, raising important issues related to the methodology used in the assessment. One question raised by a number of Committee members was how NGO information was taken into consideration in assessing the implementation of the recommendations, especially when such information contradicted that provided by the State party.
The full report will be available soon.
Among the key issues discussed at the meeting, Uzbekistan’s lack of cooperation with the follow-up procedure and the lack of progress in implementing the Committee’s recommendations (Concluding Observations adopted in March 2010) deserves mention. The Rapporteur noted that no progress had been made regarding three key issues, namely investigation into the Andijan events (grades C1 and D1), investigations of cases of torture (grade C1) and improvement in the protection of human rights defenders (grade D1).
The assessment of the recommendations on Kuwait (Concluding Observations adopted in July 2011) also resulted in a mixed picture. Progress has been made recently regarding the length of the police custody, which has now been reduced to 48 hours (grade B1). On the other hand, no progress has been made on the protection of the rights of migrant domestic workers (grade C2). Even worse, the Committee decided to give a grade E (the worst grade) with regard to the implementation of the recommendation on media pluralism and the defamation laws. This is only the second time that the Committee has used the grade E, which indicates that the action taken by the State goes against the recommendation by the Committee.
The Follow-up Rapporteur informed the Committee that he hopes to meet with representatives form Tunisia, El Salvador and Ethiopia in the near future to further discuss the implementation of the Concluding Observations.
