A/71/40 United Nations Report of the Human Rights Committee 114th session (29 June-24 July 2015) 115th session (19 October-6 November 2015) 116th session (7-31 March 2016) General Assembly Official Records Seventy-first session Supplement No. 40 (A/71/40) A/71/40 General Assembly Official Records Seventy-first session Supplement No. 40 (A/71/40) Report of the Human Rights Committee 114th session (29 June-24 July 2015) 115th session (19 October-6 November 2015) 116th session (7-31 March 2016) United Nations · New York, 2016 Note Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. Summary The present annual report covers the period from 3 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 and the 114th, 115th and 116th sessions of the Human Rights Committee. In total, there are 168 States parties to the Covenant, 115 to the Optional Protocol and 81 to the Second Optional Protocol. During the period under review, the Committee considered 21 States parties' reports submitted under article 40 and adopted concluding observations on them (114th session: Canada; France; Spain; the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Crown Dependencies); United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Overseas Territory); Uzbekistan and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of); 115th session: Austria; Benin; Greece; Iraq; Republic of Korea; San Marino; and Suriname; 116th session: Costa Rica; Namibia; New Zealand; Rwanda; Slovenia; South Africa; and Sweden (see paragraph 15 below on concluding observations). Under the Optional Protocol procedure, the Committee adopted 68 Views on communications, and declared 23 communications inadmissible. Consideration of communications was discontinued in 18 cases. So far, 2,759 communications have been registered since the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Covenant, including 166 since the writing of the previous report (see paragraphs 24-26 below on Optional Protocol decisions). The Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations, Sarah Cleveland, and the Deputy Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations, Yadh Ben Achour, presented interim reports during the Committee's 114th, 115th and 116th sessions. The Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views, Víctor Manuel Rodríguez-Rescia, presented progress reports at the 115th and 116th sessions. The Committee again deplores the fact that a large number of States parties do not comply with their reporting obligations under article 40 of the Covenant. Forty-seven States parties are currently at least five years overdue with either an initial or periodic report. During the 115th session, the Chair absented himself for two days to attend the interactive dialogue with the General Assembly in New York on 20 October 2015 (see paragraph 49 below). Finally, recalling the obligation of the Secretary-General under article 36 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Committee reaffirms its grave concern over the lack of sufficient staff resources and translation services that hampers its activities. Once again, it stresses the importance of providing the Secretariat with the necessary resources to support its work effectively. The Committee appreciates the decision of the General Assembly to adopt resolution 68/268 on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body process system, including provision for the two and a half extra weeks of meeting time the Committee received for the calendar year 2015. However, it regrets that insufficient human resources were provided to the Committee to ensure full implementation of that resolution (see paragraphs 43-45 below). GE.16-13526 (E) 260816 iii A/71/40 Contents Page I. Jurisdiction and activities .............................................................................................................. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Optional Protocols................................................................................................ Sessions of the Committee .................................................................................................... Election of officers ............................................................................................................... Special Rapporteurs .............................................................................................................. Working Group on Communications and country report task forces ................................... Derogations pursuant to article 4 of the Covenant ................................................................ Concluding observations and follow-up to concluding observations ................................... Communications and follow-up to Views ............................................................................ General comments under article 40 (4) of the Covenant ...................................................... Staff resources and translation of official documents ........................................................... Publicity for the work of the Committee .............................................................................. Submission of the Committee's annual report to the General Assembly.............................. Adoption of the report .......................................................................................................... 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 7 7 8 8 8 9 9 10 11 11 11 12 II. Methods of work of the Committee under article 40 of the Covenant and cooperation with other United Nations bodies ....................................................................... A. B. Recent developments and decisions on procedures .............................................................. Links to other bodies ............................................................................................................ III. Submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant..................................... A. B. C. Reports submitted to the Secretary-General from April 2015 to 31 March 2016 ................. Overdue reports and non-compliance by States parties with their obligations under article 40 ..................................................................................................................... Periodicity with respect to States parties' reports examined during the period under review .............................................................................................................. Annexes I. II. Members and officers of the Human Rights Committee, 2015-2016 ............................................ Status of submission of reports under article 40 of the Covenant (as at 31 March 2016) ............. A. B. C. States parties the initial report of which is overdue (21 States parties) ................................ States parties the periodic report of which is overdue by 10 years or more (20 States parties) ................................................................................................................. States parties the periodic report of which is between 5 and 10 years overdue (nine States parties) ............................................................................................................... 14 15 15 17 18 iv GE.16-13526 A/71/40 D. E. F. States parties the report of which is less than five years overdue (20 States parties) ........... States parties the report of which is not yet due (76 States parties) ...................................... States parties the report of which is yet to be considered by the Committee (25 States parties) ................................................................................................................. 19 20 25 GE.16-13526 v A/71/40 I. Jurisdiction and activities A. States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Optional Protocols 1. At the end of the 116th session of the Human Rights Committee, there were 168 States parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 115 States parties to the First Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Both instruments have been in force since 23 March 1976. The Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, entered into force on 11 July 1991. As at 30 March 2016, there were 81 States parties to the Optional Protocol. 2. Since the previous report, there have been no new accessions to the Covenant or its Optional Protocols. 3. As at 30 March 2016, 50 States had made the declaration provided for under article 41 (1) of the Covenant. In this connection, the Committee appeals to States parties to make the declaration under article 41 of the Covenant and to consider using this mechanism with a view to making implementation of the provisions of the Covenant more effective. 4. All information on the status of the treaties, including reservations and declarations made by States parties, can be accessed at the following link: https://treaties.un.org/Pages/Treaties.aspx?id=4&subid=A&lang=en. B. Sessions of the Committee 5. The Committee has held three sessions since the adoption of its previous annual report. The 114th session was held from 29 June to 24 July 2015, the 115th session from 19 October to 6 November 2015 and the 116th session from 7 to 31 March 2016. All sessions were held at the United Nations Office at Geneva. C. Election of officers 6. On 16 March 2015, the Committee elected the following officers for a term of two years, in accordance with article 39 (1) of the Covenant (for a list of the Committee members, see annex I): Chair: Vice-Chairs: Fabián Omar Salvioli Yuji Iwasawa Anja Seibert-Fohr Dheerujlall Seetulsingh Konstantine Vardzelashvili Rapporteur: 7. During the 114th, 115th and 116th sessions, the Bureau of the Committee held 11 meetings. Pursuant to the decision taken at the seventy-first session, the Bureau records its decisions in formal minutes, which are kept as a record of all decisions taken. D. Special Rapporteurs 8. The Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, Nigel Rodley, and the co-rapporteur, Yuval Shany, registered 166 communications during the GE.16-13526 1 A/71/40 reporting period and transmitted them to the States parties concerned, and issued 38 decisions calling for interim measures of protection pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee's rules of procedure. 9. The Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views, Víctor Manuel Rodríguez-Rescia, the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations, Sarah Cleveland, and the Deputy Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations, Yadh Ben Achour, continued to carry out their functions during the reporting period. E. Working Group on Communications and country report task forces 10. Country report task forces met during the 114th, 115th and 116th sessions to consider and adopt lists of issues on the reports of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Slovakia, Slovenia and South Africa. Task forces also adopted lists of issues prior to reporting, under the simplified reporting procedure, on Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Estonia, Guatemala and Hungary. 11. At the 114th session, the Working Group on Communications was composed of Mr. Lazhari Bouzid, Mr. Ben Achour, Mr. Olivier de Frouville, Mr. Rodríguez-Rescia and Ms. Margo Waterval. Ms. Waterval was designated Chair-Rapporteur. The Working Group met from 22 to 26 June 2015. 12. At the 115th session, the Working Group on Communications was composed of Mr. Bouzid, Ms. Cleveland, Mr. de Frouville, Mr. Iwasawa, Mr. Rodríguez-Rescia, Mr. Seetulsingh, Mr. Shany, Mr. Vardzelashvili and Ms. Waterval. Mr. Iwasawa was designated Chair-Rapporteur. The Working Group met from 12 to 16 October 2015. 13. At the 116th session, the Working Group on Communications was composed of Mr. Ben Achour, Ms. Cleveland, Mr. Iwasawa, Ms. Photini Pazartzis, Mr. Rodríguez-Rescia, Ms. Seibert-Fohr, Mr. Vardzelashvili and Ms. Waterval. Mr. Vardzelashvili was designated Chair-Rapporteur. The Working Group met from 29 February to 4 March 2016. F. Derogations pursuant to article 4 of the Covenant 14. Article 4 (1) of the Covenant stipulates that, in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation, States parties may take measures derogating from certain of their obligations under the Covenant. Pursuant to article 4 (2), no derogation is allowed from articles 6, 7, 8 (1 and 2), 11, 15, 16 and 18. Pursuant to article 4 (3), any derogation must be immediately notified to the other States parties through the intermediary of the Secretary-General. A further notification is required upon the termination of the derogation.1 During the period covered by the present report, the following States made derogations under the Covenant: France, Peru and Ukraine. All such notifications are available from the website of the Office of Legal Affairs (http://treaties.un.org). 1 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixtieth Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/60/40 (vol. I)), chap. I, para. 28. 2 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 G. Concluding observations and follow-up to concluding observations 15. Since its forty-fourth session, held in March 1992,2 the Committee has adopted concluding observations. It takes the concluding observations as a starting point in the preparation of the list of issues for the consideration of the subsequent State party report. During the period under review, concluding observations were adopted on 20 States parties. At its 114th session, the Committee adopted concluding observations on Canada (CCPR/C/CAN/CO/6), France (CCPR/C/FRA/CO/5), Spain (CCPR/C/ESP/CO/6), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (CCPR/C/MKD/CO/3), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (CCPR/C/GBR/CO/7), Uzbekistan (CCPR/C/UZB/CO/4) and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (CCPR/C/VEN/CO/4). At its 115th session, the Committee adopted concluding observations on Austria (CCPR/C/AUT/CO/5), Benin (CCPR/C/BEN/CO/2), Greece (CCPR/C/GRC/CO/2), Iraq (CCPR/C/IRQ/CO/5), the Republic of Korea (CCPR/C/KOR/CO/4), San Marino (CCPR/C/SMR/CO/3) and Suriname (CCPR/C/SUR/CO/3). At its 116th session, the Committee adopted concluding observations on Costa Rica (CCPR/C/CRI/CO/6), Namibia (CCPR/C/NAM/CO/2), New Zealand (CCPR/C/NZL/CO/6), Rwanda (CCPR/C/RWA/CO/4), Slovenia (CCPR/C/SVN/CO/3), South Africa (CCPR/C/ZAF/CO/1) and Sweden (CCPR/C/SWE/CO/7). Those concluding observations are available from the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) under "Human rights bodies/Treaty bodies/Treaty bodies database" (www2.ohchr.org) and from the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org) under the symbols indicated. 16. At its seventy-fourth session, the Committee adopted decisions spelling out the modalities for following up on concluding observations. 3 The Committee invites the State party to report to it within a specified period regarding its follow-up to the Committee's recommendations, indicating what steps, if any, it has taken. The responses received are thereafter examined by the Committee's Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations. Since its seventy-sixth session, the Committee has, as a rule, examined the progress reports submitted by the Special Rapporteur on a sessional basis. 17. During its 108th session, the Committee adopted a note on the procedure for followup to concluding observations (CCPR/C/108/2). The note defines the rules and guidelines on the development of the follow-up process and is aimed at systematizing the practice developed. 18. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur and the Deputy Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations submitted interim reports to the Committee during the 114th, 115th and 116th sessions. 19. During the 112th session, and given the difficulties the Special Rapporteur had in keeping within the word limit for reports on follow-up to concluding observations, the Committee decided to revert to the practice of preparing and adopting a report at each session (as opposed to two reports annually). During the period under review, follow-up comments were received from States parties. Follow-up information was also received from non-governmental organizations. 20. All information on follow-up to concluding observations, including follow-up reports, can be found on the OHCHR website at http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/Treaty BodyExternal/FollowUp.aspx?Treaty=CCPR&Lang=en. 2 3 Ibid., Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/47/40), chap. I, sect. E, para. 18. Ibid., Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/57/40), vol. I, annex III, sect. A. GE.16-13526 3 A/71/40 H. Communications and follow-up to Views 21. Individuals who claim that their rights under the Covenant have been violated by a State party and who have exhausted all available domestic remedies may submit written communications to the Committee for consideration under the Optional Protocol. No communication can be considered unless it concerns a State party to the Covenant that has recognized the competence of the Committee by becoming a party to the Optional Protocol. 22. Consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol is confidential and takes place in closed meetings (art. 5 (3)). The Committee's final decisions (Views, decisions declaring a communication inadmissible, decisions to discontinue the consideration of a communication) are made public; the names of the authors are disclosed unless the Committee decides otherwise at the request of the authors. 23. An overview of States parties' obligations under the Optional Protocol is contained in the Committee's general comment No. 33 (2008) on the obligations of States parties under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 1. Progress of work 24. The Committee started its work under the Optional Protocol at its second session, in 1977. Since then, 2,759 communications concerning 92 States parties have been registered for consideration by the Committee, of which 166 were registered during the period covered by the present report. At present, the status of the 2,759 registered communications is as follows: (a) Consideration concluded by the adoption of Views under article 5 (4) of the Optional Protocol: 1,156, in 975 of which violations of the Covenant were found; (b) (c) (d) Declared inadmissible: 668; Discontinued or withdrawn: 386; Not yet concluded: 540. 25. At its 114th, 115th and 116th sessions, the Committee adopted Views on 68 cases and concluded the consideration of 23 cases by declaring them inadmissible. The Views and final decisions adopted by the Committee at those sessions are available through the treaty body case law database (http://juris.ohchr.org/), as well as from the details on jurisprudence available on the OHCHR website (per session) (www.ohchr.org/ EN/HRBodies/CCPR/Pages/Jurisprudence.aspx). They are also accessible through the treaty body database on the OHCHR website (www2.ohchr.org) and from the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 26. The Committee decided to discontinue the consideration of 18 communications for such reasons as withdrawal by the author, or because the author or counsel failed to respond to the Committee despite repeated reminders, or because the authors, who had expulsion orders pending against them, were allowed to stay in the countries concerned. 27. The table below sets out the pattern of the Committee's work on communications over the past six years (communications dealt with from 2010 to 31 December 2015). Year New cases registered Cases concludeda Pending cases at 31 December 2015 2014 2013 196 191 93 101 124 72 532 456 379 4 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 Year New cases registered Cases concludeda Pending cases at 31 December 2012 2011 2010 a 102 106 96 99 188 94 355 352 434 Total number of cases decided (by the adoption of Views, inadmissibility decisions and decisions to discontinue consideration). 28. By the date of adoption of the present report (30 March 2016), some 88 communications were ready for a Committee's decision on admissibility and/or the merits. 2. (a) Approaches to considering communications under the Optional Protocol Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures 29. At its thirty-fifth session, in March 1989, the Committee decided to designate a special rapporteur authorized to process new communications and requests for interim measures as they were received, i.e. between sessions of the Committee. During the 114th, 115th and 116th sessions, the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures and the co-rapporteur continued their activities. In the period covered by the present report, 166 new communications were transmitted to States parties under rule 97 of the Committee's rules of procedure, requesting information or observations relevant to questions of admissibility and the merits. In 38 cases, the Special Rapporteur issued requests for interim measures pursuant to rule 92 of the Committee's rules of procedure. 30. The methods of work of the Special Rapporteur were approved by the Committee at its 110th session (CCPR/C/110/3). (b) Competence of the Working Group on Communications 31. At its thirty-sixth session, in July 1989, the Committee decided to authorize the Working Group on Communications to adopt decisions declaring communications admissible when all members of the Working Group so agreed. Failing such agreement, the Working Group refers the matter to the Committee. It also does so whenever it believes that the Committee itself should decide the question of admissibility. The Working Group can also adopt decisions declaring communications inadmissible if all members so agree. However, the decision will be transmitted to the Committee in plenary, which may confirm it without formal discussion or examine it at the request of any Committee member. 3. Individual opinions 32. In its work under the Optional Protocol, the Committee seeks to adopt decisions by consensus. However, pursuant to rule 104 of the Committee's rules of procedure, members can add their individual opinions (concurring or dissenting) to the Committee's Views. Under this rule, members can also append their individual opinions to the Committee's decisions declaring communications admissible or inadmissible. 33. During the period under review, individual opinions were appended to the Committee's Views and decisions concerning 28 cases. 4. Cooperation by States parties in the examination of communications 34. In several cases decided during the period under review, the Committee noted that States parties had failed to cooperate in the procedure by not providing observations on the admissibility and/or the merits of the authors' allegations. The States parties in question are GE.16-13526 5 A/71/40 Belarus (13 cases), Belgium (1 case) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1 case). The Committee deplored the situation and recalled that it was implicit in the Optional Protocol that States parties should transmit to the Committee all information at their disposal. In the absence of a reply, due weight has to be given to the author's allegations, to the extent that they have been properly substantiated. 35. In two cases against Belarus and one case against the Russian Federation decided during the period under review, the Committee noted with regret that the States parties had failed to respect the Committee's request for interim measures. The Committee recalled that a State party commits grave breaches of its obligations under the Optional Protocol if its inaction serves to prevent or frustrate consideration by the Committee of a communication alleging a violation of the Covenant or to render examination by the Committee moot and the expression of its Views nugatory and futile. 5. Issues considered by the Committee 36. A review of the Committee's work under the Optional Protocol from its second session in 1977 to its 113th session in March 2015 can be found in the Committee's annual reports from 1984 to 2015 and CCPR/C/113/4 (available in English only), which contain summaries of the procedural and substantive issues considered by the Committee and of the decisions taken. A chapter on the jurisprudential developments of the Committee during the period under review is not contained in the present annual report but in CCPR/C/116/3 (available in English only). The full texts of the Views adopted by the Committee and of its decisions declaring communications inadmissible under the Optional Protocol are available in the treaty body database (http://juris.ohchr.org). 6. Follow-up to Views 37. During the period under review, the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views, Mr. Rodríguez-Rescia, submitted reports at the 115th (see CCPR/C/115/3) and 116th sessions. Owing to time constraints, the Committee did not adopt the report on follow-up to Views presented by the Special Rapporteur at its 116th session. 38. To date, the Committee has concluded that there has been a violation of the Covenant in 975 of the 1,156 Views adopted since 1979. The Committee has continued its practice, initiated on a trial basis at its 109th session, to include in its reports on follow-up to Views an assessment of the replies received from or action taken by States parties; the assessment uses the criteria established for the follow-up procedure to the concluding observations. The Committee again notes that many States parties have failed to implement the Views adopted under the Optional Protocol. 39. During the reporting period, the Committee continued to seek the implementation of its Views through its Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views. Meetings were arranged with representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, the Philippines, Spain and Sri Lanka so that the Committee could engage in a dialogue with them on the measures taken to give effect to its Views. 40. At its 115th and 116th session, the Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its recommendations in communications No. 238/1987, Bolaños v. Ecuador, No. 1908/2009, X v. Republic of Korea, and No. 2007/2010, X v. Denmark. In case No. 1756/2008, Zhumabaeva v. Kyrgyzstan, the Committee decided to resume the follow-up dialogue, which had been suspended at the 112th session. 6 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 I. General comments under article 40 (4) of the Covenant 41. At its 114th session, the Committee held a half-day of discussion on article 6 (right to life) on the basis of a note adopted at the previous session by the rapporteurs, Mr. Rodley and Mr. Shany. The discussion attracted over 100 non-governmental organizations and 40 speakers on a variety of themes, among them abortion, the death penalty, the interplay between economic, social and cultural rights on the one hand and political and civil rights on the other hand, and the right to life and different areas of law, including international humanitarian law and the International Criminal Court. The reports provided by civil society for the event are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CCPR/Pages/ GC36-Article6Righttolife.aspx. 42. At its 115th session, the Committee started to review its draft general comment on article 6 (right to life). At its 116th session, the Committee continued its review of the draft. J. Staff resources and translation of official documents 43. In accordance with article 36 of the Covenant, the Secretary-General is obliged to provide the Committee with the necessary staff and facilities for the effective performance of its functions. The Committee reaffirms its concern regarding the shortage of staff resources and stresses once again the importance of allocating adequate staff resources to service its sessions and to promote greater awareness, understanding and implementation of its recommendations at the national level. The Committee stresses the fact that, unless there would be a significant increase in the staff capacity of the Petitions Unit to process individual communications, the Committee's ability to address its backlog in that regard will continue to be seriously compromised. Furthermore, the Committee expresses grave concern that general rules within the United Nations concerning staff mobility in the Secretariat may hamper the work of the Committee, in particular for staff working in the Petitions Unit, who need to remain in their positions for a sufficiently long period so as to acquire experience and knowledge regarding the jurisprudence of the Committee. 44. The Committee is grateful to the General Assembly for the adoption of resolution 68/268 on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system, including the provision for the two and a half extra weeks of meeting time that the Committee received for the calendar years 2015 and 2016. It regrets, however, that insufficient human resources were provided to the Committee to ensure full implementation of the resolution. In particular, due to a shortage of human resources available for the Secretariat to carry out preparatory work necessary for the review of an additional number of communications, the Committee was not able to avail itself of some of the additional meeting days granted by the General Assembly. 45. The Committee reaffirms its deep concern that, despite having the requisite mandate and financial entitlement to have its replies to the lists of issues translated, there remains limited availability of these documents during its sessions. It also expresses concern that, during the 116th session, the draft report of the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on concluding observations and the draft report of the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views under the first Optional Protocol to the Covenant were available in only one of the Committee's working languages, namely English, on account that there is no explicit mandate for the translation of the documents in question -- although these had been translated regularly in the past. The Committee stresses that follow-up is an essential part of its activities and the lack of translations directly affected the quality of the Committee's work. The Committee therefore adopts the following formal decision on translation of the follow-up reports and draft documents, to be reflected in its annual report: GE.16-13526 7 A/71/40 Any draft document relating to the Committee's activities under the Covenant and requiring discussion and adoption by the Committee, including any document related to reporting (such as draft concluding observations, draft lists of issues, draft lists of issues prior to reporting, and draft reports on follow-up to concluding observations), individual and inter-State communications (such as draft views and draft reports on follow-up to Views), legal interpretations (such as draft general comments) and working and other matters (such as draft annual reports, draft rules of procedure and draft guidelines) must be translated into the working languages of the Committee. K. Publicity for the work of the Committee 46. At its ninety-fourth session, the Committee adopted a paper on a strategic approach to public relations with the media (CCPR/C/94/3). 47. During the 115th and 116th sessions, the Centre for Civil and Political Rights continued to webcast the examination of all States parties' reports as well as other public meetings of interest. Unfortunately, the Centre was not in a position to webcast the examinations of reports held during the 114th session, except those involving Uzbekistan and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The webcast may be viewed at the following link: www.treatybodywebcast.org. 48. The Committee continued to develop a robust media strategy, which included holding well-attended press conferences at the end of each session (with the exception of the 116th session held in March 2016). The Committee is grateful for the invaluable assistance of the new communications officer. A significant number of articles on all of the countries examined during the period under review, as well as requests for interviews, resulted from these endeavours. L. Submission of the Committee's annual report to the General Assembly 49. During the 115th session, the Chair attended the interactive dialogue with the General Assembly in New York on 20 October 2015, at which time he presented the Committee's annual report. M. Adoption of the report 50. At its 3263rd meeting, on 30 March 2016, the Committee considered the draft of its fortieth annual report, covering its activities at its 114th, 115th and 116th sessions, held in 2015 and 2016. The report, as amended in the course of the discussion, was adopted unanimously. By virtue of its decision 1985/105 of 8 February 1985, the Economic and Social Council authorized the Secretary-General to transmit the Committee's annual report directly to the General Assembly. 8 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 II. Methods of work of the Committee under article 40 of the Covenant and cooperation with other United Nations bodies 51. The present section contains a summary and an explanation of the modifications introduced by the Committee to its working methods under article 40 of the Covenant during the past year, as well as recent decisions adopted by the Committee on follow-up to its concluding observations on State party reports. A. Recent developments and decisions on procedures 52. At its 116th session, the Committee decided to introduce a new standard paragraph in its concluding observations, inviting States that have not yet done so to accept the simplified reporting procedure. 53. At its 116th session, the Committee decided to introduce an expedited procedure for repetitive communications as a pilot project for a period of one year to address the growing backlog of pending communications and to appoint two co-rapporteurs to handle repetitive communications. 54. At its 116th session, the Committee established the Working Group for the revision of the rules of procedure, with the following composition: Mr. Seetulsingh, Mr. Shany, Ms. Cleveland, Ms. Pazartzis and Mr. de Frouville. 1. Focused reports based on lists of issues prior to reporting 55. In October 2009, the Committee decided to make a new reporting procedure available to a limited number of States parties. At its 111th session (July 2014), the Committee decided that the simplified reporting procedure should be in principle offered to all States parties and should remain applicable to periodic reports only (see A/70/40, para. 56 (a)). Information on the procedure can be found at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/ CCPR/Pages/SimplifiedReportingProcedure.aspx. 56. At its 115th and 116th sessions, the Committee examined the sixth periodic report of New Zealand, the third periodic report of San Marino and the seventh periodic report of Sweden, all submitted pursuant to the simplified reporting procedure. At its 114th session, the Committee adopted lists of issues prior to reporting with respect to the fourth periodic report of Bulgaria, the fifth periodic report of Belarus and the seventh periodic report of El Salvador. At its 115th session, it adopted lists of issues prior to reporting with respect to the third periodic report of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the fourth periodic report of Guatemala and the sixth periodic report of Hungary. At its 116th session, it did the same in respect of the fourth periodic report of Estonia. 2. Cooperation with national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations 57. At its 104th session, the Committee adopted a paper on its collaboration with nongovernmental organizations (CCPR/C/104/3). 58. At its 106th session, the Committee adopted a similar paper on its collaboration with national human rights institutions (CCPR/C/106/3). 3. Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures 59. At its 110th session, the Committee adopted a note on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures (CCPR/C/110/3). GE.16-13526 9 A/71/40 4. Kosovo4 60. At its 116th session, the Committee decided, based on its concluding observations on the second periodic report of Serbia (see CCPR/C/SRB/CO/2, para. 3), adopted on 29 March 2011, to reiterate its letter dated 19 May 2011, requesting the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo to provide it, in cooperation with the institutions of Kosovo, and without prejudice to the final legal status of Kosovo, with a report on the human rights situation in Kosovo since July 2006. 5. South Sudan 61. At its 116th session, the Committee, bearing in mind that South Sudan became independent in July 2011, decided to reiterate its letter dated 1 November 2013 to the State party, recalling that, in the light of its general comment No. 26 (1997) on issues relating to the continuity of obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 5 the people of South Sudan remain under the protection of the Covenant, and inviting South Sudan to submit an initial report under article 40 (1) (a) of the Covenant. B. Links to other bodies 62. During its 115th session, the Committee held its fifth meeting with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, whose session overlapped with that of the Human Rights Committee. The meeting gave the members of both Committees an opportunity to continue their discussion on how they consider issues of reproductive health, in particular abortion. The Committee is very grateful to the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law for having supported the meeting through its treaty body platform. 4 5 All references to Kosovo in the present publication should be understood in compliance with Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-third Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/53/40 (Vol. I)), annex VII. 10 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 III. Submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant 63. In line with the guidelines adopted by the Committee at its sixty-sixth session and amended at its seventieth session (CCPR/C/66/GUI/Rev.2), the five-year periodicity in reporting, which the Committee had established at its thirteenth session, in July 1981 (CCPR/C/19/Rev.1), was replaced by a flexible system whereby the date for the subsequent periodic report by a State party is set on a case-by-case basis at the end of the Committee's concluding observations on any report, in accordance with article 40 of the Covenant and in the light of the guidelines for reporting and the working methods of the Committee. The Committee confirmed this approach in its current guidelines, adopted at the ninety-ninth session (CCPR/C/2009/1). 64. At its 104th session, the Committee decided to allow States parties to submit reports at intervals of no more than six years. 65. At its 114th session, the Committee decided that, in considering the periodicity for submitting reports, it will take into account whether the States parties in question have agreed to follow the simplified reporting procedure. Given the long administrative delay in the processing of reports and lists of issues under the regular, as opposed to the simplified, reporting procedure, the Committee will seek to ensure fairness when deciding on the periodicity for the submission of future reports. A. Reports submitted to the Secretary-General from April 2015 to 31 March 2016 66. During the period covered by the present report, 18 reports were submitted to the Secretary-General by the following States parties: Argentina (fifth periodic report), Bangladesh (initial report), Bosnia and Herzegovina (third periodic report), Denmark (sixth periodic report), Ecuador (sixth periodic report), Honduras (second periodic report), Italy (sixth periodic report), Liechtenstein (second periodic report), Madagascar (fourth periodic report), Mongolia (sixth periodic report), New Zealand (sixth periodic report), Pakistan (initial report), Poland (seventh periodic report), Republic of Moldova (third periodic report), Serbia (third periodic report), Slovakia (fourth periodic report), Sweden (seventh periodic report) and Turkmenistan (second periodic report). B. Overdue reports and non-compliance by States parties with their obligations under article 40 67. The Committee wishes to reiterate that States parties to the Covenant must submit the reports referred to in article 40 of the Covenant on time so that the Committee can duly perform its functions under that article. Regrettably, serious delays have been noted since the establishment of the Committee. 68. The Committee notes with concern that the failure of States parties to submit reports hinders the performance of its monitoring functions under article 40 of the Covenant. The Committee reiterates that States with overdue reports are in default of their obligations under article 40 of the Covenant (see annex II for the list of States parties with overdue reports). 69. The Committee draws particular attention to the fact that 21 initial reports are overdue, of which 7 are overdue between 5 and 10 years and 11 are overdue by 10 years or more. The result is frustration of a crucial objective of the Covenant, namely, to enable the GE.16-13526 11 A/71/40 Committee to monitor compliance by States parties with their obligations under the Covenant on the basis of periodic reports. The Committee addresses reminders at regular intervals to all those States parties whose reports are significantly overdue. 70. Owing to the concern of the Committee about the number of overdue reports and non-compliance by States parties with their obligations under article 40 of the Covenant, 6 amendments to the rules of procedure were formally adopted during the seventy-first session, in March 2001.7 The Committee has applied the revised rules since the end of the seventy-first session (April 2001). 71. The amendments introduced a procedure to be followed when a State party has failed to honour its reporting obligations for a long time, or requests a postponement of its scheduled appearance before the Committee at short notice. In both situations, the Committee may henceforth notify the State concerned that it intends to consider, from material available to it, the measures adopted by that State party to give effect to the provisions of the Covenant, even in the absence of a report. 72. At its 103rd session, the Committee amended its rules of procedure (rules 68 and 70) relating to the examination of country situations in the absence of a report (review procedure).8 Since 2012, the examination of such country situations takes place in public rather than closed sessions and the resulting concluding observations are also issued as public documents. 73. The Committee first applied the procedure under rule 70 of its rules of procedure to a non-reporting State at its seventy-fifth session. To date, the procedure to examine States parties in the absence of a report has been initiated with regard to the following 21 States parties: Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Cabo Verde, the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Grenada, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Seychelles, South Africa and Suriname. Information on all States parties examined under this procedure up until the 110th session is contained in the annual report to the sixty-ninth session.9 74. Prior to its 112th session, the Committee indicated to South Africa that it would adopt a list of issues in the absence of a report from that State party during the 112th session. On 26 November 2014, South Africa submitted its report and the adoption of a list of issues was rescheduled. A note verbale was also sent to Bangladesh indicating that the Committee would adopt a list of issues in the absence of a report at the 112th session. Following a commitment by Bangladesh to provide the Committee with a report by March 2015, the Committee deferred consideration of the situation of civil and political rights in Bangladesh until receipt of the report. Bangladesh submitted its report on 19 June 2015. C. Periodicity with respect to States parties' reports examined during the period under review 75. At its 104th session, the Committee decided to allow States parties to submit reports at intervals of no more than six years. Thus, the Committee may now ask States parties to 6 7 8 9 Ibid., Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/51/40 (vol. I)), chap. III, sect. B, and ibid., Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/57/40), chap. III, sect. B. Ibid., Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/56/40), vol. I, annex III, sect. B. The revised rules were confirmed in the amended rules of procedure adopted at the 103rd session. Ibid., Sixty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/67/40 (vol. I)), chap. II, para. 64. Ibid., Sixty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/69/40 (vol. I)), chap. III, paras. 101-117. 12 GE.16-13526 A/71/40 submit their subsequent periodic reports within three, four, five or six years. At its 114th session, the Committee decided that, when determining the periodicity for future reports, States submitting reports under the simplified reporting procedure be given an extra year to provide their reports as compared to those submitting under the standard reporting procedure, with a view to ensuring fairness between States parties making use of the different procedures. Accordingly, the Committee may now ask States parties submitting reports under the simplified reporting procedure to provide their periodic reports at intervals of no more than seven years (i.e., the maximum six years allowed under the standard reporting procedure plus an extra year). 76. The dates of examination of the State party reports considered during the period under review and the due date for the next reports are indicated in the table below. State party Date of examination Due date for next report Canada France Spain The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Uzbekistan Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Austria Benin Greece Iraq Republic of Korea San Marino Suriname Costa Rica Namibia New Zealand Rwanda Slovenia South Africa Sweden a July 2015 July 2015 July 2015 July 2015 July 2015 July 2015 July 2015 October 2015 October 2015 October 2015 October 2015 October 2015 October 2015 October 2015 March 2016 March 2016 March 2016 March 2016 March 2016 March 2016 March 2016 24 July 2020 24 July 2020 24 July 2020 24 July 2020 24 July 2020 24 July 2018 24 July 2018 6 November 2021 6 November 2019 6 November 2020 6 November 2018 6 November 2019 6 November 2022a 6 November 2020 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 31 March 2023a 31 March 2019 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 31 March 2023a The due date for next report includes one extra year added to the periodicity on account of reporting under the simplified reporting procedure. GE.16-13526 13 A/71/40 Annex I Members and officers of the Human Rights Committee, 2015-2016 Name Country of nationalitya Term ends 31 December Yadh Ben Achour Lazhari Bouzid Sarah Cleveland Ahmed Amin Fathalla Olivier de Frouville Ivana Jeli Yuji Iwasawa Duncan Laki Muhumuza Photini Pazartzis Mauro Politi Nigel Rodley Víctor Manuel Rodríguez-Rescia Dheerujlall Seetulsingh Fabián Omar Salvioli Anja Seibert-Fohr Yuval Shany Konstantine Vardzelashvili Margo Waterval Tunisia Algeria United States of America Egypt France Montenegro Japan Uganda Greece Italy United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Costa Rica Mauritius Argentina Germany Israel Georgia Suriname 2018b 2016c 2018b 2016c 2018b 2018b 2018b 2018b 2018b 2018b 2016c 2016c 2016 2016c 2016c 2016c 2016c 2018b Note: Information on current and past membership of the Committee can be found at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CCPR/Pages/Membership.aspx. a In accordance with article 28 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the members of the Committee shall be elected and shall serve in their personal capacity. b c Member elected during the 34th meeting of States parties, held in New York on 24 June 2014. Member elected during the 32nd meeting of States parties, held in New York on 6 September 2012. The officers of the Committee, elected for a term of two years at the meeting, on 16 March 2015 (113th session), are the following: Chair: Vice-Chairs: Fabián Omar Salvioli Yuji Iwasawa Dheerujlall Seetulsingh Anja Seibert-Fohr Konstantine Vardzelashvili Rapporteur: 14 GE.16-13526 GE.16-13526 Annex II Status of submission of reports under article 40 of the Covenant (as at 31 March 2016) A. States parties the initial report of which is overdue (21 States parties) Date due Years overdue Considered in the absence of a report Remarks State party 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Equatorial Guinea Somalia Grenada Seychelles Dominica 24 December 1988 23 April 1991 6 September 1991 4 August 1993 16 September 1994 27 24 24 22 21 Seventy-ninth session (October 2003) Deadline in concluding observations to submit initial report by 1 August 2004 Ninetieth session (July 2007) 101st session (March 2011) List of issues adopted at the 102nd session (July 2011; consideration was postponed) 104th session (March 2012) 107th session (March 2013) Deadline in concluding observations to submit initial report by 31 December 2008 Deadline in concluding observations to submit initial report by 1 April 2012 6. 7. 8. 9. Cabo Verde Belize Eritrea Timor-Leste 5 November 1994 9 September 1997 22 April 2003 19 December 2004 27 June 2005 21 18 12 11 10 Deadline in concluding observations to submit initial report by 30 March 2013 Deadline in concluding observations to submit initial report by 28 March 2015 Deadline in last reminder letter (rule 70 of the rules of procedure) to submit report by 12 November 2014 Deadline in last reminder letter (rule 70 of the rules of procedure) to submit report by 12 November 2014 Deadline in last reminder letter (rule 70 of the rules of procedure) to submit report by 12 November 2014 A/71/40 10. Swaziland 15 16 State party Date due A/71/40 Years overdue Considered in the absence of a report Remarks 11. Liberia 12. Bahrain 13. Andorra 14. Samoa 15. Papua New Guinea 16. Vanuatu 17. Bahamas 22 December 2005 20 December 2007 22 December 2007 15 May 2009 21 October 2009 21 February 2010 23 March 2010 10 8 8 6 6 6 6 5 4 3 Deadline in last reminder letter (rule 70 of the rules of procedure) to submit report by 12 November 2014 Deadline in last reminder letter (rule 70 of the rules of procedure) to submit report by 12 November 2014 18. Lao People's 25 December 2010 Democratic Republic 19. Guinea-Bissau 20. South Sudan 1 February 2012 9 July 2012 Bearing in mind that the Sudan has been a party to the Covenant since 1986, and that South Sudan became independent from it in July 2011, the Committee, in the light of its general comment No. 26 (1997) on issues relating to the continuity of obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fiftythird Session, Supplement No. 40, vol. I (A/53/40 (Vol. I)), annex VII), is of the view that the people of South Sudan remain under the protection of the Covenant, and thus South Sudan should submit an initial report under article 40 (1) (a) of the Covenant. The Committee decided, on two occasions, to invite South Sudan to submit an initial report (see para. 61 above and A/69/70, Vol. I, para. 75). Accession on 2 April 2014 GE.16-13526 21. State of Palestine 3 July 2015 GE.16-13526 B. States parties the periodic report of which is overdue by 10 years or more (20 States parties) Type of report Date due Years overdue Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks State party 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Afghanistan Congo Democratic People's Republic of Korea Egypt Gabon Gambia Third Third Third Fourth Third Second 15 May 1996 31 March 2003 1 January 2004 1 November 2004 31 October 2003 21 June 1985 19 13 12 11 12 30 12 May 2011 31 October 2013 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 105th session (July 2012) Concluding observations adopted in the absence of the second periodic report at the seventy-fifth session (July 2002) 7. 8. 9. Guinea Guyana India Third Third Fourth Third Second Third Second Second Fifth 30 September 1994 31 March 2003 31 December 2001 31 December 1999 30 April 2002 1 April 2005 31 March 1994 28 October 1999 28 April 1999 2 13 14 16 13 10 22 16 16 15 July 2013 30 April 2015 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 110th session (March 2014) A/71/40 10. Lebanon 11. Lesotho 12. Mali 13. Niger 14. Nigeria 15. Romania 17 18 State party Type of report Date due A/71/40 Years overdue Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 16. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Second 31 October 1991 24 Concluding observations adopted in the absence of the second periodic report at the eighty-sixth session (March 2006) 17. Senegal 18. Trinidad and Tobago 19. Viet Nam 20. Zimbabwe Fifth Fifth Third Second 4 April 2000 31 October 2003 1 August 2004 1 June 2002 15 12 11 13 C. States parties the periodic report of which is between 5 and 10 years overdue (nine States parties) Type of report Date due Years overdue Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks State party 1. 2. 3. 4. Barbados Brazil Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Libya Luxembourg Mauritius Syrian Arab Republic Uganda Fourth Third Third Fourth 29 March 2011 31 October 2009 1 August 10 1 April 2009 5 6 5 6 Report received on 9 February 2016. Requested to submit Microsoft Word version 5. 6. 7 8. 9. Fifth Fourth Fifth Fourth Second 30 October 2010 1 April 2008 1 April 2010 1 August 2009 1 April 2008 7 8 5 6 7 Information from State that the report is expected by the end of 2014 GE.16-13526 GE.16-13526 D. States parties the report of which is less than five years overdue (20 States parties) Type of report Date due Years overdue Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks State party 1. 2. Algeria Australia Fourth Sixth 1 November 2011 1 April 2013 4 2 10 March 2011 20 December 2013 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 106th session (October 2012) Report received but exceeded word limit. Requested to resubmit by 15 June 2016 3. Belgium Sixth 29 October 2015 28 November 2014 List of issues prior to reporting to be adopted at the 117th session (June 2016) 4. 5. Botswana Cameroon Second Fifth 31 March 2012 30 July 2013 4 2 2 February 2011 30 July 2013 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 103rd session (October 2011) 6. 7. 8. 9. Dominican Republic Ethiopia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Jordan Sixth Second Fourth Fifth Fourth Second Sixth 30 March 2016 29 July 2014 2 November 2014 29 October 2014 30 July 2015 30 July 2015 30 March 2014 2 18 December 2013 31 August 2015 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 111th session (July 2014) A/71/40 1 1 1 10. Kenya 11. Maldives 12. Mexico 13. Netherlands (including Antilles and Aruba) Fifth 31 July 2014 1 19 20 State party Type of report Date due A/71/40 Years overdue Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 14. Nicaragua 15. Panama 16. Tunisia 17. Togo 18. United Republic of Tanzania 19. Yemen 20. Zambia Fourth Fourth Sixth Fifth Fifth Sixth Fourth 29 October 2012 31 March 2012 31 March 2012 1 April 2015 1 August 2013 30 March 2015 20 July 2011 3 4 4 24 February 2016 2 1 4 E. States parties the report of which is not yet due (76 States parties) Type of report Date due Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks State party 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. GE.16-13526 Albania Angola Armenia Austria Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Belarus Benin Bulgaria Third Second Third Sixth Fourth Fifth Third Fourth 26 July 2018 30 March 2017 30 July 2016 6 November 2021 1 November 2018 7 November 2001 6 November 2019 29 July 2015 20 February 2014 30 August 2016 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 114th session (July 2015) 18 February 2014 30 August 2016 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 114th session (July 2015) GE.16-13526 State party Type of report Date due Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 9. Burundi Third Seventh Third Third Seventh Seventh Second Fourth 31 October 2018 24 July 2020 2 April 2019 28 March 2018 31 July 2019 31 March 2021 2 April 2019 2 April 2020 8 January 2014 Concluding observations on the third periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure 30 January 2012 10. Canada 11. Cambodia 12. Chad 13. Chile 14. Costa Rica 15. Côte d'Ivoire 16. Croatia 17. Cyprus 18. Czech Republic 19. Djibouti 20. El Salvador 21. Estonia 22. France 23. Finland 24. Georgia 25. Germany 26. Greece 27. Guatemala 21 Fifth Fourth Second Seventh Fourth Sixth Seventh Fifth Seventh Third Fourth 2 April 2020 26 July 2018 1 November 2017 29 October 2014 30 July 2015 24 July 2020 26 July 2019 31 July 2019 2 November 2018 6 November 2020 30 March 2016 16 February 2015 5 July 2013 11 February 2014 6 January 2015 30 August 2016 30 April 2017 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 114th session (July 2015) List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 116th session (March 2016) 8 January 2016 28 March 2013 15 July 2013 30 November 2016 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 115th session (October 2015) A/71/40 22 State party Type of report Date due A/71/40 Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 28. Haiti 29. Hong Kong, Chinaa 30. Hungary 31. Iceland 32. Indonesia 33. Iraq 34. Ireland 35. Israel Second Fourth Sixth Sixth Second Sixth Fifth Fifth 31 October 2018 30 March 2018 29 October 2014 30 July 2018 26 July 2017 6 November 2018 31 July 2019 31 October 2018 9 May 2011 Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure 15 October 2014 30 November 2016 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 115th session (October 2015) 36. Japan 37. Kyrgyzstan 38. Latvia 39. Lithuania 40. Macao, Chinab 41. Malawi 42. Malta 43. Mauritania 44. Monaco Seventh Third Fourth Fourth Second Second Third Second Fourth 31 July 2018 28 March 2018 28 March 2020 30 July 2017 30 March 2018 31 July 2018 31 October 2020 1 November 2017 2 April 2021 30 March 2016 20 March 2013 5 January 2011 Concluding observations on the third periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure GE.16-13526 45. Montenegro 46. Mozambique Second Second 31 October 2020 1 November 2017 GE.16-13526 State party Type of report Date due Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 47. Namibia 48. Nepal 49. New Zealand Third Third Seventh 31 March 2020 28 March 2018 31 March 2023 28 January 2011 Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure List of issues prior to reporting to be adopted at the 117th session (June 2016) 50. Norway 51. Paraguay 52. Peru 53. Philippines 54. Portugal 55. Republic of Korea 56. Russian Federation 57. Rwanda 58. San Marino Seventh Fourth Sixth Fifth Fifth Fifth Eighth Fifth Fourth 2 November 2016 30 March 2017 30 March 2018 2 November 2016 31 October 2018 6 November 2019 2 April 2019 31 March 2019 6 November 2022 5 April 2013 23 October 2015 18 February 2018 23 February 2011 Concluding observations on the third periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure 59. Sierra Leone 60. Slovenia 61. South Africa 62. Spain 63. Sri Lanka 64. Sudan 65. Suriname 23 Second Fourth Second Seventh Sixth Fifth Fourth 28 March 2017 31 March 2021 31 March 2020 24 July 2020 31 October 2017 31 July 2017 A/71/40 2 October 2015 6 November 2020 24 State party Type of report Date due A/71/40 Accepted simplified reporting procedure New due date Remarks 66. Switzerland Fourth 1 November 2015 23 January 2014 1 July 2016 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 112th session (October 2014) Report received but exceeded word limit. Requested to resubmit by 1 July 2016 67. Sweden Eighth 31 March 2023 20 June 2013 Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure 68. Tajikistan 69. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 70. Turkey 71. Ukraine 72. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 73. United States of America 74. Uruguay Third Fourth Second Eighth Eighth 26 July 2017 24 July 2020 2 November 2016 26 July 2018 24 July 2020 Fifth Sixth 28 March 2019 1 November 2018 26 November 2010 Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report adopted under the simplified reporting procedure 75. Uzbekistan 76. Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) a Fifth Fifth 24 July 2018 24 July 2018 Although China is not itself a party to the Covenant, the Government of China has honoured the obligations under article 40 with respect to Hong Kong, China, which was previously under British administration. For information on the application of the Covenant in Hong Kong, China, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-first Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/51/40), chap. V, sect. B, paras. 78-85. b Although China is not itself a party to the Covenant, the Government of China has honoured the obligations under article 40 with respect to Macao, China, which was previously under Portuguese administration. For information on the application of the Covenant in Macao, China, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/55/40), chap. IV. GE.16-13526 GE.16-13526 F. States parties the report of which is yet to be considered by the Committee (25 States parties) Type of report Date due Date of submission Accepted simplified reporting procedure Remarks State party 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Kuwait Ghana Kazakhstan Azerbaijan Colombia Burkina Faso Jamaica Slovakia Argentina Third Initial Second Fourth Seventh Initial Fourth Fourth Fifth 2 November 2014 8 February 2001 29 July 2014 1 August 2013 1 April 2014 3 April 2000 2 November 2014 1 April 2015 30 March 2014 28 October 2014 17 November 2014 11 December 2014 22 December 2014 22 December 2014 23 December 2014 18 March 2015 6 May 2015 19 May 2015 20 September 2013 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 110th session (March 2014). Accordingly, the new due date to submit the report was set as 30 April 2015 10. Morocco 11. Bangladesh 12. Thailand 13. Turkmenistan 14. Ecuador Sixth Initial Second Second Sixth 1 November 2008 6 December 2001 1 August 2009 30 March 2015 30 October 2013 15 June 2015 19 June 2015 23 June 2015 27 July 2015 6 August 2015 1 March 2013 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 110th session (March 2014). Accordingly, the new due date to submit the report was set as 30 April 2015 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 103rd session (October 2011) 15. Denmark 16. Serbia 17. Italy 25 Sixth Third Sixth 31 October 2013 1 April 2015 31 October 2009 29 September 2015 8 September 2015 8 September 2015 2 March 2013 A/71/40 26 State party Type of report Date due Date of submission Accepted simplified reporting procedure Remarks 18. Pakistan 19. Honduras 20. Poland Initial Second Seventh 23 September 2011 19 October 2015 31 October 2010 29 October 2015 21 October 2015 26 October 2015 6 March 2012 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 111th session (July 2014). Accordingly, the new due date to submit the report was set as 30 October 2015 21. Madagascar 22. Republic of Moldova 23. Liechtenstein 24. Bosnia and Herzegovina Fourth Third Second Third 23 March 2011 30 October 2013 1 September 2009 2 November 2016 9 November 2015 6 January 2016 24 March 2016 24 March 2016 1 February 2011 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 115th session (October 2015). Accordingly, the new due date to submit the report was set as 30 November 2016 18 March 2011 List of issues prior to reporting adopted at the 103rd session (October 2011) 25. Mongolia Sixth 1 April 2015 30 March 2016 GE.16-13526 A/71/40