4289th Meeting, 146th Session, Human Rights Committee (CCPR)

Dear members, dear friends, I'd like to warmly welcome you to 146th session of the Human Rights Committee. It is a real pleasure to see you all and our stakeholders here present in person or following us via webcast. In fact, this is the first time we have a meeting in Palais de Nation. We still miss Palle Wilson, but I hope we have a good session this time. First, let me now turn to Mr. Antti Korhokkivi, Chief of the Human Rights Treaty Branch and representative of the Secretary-General for his opening statement. You have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, distinguished members of the Committee. Dear friends and experts, colleagues, on behalf of the Secretary General of the United Nations, I am pleased to welcome you to Geneva to the 146th session of the Human Rights Committee. I am delighted to welcome you to this session as we mark the 60th anniversary of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. I particularly look forward to the event that will bring the two committees together on the 6th of November to commemorate this occasion jointly. This milestone provides an opportunity to recognize once again the indispensable work that the two committees have carried out over the decades to bring the rights enshrined in the covenants to life, guide states in fulfilling their obligations and strengthen the protection of human rights for people around the world. Over the past 60 years, the two covenants have shown that they are living instruments that continue to guide us in responding to a changing world. Their achievements and enduring relevance are ensured through the important monitoring work that you carry out to encourage progress in addressing current and emerging human rights challenges. Among today's emerging challenges are the opportunities and risks presented by artificial intelligence and other new technologies. The covenant establishes state obligations to respect human dignity, protect fundamental freedoms, prevent discrimination, and uphold transparency and accountability, including with respect to new technologies. Countless commentators are observing that we seem to be crossing a new frontier where we can no longer rely on shared facts. The potential consequences for democratic institutions and processes are immense and the role of this committee is pivotal. Likewise, the committee's general comment number 37 on the right of peaceful assembly made clear that this right does not apply only to traditional assemblies where people convene physically in person, but also to online assemblies. These are only examples of the ways in which the value of the international human rights framework and the importance of having a sound treaty body system are being reinforced with every new human rights challenge. Distinguished members, the Human Rights Council commemorated this key anniversary by holding a high-level panel at its 63rd session last month, attended by your Chair and other distinguished speakers. Although the allotted time did not allow all those inscribed on the speakers list to take the floor, the enormous interest in the covenants and the reaffirmation of their continued relevance were clearly in evidence. Indeed, your work has never been more essential, yet treaty bodies continue to face unparalleled constraints. In 2026, the liquidity crisis resulted in the loss of approximately 40% of the meeting time allocated to treaty bodies, leading to more cancelled sessions and the postponement of a cumulative 51 state party reviews and over 100 individual communications across the treaty bodies. The loss of meeting time, combined with reduced resources and staff support, causes a serious decline in the treaty body's capacity to discharge their critical mandates. Delays in the submission of state reports create an additional obstacle to the committee's ability to fulfill its mandate. Never in the past 60 years has the functioning of the treaty body system been so seriously curtailed. Your chair conveyed these and other challenges to the General Assembly last week in his presentation of your annual report to the Third Committee. We have not yet received confirmation regarding the financial outlook for the Treaty Body sessions in 2027, but we should be prepared for the liquidity situation and the funding environment in general to remain challenging. We will share with you information as soon as possible, including as regards whether the Committees' 2027 sessions will be able to proceed as planned. and we will be in touch with you on this front. Regrettably, the situation impacts all stakeholders. Above all, it affects those for whom the Committee works, the people we serve, the rights holders, whose rights the Committee seeks to protect. We are keenly aware that State parties, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, and other stakeholders receive confirmation of reviews at a late stage, and that this limits their opportunities to engage effectively in the sessions. I would like to commend civil society organizations and national human rights institutions for the essential support they provide to the Committee's work, despite these very challenging circumstances. For this session alone, they submitted more than 150 contributions to the Committee, in addition to approximately 250 submissions made in connection with the preparation of the general comment on the right to freedom of association. OHCHR continues to explore ways to ensure solid support to the Committee and to strengthen the treaty body system in general. In this regard, the Office has presented a working paper with proposals to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the system, through three complementary measures which could be implemented gradually in a staggered manner. These proposals complement other initiatives that are already being pursued, including in the area of digital case management for individual communications. First idea in the working paper proposes consideration of decentralized and clustered dialogues through which States Parties would engage at the regional level with task forces comprising experts from participating committees. The aim of this proposal is to enhance coordination and to bring the dialogues closer to stakeholders. The committees would continue to hold plenary sessions in Geneva to adopt concluding observations and carry out other mandated functions. The second proposal envisages an integrated multilingual online reporting platform that would enable States to submit, update and manage treaty-related information securely in one centralized location. Where relevant, the information could be made available to multiple committees, while the platform would also provide clear information on reporting deadlines, simplified reporting procedures and review schedules. The third proposal seeks to strengthen the nomination and election of treaty body members through an online application platform, while fully preserving the authority of states parties to nominate and elect experts. We are currently working to unpack these proposals in more detail, as was requested by the chairs of treaty bodies in their June meeting, including with a view to consider pilots to test the ideas outlined. We look forward to hearing the Committee's initial reflections on these proposals, which, of course, can eventually be implemented only with support from States Parties and Treaty Bodies, and with adequate resources. Mr. Chair, distinguished members of the Committee, dear partners of the Committee, during this reduced session, the Committee will hold constructive dialogues with four States Parties. namely Austria, Cameroon, Jamaica and Rwanda. The Committee will also examine 30 drafts covering 67 communications in relation to 20 States parties, covering a wide range of issues. In addition, it will continue with the second reading of its draft General Comment No. 38 on freedom of association. Allow me to conclude by expressing deep appreciation for your dedication and commitment, which is indispensable, particularly in these challenging times. I wish you a successful and productive session, and I thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Mr. Hanti, Korea, for your inspiring opening statement and for the support extended to our committee in this very difficult time. I would now like to move to item 1 of the provisional agenda, CCPR/C/146/1, related to the adoption of agenda, available on Extranet and on the website. If there is no request from the floor, I shall consider that the provisional agenda and the proposed program of work are adopted. I would now like to move to item 2 of the agenda relating to the report of a working group on individual communications. In this regard, I would like to invite Madam Bassim, Chair of the working group, to present the report of the working group. Bassim, you have the floor.

Chairperson, I just wanted to say that somebody's missing in this room, somebody who we're thinking about and who we're wishing all the very best to. And we will be thinking of them and feeling them with us with great good wishes to Gabriella Abdul. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Caruso, for your warm words. And now I'll give the floor to Madam Bassil.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. Good morning, colleagues. And I would like to express my happiness, my pleasure to be together with all of you. It has been a long time since we met in spring or very early spring. And I would like to thank Mr. Achi for his speech. We are passing through all of us passing all over the world through very difficult times. Nevertheless, I'm sure we all have the goodwill, the intention to fulfill our mandates and to meet the expectations of the member states who have put their confidence in us with the help, of course, of the colleagues here, the secretariat. and all the staff who is really assisting us in our work. Without further personal comments, Mr. Chairperson, dear colleagues, it's my sincere pleasure in my capacity as a chairperson of the working group on individual communication submitted under the first optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to present to you the report of the working group and its activities held in relation to the Committee's session 146. As you are aware, all of you, that the Committee could not hold its summer session for obvious reasons just mentioned, and the current session is being held under ongoing stringent financial constraints. However, we are all pleased that the working group could hold its session and it met from 12 to 16 October 2026. For the first time in many years, the committee is holding its session in Palais des Nations. I have to confess that it took me and I'm sure other colleagues, some time to get used to our new surroundings. The working group was composed of Rodrigo Carazo, Halari Helfer, Konstantin Korkelia, Dalia Lenart, Bakr Ndiaye, Imeru Yigezu, and myself. The working group had a very busy session and had extremely rich and interesting discussion. The working group had before it 30 drafts covering 67 communication. The working group was able to review and discuss all the drafts. and to adopt them all, except one, which would need to be finalized in the margin of this plenary session. The cases examined were submitted between 2018 and 2023. They cover 20 State parties from different regions, as well as different themes, ranging from non-refoulement, discrimination, right to privacy, death penalty, arbitrary detention, fair trial, and right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, to name just a few. Of the 29 drafts covering 66 communications adopted so far, the working group submits to the plenary for its consideration 14 inadmissibility proposals, one view of non-violation, 14 views of violation, and, as I told you, one draft remains to be finalized. Before concluding, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my colleagues in the working group for their trust and for entrusting me with the chairmanship of the work of this working group. My appreciation to my fellow members for the rich and intense discussions the collegial atmosphere as well as for their cooperation, their flexibility and for making my task easy and enjoyable. Easy not all the time, but enjoyable all the way from the beginning to the end. My thanks also go to my dear friend and colleague, Mr. Halper, who kindly chaired the segments during which I was presented the drafts under my responsibility. It wouldn't be fair or possible to conclude these remarks without saying a big thank you and plenty of gratitude to the staff of the Petition to Miriam Tiburti Ghirfali and her colleagues, her team. I would have loved to name them one by one, but I'm afraid to forget any of them who has made our life, our task very easy in cases when we didn't expect so. They did not only prepare, but they were giving us advice, sharing experiences and interesting guidance when we asked for it. I hope that the work of our group will help facilitate the discussions by the plenary. I thank you for your kind attention and wish you a great continuation. Thank you.

I'd like to give my gratitude to all the members of the working group. And you must have very intense session. I can see it. So congratulations and thank you. And would any member like to take the floor with respect to the report presented by Madame Bassim? If not, we shall consider it adopted. I now move to item three of the agenda on the meeting with representatives of the national human rights institutions of Austria and Rwanda, followed by civil society organizations from Austria, Cameroon, and Rwanda. This is the closed meeting and therefore I will suspend the meeting for a few minutes to convert this meeting into a private meeting. We shall resume in three minutes.