Professor Changrok Soh, the first South Korean member to be elected to the UN Human Rights Committee, has been part of the Committee since 2021. He participated in the 138th Session, in which he was responsible for the state review of the Uganda and Brazil, and the LOIPR on Moldova. Below you can find an overview of the session published by the NGO CCPR Centre.
- ■ Overview of the 138th Session of the Human Rights Committee (26 June - 28 July 2023)
The Committee reviewed six countries on the application of the ICCPR. The review of Somala was postponed, and Burundi was reviewed without the State delegation
- • State reviews of seven countries and adoption of LOIs
The Human Rights Committee conducted xxx reviews of periodic reports and adopted Concluding observations on the third report of Brazil, the third report of Burundi, the eighth report of Colombia, the fifth report of Cyprus, the second report of Lesotho, the initial report of the State of Palestine, and the second report of Uganda.
The review of the initial report of Somalia, which was initially scheduled for this session, was postponed. A new date is not known, but it will most likely be in 2024.
Moreover, the review of Burundi took place without the State delegation. A few minutes before the start of the dialogue, the delegation handed over a note to the Committee, explaining that they would not stay in a meeting where “convicted criminals posing as civil society” were present. As the review is public, and all the persons in the room were accredited, the Committee went ahead with the review in absence of the delegation, who left the room.
The Committee also adopted the List of Issues in relation to Honduras and Suriname, and the List of Issues Prior to reporting of Jamaica and the Republic of Moldova.
In total, the Centre facilitated the engagement of 130 Human Rights Defenders with the Committee, including several who participated remotely. Seven CSO briefings were organized by the Centre in addition to the three formal briefings organised by the Secretariat.
• Follow-up to Concluding Observations and Views
The Committee adopted a report on Follow-up to Concluding Observations concerning Mexico, Niger, Portugal, and Senegal.
The reports on Follow-up will be available soon here.
• Decisions adopted on Individual communications
The Committee adopted 53 decisions, 27 were decided on the merits, 10 cases were declared inadmissible, and 17 communications were discontinued.
Regarding the cases which were decided on the merits, the Committee found:
-19 violations
• Next on the agenda
The next 139th session will take place from 9 October to 3 November 2023. The Committee will review Haiti, Iran, Kuwait, the Republic of Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States of America, and Venezuela. It will also adopt the List of Issues of Pakistan and the List of Issues Prior to Reporting of San Marino and Slovakia.
The contents is as follows: