Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee discusses draft 5th Periodic Report of Georgia on fulfillment of ICCPR
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, November 12
Deputy Foreign Minister Khatuna Totladze introduced to the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee the draft 5th Periodic Report of Georgia on Fulfillment of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was developed with the ministry's coordination and the engagement of all the respective state agencies.
The Public Defender’s Office and numerous NGOs got the opportunity to review the draft and their recommendations were reflected, according to the Deputy FM. International organizations also participated in the development of the report.
“The report aims at provision of information to the Committee about the fulfillment of the commitments under the Covenant since 2014 and reflects the institutional, legislative, administrative and other reforms upheld in terms of civil and political rights,” noted Totladze.
The first part of the report provides information about the fulfillment of the final assessments of the Committee, while the second part deals with the realization of the rights stipulated under the Covenant, according to the Deputy Minister.
The report describes the grave human rights situation in the occupied territories of Georgia. It also underlines the responsibility of the Russian Federation for the ongoing human rights violations in the occupied regions, as they are the force that exercises effective control there. Additionally, the document gives an overview of the Georgian Government's policy on peaceful conflict resolution and the actions of the Government aimed at improving the state of human rights in the occupied territories.
“The report emphasizes all key documents, including the Governmental Human Rights Action Plan covering remedies for the protection of civil and political rights,” she added.
The report offers response to the recommendations concerning numerous human rights issues that were provided by the UN Human Rights Committee after considering the fourth Periodic Review of Georgia including, but not limited to the anti-discriminatory law, women’s issues - gender equality, domestic violence and services for victims; accountability for past committed human rights crimes.
The Committee approved the report. After certain procedures, it will be translated into English and submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee.
“I would like to thank the Foreign Ministry for introducing the position of various state agencies today. Coordination evident in the textual and contextual parts is of utmost importance,” stated Deputy Chair of the Committee Rati Ionatamishvili.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) guarantees traditional civil rights and freedoms. Together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), it enacts in a binding framework the rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
The ICCPR was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and came into force on March 23, 1976. Georgia ratified the Convention on May 3, 1994.
The UN's Human Rights Committee is the body that reviews states parties' compliance with their obligations under the ICCPR. Each state party must submit a country report in principle every four years informing the Committee of the measures they have adopted to implement the civil and political rights under the Covenant.
To date, Georgia has submitted four reports on the implementation of the ICCPR, in 1995, 2000, 2006 and 2011.
