The Maldives today submitted its Initial Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR – for the period January 2007-January 2010). The ICCPR is the major international instrument stipulating the civil and political rights and freedoms, such as the right to vote and be elected, the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom of assembly that States must guarantee vis-à-vis their citizens. The Maldives acceded to the ICCPR and its First Optional Protocol (under which individual people can communicate directly to UN-level protection mechanisms when they feel their rights are being infringed, on 19 September 2006. The ICCPR and its First Optional Protocol came into force for Maldives on 19 December 2006.
State Parties to the ICCPR are obliged, on a periodic basis, to submit information of the UN human rights system on what steps have been taken to fulfil the rights protected by the ICCPR. These reports are scrutinised by an independent body of experts know as the Human Rights Committee, which sits in Geneva. States are then required to appear before the Committee to answer questions and receive recommendations for improvement and action.
In order to streamline reporting under the ICCPR and the other core international human rights conventions to which the Maldives is Party, the country is one pioneering States to elaborate a Common Core Document – a single report covering all human rights, which is then combined with a treaty specific section to highlight those rights relevant to a particular convention. Using the Common Core Document, the Maldives has also, over recent months, tabled its Report under the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The Maldives has also, over the past few years, submitted its regular Reports under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Government is now working on its Reports under the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). When completed the Maldives will be completely up-to-date with its human rights reporting obligations.
Speaking today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, said: “The Government takes its international human rights obligations extremely seriously, and by submitting our Report under this crucial international covenant, we are demonstrating our determination to uphold and be held accountable for the very highest human rights standards.
The Maldives has made remarkable progress in the area of civil and political rights since we acceded to the Covenant and this, together with our transition to a functioning liberal democracy, is captured in the Report”.
source:miadhunews
