International Covenants on Human Rights

A/RES/58/165View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 117a Implementation of human rights instruments, published in 2004.

What other versions does this mandate have?

26 versions · 1979–2016

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/70/144

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2016	A/RES/70/144	International Covenants on Human Rights	245	51%Compare
2014	A/RES/68/155	International Covenants on Human Rights	165	76%Compare
2012	A/RES/66/148	International Covenants on Human Rights	140	6%Compare
2010	A/RES/64/152	International Covenants on Human Rights	1,899	76%Compare
2008	A/RES/62/147	International Covenants on Human Rights	2,000	75%Compare

What’s in this document?

31 operative paragraphs

Reaffirms the importance of the International Covenants on Human Rights2 as major components of international efforts to promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Welcomes once again the initiative of the Secretary-General at the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations to invite heads of State and Government to sign, ratify or accede to the International Covenants on Human Rights, and expresses its appreciation to those States that have done so;

Strongly appeals to all States that have not yet done so to become parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights2 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 as well as to consider as a matter of priority acceding to the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights5 and making the declaration provided for in article 41 of the Covenant;

Invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to intensify systematic efforts to encourage States to become parties to the International Covenants on Human Rights and, through the programme of advisory services in the field of human rights, to assist such States, at their request, in ratifying or acceding to the Covenants and to the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with a view to achieving universal adherence;

Emphasizes the importance of the strictest compliance by States parties with their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and, where applicable, the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Also emphasizes that States must ensure that any measure to combat terrorism complies with their obligations under relevant international law, including their obligations under the International Covenants on Human Rights;

Stresses the importance of avoiding the erosion of human rights by derogation, and underlines the necessity of strict observance of the agreed conditions and procedures for derogation under article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, bearing in mind the need for States parties to provide the fullest possible information during states of emergency so that the justification for the appropriateness of measures taken in those circumstances can be assessed, and in this regard particularly takes note of General Comment No. 29 adopted by the Human Rights Committee;⁷

⁷Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/56/40), vol. I, annex VI.

Encourages States parties to consider limiting the extent of any reservations that they lodge to the International Covenants on Human Rights, to formulate any reservations as precisely and narrowly as possible and to ensure that no reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the relevant treaty;

Also encourages States parties to review regularly any reservations made in respect of the provisions of the International Covenants on Human Rights and the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with a view to withdrawing them;

Welcomes the annual reports of the Human Rights Committee submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh⁸ and fifty-eighth⁹ sessions, and takes note of the General Comments adopted by the Committee;¹⁰

⁸Ibid., Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/57/40).

⁹Ibid., Fifty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 40 (A/58/40).

¹⁰See HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6.

Also welcomes the reports of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions¹¹ and on its twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth sessions,¹² and takes note of the General Comments adopted by the Committee;9

¹¹Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2002, Supplement No. 2 (E/2002/22).

¹²Ibid., 2003, Supplement No. 2 (E/2003/22).

Urges States parties to fulfil their reporting obligations under article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on time and to attend and participate in the consideration of the reports by the Human Rights Committee when so requested, and in this regard takes note of General Comment No. 30 adopted by the Committee;9

Also urges States parties to fulfil their reporting obligations under article 16 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on time and to attend and participate in the consideration of the reports by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights when so requested;

Further urges States parties to make use in their reports of gender-disaggregated data, and stresses the importance of taking fully into account a gender perspective in the implementation of the International Covenants on Human Rights at the national level, including in the national reports of States parties and in the work of the Human Rights Committee and of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

Strongly encourages States parties that have not yet submitted core documents to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to do so, and invites all States parties regularly to review and update their core documents;¹³

¹³See HRI/CORE/1 and addenda.

Urges States parties to take duly into account, in implementing the provisions of the International Covenants on Human Rights, the recommendations and observations made during the consideration of their reports by the Human Rights Committee and by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as the views adopted by the Human Rights Committee under the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

Invites States parties to give particular attention to the dissemination at the national level of their reports submitted to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the summary records relating to the examination of those reports by the Committees and the recommendations and observations made by the Committees after the examination of those reports;

Urges all States to publish the texts of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in as many local languages as possible and to distribute them and make them known as widely as possible in their territories;

Urges each State party to translate, publish and make available as widely as possible in its territory by appropriate means the full text of the concluding observations on its reports to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

Reiterates that States parties should take into account, in their nomination of members to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that the Committees shall be composed of persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the field of human rights, consideration being given to the usefulness of the participation of some persons having legal experience, as well as to equal representation of women and men, and that members serve in their personal capacity, and also reiterates that, in the elections of the Committees, consideration shall be given to equitable geographical distribution of membership and to the representation of the different forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems;

Invites the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, when considering the reports of States parties, to continue to identify specific needs that might be addressed by United Nations departments, funds and programmes and the specialized agencies, including through the advisory services and technical assistance programme of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;

Stresses the need for improved coordination among relevant United Nations mechanisms and bodies in supporting States parties, upon their request, in implementing the International Covenants on Human Rights and the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and encourages continued efforts in this direction;

Welcomes the meeting held by the Human Rights Committee and States parties in October 2002 and the meeting held by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and States parties in May 2003 to exchange ideas on how to render the working methods of the Committees more efficient, and encourages all States parties to continue to contribute to the dialogue with practical and concrete proposals and ideas on ways to improve the effective functioning of the Committees;

Also welcomes the continuing efforts of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to strive for uniform standards in the implementation of the provisions of the International Covenants on Human Rights, and appeals to other bodies dealing with similar human rights questions to respect those uniform standards, as expressed in the general comments of the Committees;

Notes the need for further consideration of the issue of justiciability of the rights set forth in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and for further efforts towards developing indicators and benchmarks to measure progress in the national implementation by States parties of the rights protected by the Covenant;

Takes note with interest of the establishment by the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-ninth session of an open-ended working group with a view to considering options regarding the elaboration of an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and making specific recommendations on its course of action concerning the question of such an optional protocol, and encourages all parties to participate actively in the first session of the working group;

Encourages the specialized agencies that have not yet done so to submit their reports on the progress made in achieving the observance of the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant, and expresses its appreciation to those that have done so;

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to assist States parties to the International Covenants on Human Rights in the preparation of their reports, including by convening seminars or workshops at the national level for the training of government officials engaged in the preparation of such reports and by exploring other possibilities available under the programme of advisory services in the field of human rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights effectively assists the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the implementation of their respective mandates by providing, inter alia, adequate Secretariat staff resources and conference and other relevant support services;

Welcomes the initiative of the Secretary-General, taking into account the suggestions of the Human Rights Committee, to take determined steps, in particular through the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat, to give more publicity to the work of that Committee and of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, under the item entitled “Human rights questions”, a report on the status of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including all reservations and declarations.

International Covenants on Human Rights

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