Six reviews with Governmental delegations. The UN Human Rights Committee held its 137th Session from 27 February to 24 March, 2023. In this session, the Committee reviewed the ICCPR reports of Egypt, Turkmenistan, Zambia, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Panama. The review of Sri Lanka finally took place, since the dialogue had been postponed twice due to the security situation in the country.
New Chair of the Committee and new Bureau. On the first day of the session, Tania Abdo Rocholl was elected as the new Chair of the Committee, replacing Photini Pazartzis. José Santos Pais, Changrok Soh, and Kobauyah Tchamdja were elected as Vice Presidents, while Farid Ahmadov was named Committee Rapporteur. Moreover, this was the first session for seven new Committee members. Imeru Yigezu was appointed as Rapport for the follow-up on the Concluding Observations and Jose Santos Pais continued his mandate of Rapporteur for the follow-up on the Views.
Three hybrid reviews. Peru, Sri Lanka, and Panama were reviewed with part of the State delegation present in Geneva, and another part in the capital of the State party. This could be a worrisome development for the Committee, if State parties do not find necessary to appear before the Committee in physical format.
In total, the Centre facilitated the engagement of 114 Human Rights Defenders with the Committee, including several who participated remotely. No less than nine CSO briefings were organized by the Centre in addition to the two formal briefings.
Next on the agenda. The next 138th Session will take place from 26 June to 28 July 2023; the Committee will review Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Cyprus, Lesotho, Somalia, State of Palestine, and Uganda. It will also adopt the List of Issues of Honduras and Suriname, and the List of Issues Prior to Reporting of Jamaica and the Republic of Moldova.
