The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a United Nations treaty based on the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was created in 1966 and entered into
force on March 23, 1976.
Because the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights contained both first-generation civil and political rights and
second-generation economic, social, and cultural rights, it could not garner
the international consensus necessary to become a binding treaty. Particularly,
a divide developed between democratic nations such as the United States, which
emphasized civil and political rights, and socialist or communist nations,
which emphasized economic, social and cultural rights. To solve this problem,
two binding Covenants were created instead of one: the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is monitored by the Human Rights Committee, a group of 18 experts who meet three times a
year to consider periodic reports submitted by member States on their
compliance with the treaty. Members of the Human Rights Committee are elected
by member states, but do not represent any State. The Covenant contains two
Optional Protocols. The First Optional Protocol creates an individual complaints mechanism
whereby individuals in member States can submit complaints, known as
communications, to be reviewed by the Human Rights Committee. Its rulings under
the first optional protocol have created the most complex jurisprudence in the
UN international human rights law system. The Second Optional
Protocol abolishes the death
penalty.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular
reports to the Committee on how the rights are being
implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the
Covenant and then whenever the Committee requests (usually every four years).
The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and
recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding
observations.”
The Committee meets in Geneva or New York and
normally holds three sessions per year.
The Committee also publishes its interpretation
of the content of human rights provisions, known as general
comments on thematic issues, or its methods of work.
The United States ratified the ICCPR on June 8,
1992, subject to certain reservations, understandings, and
obligations.
On July 27, 2006, the Human Rights Committee
published its concluding observations regarding the second and third periodic reports
of the United States of America, including the Committee’s observations
regarding the alleged failure by the United States to properly apply the
provisions of the ICCPR; the detention and treatment by the United States of
suspected terrorists; the need to prevent discrimination on the basis of race,
sexual orientation, and gender; the need to properly assist the victims of
Hurricane Katrina; the need to address immigration issues with respect for the
provisions of the ICCPR; the desirability of abolishing the death penalty in
the United States; the need to eliminate police brutality; the need for
informed consent in medical treatments; the need to restore the voting rights
of convicted felons who have served their sentences; and the need to grant
residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote for full representation
in the U.S. House of Representatives.