GENEVA (28 March 2024) - The UN Human Rights Committee today issued its findings on Chile, Guyana, Indonesia, Namibia, Serbia, Somalia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland after examining the seven States parties in its latest session.
The findings contain the Committee’s main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as positive aspects. Highlights include:
Chile
The Committee noted with concern that a large number of human rights violations were committed in the context of “social
outburst” due to the disproportionate and arbitrary use of force and brutality by the police and armed forces. It
regretted that only a few cases had been formally processed and resulted in convictions. The Committee urged Chile to
set up a control mechanism to prevent the excessive use of force during law enforcement operations, ensure
accountability at all levels, guarantee that victims receive comprehensive reparations, and consider adopting a law on
comprehensive reparations.
While welcoming Chile’s measures towards gender equality, the Committee, however, reflected its concern about the
absence of comprehensive discrimination legislation explicitly guaranteeing the principle of equality between women and
men, and the fact that parity has not yet been achieved at the electoral level, as well as the persistence of wage gaps
and other inequalities. It called upon Chile to intensify efforts to finalize legislative projects that explicitly
guarantee equality between men and women, continue its efforts to increase women’s participation in political and public
life, and eliminate wage inequalities between men and women.
Guyana
The Committee was concerned about the insufficient recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to the lands and
territories and the lack of progress in amending the Amerindian Act. The Committee was also troubled by reports that
inadequately regulated mining activities in Amerindian areas had caused environmental degradation and threatened
Amerindians’ health and traditional way of life. The Committee called on Guyana to expedite revising the Amerindian Act
2006 to guarantee indigenous peoples’ rights to occupy, own, use, and develop their traditional lands, territories, and
resources. The Committee also asked Guyana to speed up the demarcation and titling of the collective lands of indigenous
peoples.
The Committee expressed concerns that the institutional framework to combat corruption is not yet sufficiently strong
and effective in practice to adequately prevent or prosecute corruption. The Committee recommended that Guyana step up
its efforts to promote good governance and combat corruption and impunity at all government levels.
Indonesia
While acknowledging the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the convictions of six law enforcement officers for the
premeditated murder of Papuan individuals, the Committee, however, expressed regret over the lack of information on
other cases, such as the acquittal of retired army major Isak Sattu and about investigations into past violations. It
called on Indonesia to strengthen efforts to end impunity and hold perpetrators accountable for previous violations. The
Committee recommended that Indonesia guarantee the independence of judicial and non-judicial accountability mechanisms,
investigate all violations, provide full reparations to victims, and ensure that law enforcement agencies follow through
on findings by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
The Committee reflected concerns over allegations of undue influence on the 2024 general elections, along with a
decision by the Constitutional Court lowering the minimum age of candidates to the advantage of the President’s son. The
Committee was also disturbed by the harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary detention of opposition figures. It urged
Indonesia to ensure free and transparent elections, foster genuine political pluralism, guarantee the independence of
electoral commissions, revise restrictive legal provisions, ensure accessible polling stations, and prevent undue
influence by high-ranking officials.
Namibia
The Committee was concerned that indigenous peoples are often excluded from political life and decision-making processes
and that they are insufficiently consulted regarding the extraction of natural resources on their lands. The Committee
called on Namibia to consider recognising communities such as the San, Himba, Ovatue, Ovatjimba and Ovazemba as
indigenous peoples with concomitant rights, and to ensure meaningful consultation with them before granting any licences
for the exploitation of resources on their lands, with a view to obtaining their free, prior and informed consent.
The Committee raised its concern about legislation authorising the use of potentially lethal force in situations that
are not consistent with international human rights standards. It was also disturbed by the reported prevalence of
excessive use of force by the Namibian Police Force. It called on Namibia to take additional measures to prevent and
punish the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers, including aligning its legal framework with international
standards, planning and conducting law enforcement operations properly to minimise the risks to human life, and
investigating all allegations and holding those responsible to account.
Serbia
The Committee expressed concerns over the prevalence of hate speech in both online and traditional media by politicians
and high-level officials targeting, in particular, journalists, Roma and other ethnic or national minorities, and LGBTI
people. The Committee called on the Republic of Serbia to effectively implement and enforce existing legal and policy
frameworks on combating hate crimes, to publicly condemn hate speech, and to intensify action to tackle the prevalence
of hate discourse online.
The Committee noted with concern credible reports about numerous irregularities in the parliamentary and local elections
held in December 2023, including abuse of public resources, intimidation and pressure on voters, cases of vote-buying,
and stuffing of ballot boxes. The Committee called on the State party to undertake prompt, thorough and independent
investigation of all allegations of irregularities, strengthen oversight of election campaigns and conduct comprehensive
voter education programmes.
Somalia
The Committee voiced its grave concern over concrete incidents of excessive use of force and killing of civilians by
armed forces, law enforcement officers, Al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups. It urged Somalia to take additional
measures to effectively prevent the excessive use of force and the killing of civilians, as well as to punish
perpetrators. The Committee also questioned the compatibility of the State party’s laws on the use of force and firearms
with international standards, and the application of the Code of Military Criminal Law in Peace, which exempts law
enforcement officers from prosecution. It called on the State party to ensure all legislative and regulatory provisions
governing the use of force align with the UN Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.
The Committee expressed concern about proposed constitutional changes that would lower the age of majority from 18 to
15, citing reports that children are exposed to violence, abductions, labour, and forced recruitment as child soldiers
and that girls, in particular, are exploited and denied access to education. It asked Somalia to maintain the age of
majority at 18, take all measures to protect children from violence, abductions, labour, and exploitation, and guarantee
that all children have equal access to schooling. It also underscored that child victims of such abuses should be
rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Committee was particularly concerned about the conditional immunity under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and
Reconciliation) Act 2023 for people who had committed serious human rights violations. The Committee also questioned the
presumption against prosecution in favour of military personnel deployed overseas after five years, as stipulated in the
Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021. It called upon the State party to repeal or amend its
legislation, including the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Act 2021 and the Northern Ireland
Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, to ensure all past human rights violations committed by British officials
and members of the armed forces are appropriately investigated and prosecuted, and duly sanctioned without time limits.
The Committee voiced its concern over legislative initiatives, such as the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which contains
elements to limit access to rights for asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. The Committee regretted to see the State
party’s arrangements with third countries, particularly Rwanda, to transfer asylum seekers, and its efforts to adopt the
Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill despite the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that the arrangement would not be
compliant with international law, particularly the prohibition of refoulement. It urged the State party to swiftly
repeal the discriminative legislative provisions within the Illegal Migration Act 2023, and to withdraw the Safety of
Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, or repeal the bill if passed.
The above findings, officially known as Concluding Observations, are now available on the session page.