HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

Seventy-first session

New York

19 March - 6 April 2001

PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS

Note by the Secretary-General

1.The seventy-first session of the Human Rights Committee will be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 19 March to 6 April 2001. The first meeting will be convened on Monday, 19 March 2001 at 10.30 a.m.

2.In accordance with rule 6 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has prepared, in consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee, the attached provisional agenda for the seventy-first session. Annotations to the provisional agenda are also attached.

3.Pursuant to rule 33 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the meetings of the Committee will be held in public unless the Committee decides otherwise or it appears from the relevant provisions of the Covenant or the Optional Protocol that the meetings should be held in private.

4.The attention of States parties is drawn, in particular, to the annotations to item 4, which contain the tentative timetable for the consideration of reports at the seventy-first session. In accordance with rule 68 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, representatives of States parties are present at the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined.

5.At its seventieth session, the Committee decided that a Working Group, established under rules 62 and 89 of its rules of procedure, should meet for a period of one week prior to its seventy-first session. The working group is scheduled to meet at United Nations Headquarters from 12 to 16 March 2001.

GE.01-40254 (E)

PROVISIONAL AGENDA

1.Opening of the session by the representative of the Secretary-General.

2.Solemn declaration by the newly elected members of the Committee in accordance with article 38 of the Covenant.

3.Election of the Chairperson and other officers of the Committee.

4.Adoption of the agenda.

5.Organizational and other matters:

(a)Report(s) of the Chairperson/Rapporteur(s) of the pre-sessional working group(s);

(b)Working methods; amendments to rules of procedure;

(c)World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.

6.Submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant.

7.Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant.

8.General comments of the Committee.

9.Consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.

10.Commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Covenant.

ANNOTATIONS

1.Opening of the session by the representative of the Secretary-General

The representative to the Secretary-General will open the seventy-first session of the Committee and will preside over the meeting until the election of the Chairperson of the Committee.

2.Solemn declaration by the newly elected members of the Committee in accordance with article 38 of the Covenant

In accordance with article 38 of the Covenant and rule 16 of the rules of procedure, the nine members of the Committee elected or re-elected at the Twentieth Meeting of States parties to the Covenant on 7 September 2000 will make the following solemn declaration:

“I solemnly undertake to discharge my duties as a member of the Human Rights Committee impartially and conscientiously”.

3.Election of the Chairperson and other officers of the Committee

In accordance with article 39, paragraph 1, of the Covenant and rule 18 of the rules of procedure, the Committee shall elect from among its members a Chairperson, three Vice‑Chairpersons and a Rapporteur. The officers of the Committee shall be elected for a term of two years.

Under rule 58 of the rules of procedure, elections shall be held by secret ballot, unless the Committee decides otherwise in the case of an election to fill a place for which there is only one candidate.

4.Adoption of the agenda

Under rule 8 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the first item on the agenda for any session shall be the adoption of the agenda. In accordance with rule 9, the Committee may revise the agenda during a session, and may, as appropriate, defer or delete items.

5.Organizational and other matters

Under this item, the Committee will (a) consider the report(s) of the Chairperson/Rapporteur(s) of the working group(s); (b) continue the examination of working methods and the need to update its rules of procedure; (c) review the status of the Committee’s contribution to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and discuss the scheduled commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

6.Submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant

A. Reports received

In addition to the reports which are scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its seventy-first session (see the timetable for consideration of reports under item 7 below), the Secretary-General has received the reports of the following States parties:

Initial reports
State party	Symbol	Date due	Date received
Croatia	CCPR/C/HRV/99/1	1993	19 November 1999
Uzbekistan	CCPR/C/UZ/99/1	1996	15 September 1999
Czech Republic	CCPR/C/CZE/2000/1	1993	3 March 2000
Monaco	CCPR/C/MCO/99/1	1998	30 December 1999
Second periodic reports
Switzerland	CCPR/C/CH/98/2	1998	29 September 1998
Guatemala	CCPR/C/GTM/99/2	1998	6 October 1999
Georgia	CCPR/C/GEO/2000/2	2000	9 August 2000
Azerbaijan	CCPR/C/AZE/99/2	1998	8 November 1999
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	CCPR/C/ERK/2000/2	1987	20 March 2000
Syrian Arab Republic	CCPR/C/SYR/2000/2	1984	19 January 2000
Third periodic reports
Netherlands	CCPR/C/NET/99/3	1997	28 July 2000 (resubmitted)
Venezuela	CCPR/C/VEN/98/3	1998	8 July 1998
Fourth periodic reports
Hungary	CCPR/C/HUN/2000/4	1995	12 December 2000 (retransmittal of report originally submitted in 1999)
Yugoslavia	CCPR/C/YUG/99/4	1993	5 March 1999
Dominican Republic	CCPR/C/DOM/99/3	1994	29 September 1999

Fifth periodic reports
State party	Symbol	Date due	Date received
Sweden	CCPR/C/SWE/2000/5	1999	23 October 2000
Ukraine	CCPR/C/UKR/99/5	1999	20 September 1999
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	CCPR/C/UK/99/5	1999	11 October 1999
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Overseas Territories)	CCPR/C/UKOT/99/5	1999	9 December 1999

B. Reports due

For the situation with regard to the submission of reports by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant, reference is made to chapter III and annex III of the Committee’s 2000 annual report to the General Assembly (A/55/40).

7.Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the Covenant

In accordance with rule 68 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has informed the States parties concerned of the dates on which their respective reports are scheduled for consideration by the Committee at its seventy-first session. These States parties are Croatia, the Dominican Republic, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Syria, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

A tentative timetable for the consideration of reports at the seventy-first session, prepared in consultation with the Chairperson and subject to approval by the Committee, is given below.

Timetable for consideration of reports of States parties

Venezuela	Third periodic report	Monday, 19 March 2001, p.m. Tuesday, 20 March 2001, a.m. Wednesday, 21 March 2001, p.m. Thursday, 22 March 2001, a.m. Friday, 23 March 2001, a.m./p.m. Monday, 26 March 2001, a.m. Tuesday, 27 March 2001, a.m. and p.m. Wednesday, 28 March 2001, a.m. and p.m. Thursday, 29 March 2001, a.m. Friday, 30 March 2001, a.m./p.m.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Fourth periodic report
Dominican Republic	Fourth periodic report
Uzbekistan	Initial report
Croatia	Initial report
Syria	Second periodic report

8.General comments of the Committee

Under this item, the Committee will continue consideration of the draft general comment on article 4 (states of emergency, derogations).

9.Consideration of communications under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant

In accordance with the provisions of chapter XVII of the rules of procedure, the Committee will consider under this item communications which are or appear to be submitted to it under the Optional Protocol.

One hundred and seventy-five communications are pending before the Committee. Pursuant to the Committee’s new rules of procedure allowing the joint examination of admissibility and merits in most cases, the Committee’s examination of these communications may result in the adoption of Views, or in decisions declaring the communications admissible or inadmissible.

In accordance with article 5, paragraph 3, of the Optional Protocol and rule 82 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, this agenda item will be considered in closed meetings.

10.Commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Covenant

26 March 2001 will mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Covenant. A commemorative event is planned for this purpose, the modalities of which members of the Committee may wish to discuss. The Executive Office of the Secretary-General has been approached, as to whether the Secretary-General would be available to address the Committee on 26 March 2001.

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