[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Text of the International Covenant

Subject: Text of the International Covenant
From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Sat, 11 Jun 1994 02:10:00

/* Written 4:04 pm Jun 5, 1994 by abirdson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.cult.burma */
/* ---------- "Text of the International Covenant " ---------- */
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

Part 1

ARTICLE 1

1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of
that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development.

2. All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their
natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising
out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of
mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be
deprived of its own means of subsistence.
3. The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having
responsibility for the administration of Non-Self Governing and Trust
Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of
self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the
provisions of the United Nations.

Part 2

ARTICLE 2

1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect
and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its
jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without
distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
other status.

2. Where not already provided for by existing legislative or
other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to
take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes
and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such legislative
or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights
recognized in the present Covenant.

3. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes:

(a) To ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein
recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding
that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official
capacity;

(b) To ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have
his right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or
legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for
by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of
judicial remedy;

ARTICLE 3

The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure
the4 equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all civil and
political rights set forth in the present Covenant.

ARTICLE 4

1. In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the
nation and the existence of which is officially proclaimed, the States
Parties to the present Covenant may take measures derogating from their
obligations under the present Covenant to the extent strictly required by
the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not
inconsistent with their other obligations under international law and do
not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, color, sex ,
language or social origin.

2. No derogation from articles 6,7,8 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 11,
15, 16, and 18 may be made under this provision.

3. Any State Party to the present Covenant availing itself of the
right of derogation shall immediately inform the other States Parties to
the present Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and of
the treasons by which it was actuated. A further communication shall be
made, through the same intermediary, on the date on which it terminates
such derogation.

ARTICLE 5

1. Nothing in the present Covenant may be interpreted as implying
for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or
perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedom
recognized herein or at their limitation to a greater extent than in
provided for in the present Covenant.

2. There shall be no restriction upon or derogation from any of
the fundamental human rights recognized or existing in any State Party tot
the present Covenant pursuant to law, conventions, regulations or custom
on the pretext that the present Covenant does not recognize such rights or
that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.

Part 3

ARTICLE 6

1. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right
shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his
life.

2. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty,
sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in
accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the
crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement
rendered by a competent court.

3. When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it
is understood that nothing in this article shall authorize any State Party
tot he present Covenant to derogate in any way from any obligation assumed
under the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide.

4. Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon
or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the
sentence of death may be granted in all cases.

5. Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed
by persons below eighteen years of age and shall not be carried out on
pregnant women.

6. Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to
prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the
present Covenant.

ARTICLE 7

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be
subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific
experimentation.

ARTICLE 8

1. No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade
in all their forms shall be prohibited.

2. No one shall be held in servitude.

3. (a) No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory
labor;

(b) Paragraph 3 (a) shall not be held to preclude, in countries
where imprisonment with hard labor may be imposed as a punishment for a
crime, the performance of hard labor in pursuance of a sentence to such
punishment by a competent court;

(c) For the purpose of this paragraph the term "forced or
compulsory labor" shall notinclude:
(i) Any work or service, not referred to in sub-paragraph
(b), normally requiredof a person who is under detention in consequence of
a lawful order of acourt, or of a person during conditional release from
such detention;

(ii) Any service of a military character and, in countries
where conscientiousobjection is recognized, any national service required
by law of conscientiousobjectors;

(iii) Any service exacted in cases of emergency or
calamity threatening thelife or well-being of the community;

(iv) Any work or service which forms part of normal civil
obligations.

ARTICLE 9

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No
one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be
deprived of his his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with
such procedures as are established by law.

2 . Anyone who is arrested shall be informed , at the time of
arrest of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any
charges against him.

3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be
brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to
exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable
time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons
awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to
guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial
proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgement.

4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention
shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that
court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and
order his release if the detention is not lawful.

5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention
shall have an enforceable right to compensation.

ARTICLE 10

1. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with
humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

2. ( a) Accused persons shall, save in exceptional circumstances,
be segregated from convicted persons and shall be subject to separate
treatment appropriate to their status as unconvicted persons;
(b) Accused juvenile persons shall be separated from adults and
brought as speedily as possible for adjudication.

3. The penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners
the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social
rehabilitation. Juvenile offenders shall be segregated from adults and be
accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status.

ARTICLE 11

No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to
fulfill a contractual obligation.

ARTICLE 12

1. Everyone lawfully within the territory of a State shall, within
that territory, have the right to liberty of movement and freedom to
choose his residence.

2. Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own.

3. The above-mentioned rights shall not be subject to any
restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to
protect national security, public order (ordre public), public health or
morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the
other rights recognized in the present Covenant.

4. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his
own country.

ARTICLE 13

An alien lawfully in the territory of a State Party to the present
Covenant may be expelled therefrom only in pursuance of a decision reached
in accordance with law and shall, except where compelling reasons of
national security otherwise require, be allowed to submit the reasons
against his expulsion and to have his case reviewed by, and be represented
for the purpose before, the competent authority.

ARTICLE 14

1. All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals.
In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or his rights and
obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and
public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal
established by law. The Press and the public may be excluded from all or
part of a trial for reasons of morals, public order (ordre public) or
national security in a democratic society, or when the interest of the
private lives of the parties so requires, or to the extent strictly
necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where
publicity would prejudice the interests of justice; but any judgement
rendered in a criminal case or in a suit at law shall be made public
except where the interest of juvenile persons otherwise requires or the
proceedings concern matrimonial disputes or the guardianship of children.

2. Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right
to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

3. In the determination of any criminal charge against him,
everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees, in full
equality:

(a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he
understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;

(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of
his defence and to communicate with counsel of his own choosing;

(d) To be tried in his presence, and to defend himself in person
or through legal assistance of his own choosing; to be informed, if he
doesn't have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal
assistance assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so
require, and without payment by him in any such case if he dos not have
sufficient means to pay for it.

(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to
obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the
same conditions as witnesses against him.
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot
understand or speak the language used in court;

(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess
guilt.

4. In the case of juvenile persons, the procedure shall be such
as will take account of their age and the desirability of promoting their
rehabilitation.

5. Everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction
and sentence being reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.

6. When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a
criminal offence and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or
he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact
shows conclusively that their has been a miscarriage of justice, the
person who has suffered punishment as a result of such conviction shall be
compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the non-disclosure
of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributable to him.

7. No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an
offence for which he has already been convicted or acquitted in accordance
with the law and penal procedure of each country.

ARTICLE 15

1. No one shall be held guilty of any criminal offence on account
of any act or ommission which did not constitute a criminal offence, under
national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor
shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the
time when the criminal offence was committed. If, subsequent to the
commission of the offence, provision is made by law for the imposition of
a lighter penalty, the offender shall benefit thereby.

2. Nothing in this article shall prejudice the trial and
punishment of any person for any act or omission which, at the time when
it was committed, was criminal according to the general principles of law
recognized by the community of nations.

ARTICLE 16

Everyone shall have the right to recognition everywhere as a
person before the law.

ARTICLE 17

1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks
on his honor and reputation.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against
such interference or attacks.

ARTICLE 18

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of though conscience
and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a
religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion
or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.

2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his
freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

3. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs may be subject
only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary to
protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights
and freedoms of others.

4. The states Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have
respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians
to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in
conformity with their own convictions.

ARTICLE 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without
interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this
right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or
in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this
article carries with it special duties and responsibilities. It may
therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such
as are provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order
(ordre public), or of public health or morals.

ARTICLE 20

1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.

2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that
constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be
prohibited by law.

ARTICLE 21

The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No
restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those
imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic
society in their interests of national security or public safety, public
order (ordre public), their protection of public health or morals or the
protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

ARTICLE 22

1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with
others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.

2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right
other than those which are prescribed by law and which are necessary in a
democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety,
public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or
the protection of the rights and freedoms of others . This article shall
not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on members of the armed
forces and of the police in ther exercise of this right.

3. Nothing in this artilce shall authorize States Parties to the
International Labour Organisation of 1948 concerning Freedom of
Association and Protection of the Right ot Organize to take legislative
measures which would prejudice, or to apply the law in such as manner as
to prejudice, the guarantees provided for in that Convention.

ARTICLE 23

1. The family is the natural and fundamental goup unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

2. The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to
found a family shall be recognized.

3. No marrigae shall be entered into without the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.

4. States Parties to the present Covenant shall take appropriate
steps to ensure equality of rights and responsibilities of spouses as to
marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. In the case of
dissolution, provision shall be made for the necessary protection of any
children.

ARTICLE 24

1. Every child shall have, without any discrimination as to
race, color, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, property
or birth, the right to such measures of protection as are required by his
status as a minor, on the part of his family, society and the State.

2. Every child shall be registered immediately after birth and
shall have a name.

3. Every child has the right to acquire a nationality.

ARTICLE 25

Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without
any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable
restrictions:
(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or
through freely chosen representatives;

(b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which
shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors.

ARTICLE 26

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discriimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the
law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal
and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as
race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status.

ARTICLE 27

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic
minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied
the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy
their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use
their own language.

Part 4

ARTICLE 28

1. There shall be established a Human Rights Committee (hereafter
referrd to in the present covenant as the Committee). It shall consist of
eighteen members and shall carry out the functions hereinafter provided.

2. The Committee shall be composed of nationals of the States
Parties to the present Covenant who shall be persons of high moral
character and recognized competence in the field of human rights,
consideration being given to t he usefulness of the participation of some
persons having legal exerience.

3. The members of the Committee shall be elected and shall serve
in theri personal capacity.

ARTICLE 29

1. The mmbers of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot
from a list of persons possessing the qualifications prescribed in article
28 and nominted for the purpose by the States Parties to the present
Covenant.

2. Each State Party to the present covenant may nominate not more
than two persons. These persons shall be nationals of the nominating
State.

3. A person shall be eliblible for renomination.

ARTICLE 30

1. The initial election shall be held no later than six months
after the date of the entry into force of the present Covenant.

2. At least four months before the date of each election to the
committee other than an election to fil a vacancy declared i accordance
with article 34, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address
a written invitation to the States Parties to the present Covenant to
submit their nominations for membership of the Committee within three
months.

3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall prepare a
list in alphabetical order of all the persons thus nominated, with an
indication of the of the States Parties which have nominated them, and
shall submit to the States Parties to the present Covenant no later than
one month before the date of each election.

4. Elections of the members of the Committeee shall be held at
the meeting of the States Parties to the present Covenant convened by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations at the Headquarters of the United
Nations. At that meeting, for which two-thirds of the States Parties to
the present Covenant shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the
Committee shall be those nominees who obtain the largest number of votes
and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States
Parties present and voting.

ARTICLE 31

1. The Committee may not include more than one national of the
same State.

2. In the election of the Committee, 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.

ARTICLE 32

1. The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of
four years. They shall be eligible for re-election if renominated.
However, the terms of nine of the members elected at the first election
shall expire at the end of two years; immediately after the first
election, the names of these nine members hsall be chosen by lot by the
Chariman of the meeting referred to in article 30, paragraph 4.

2. Elections at the expiry of office shall be held in accordance
with the preceding articles of this part of the present covenant.

ARTICLE'S 33 - 53 have been ommitted from this copy. To see them write
the United Nations New York, New York 10017

Prev by Date: Announcing soc.culture.burma archiv
Next by Date: Rebels Say Burma Air Stri
Previous by thread: Announcing soc.culture.burma archiv
Next by thread: Rebels Say Burma Air Stri
Index(es):
- Date
- Thread