Centre for Civil and Political Rights
Human Rights Committee Case-Law Digest
Decisions adopted during
October 2013 session (109th)
Issue No. 8
February 2014
Newsletter Contents:
Editorial Editorial

This newsletter collects the decisions on Individual Communications taken by the Human Rights Committee at its 109th session, held in October 2013. The full text of all the decisions are available in the 'Database on Decisions' on the Centre's website. This database has been improved to accommodate cross-reference searches, allowing cases to be easily accessible through searching by country, provisions, keywords and/or the year.   

  

Several of the cases considered at this session present particularly interesting features. Including cases relating to LGBTI rights and enforced disappearances. Read More

 
Admissible Human Rights Committee Case Law - 109th Session (October 2013)
AlgeriaFaraoun v. Algeria  
Mihoubi v. Algeria  
  • Article 2 (3) - Right to a remedy
  • Article 6 (1) - Right to life
  • Article 7 - Torture, ill-treatment
  • Article 9  - Arbitrary detention
  • Article 16 - Legal personality   
  • Article 17 - Privacy 
These cases are just two of the numerous enforced disappearances that occurred in Algeria between 1993 and 2003. The Human Rights Committee confirmed its well-established jurisprudence that enforced disappearances entail a violation of the right to life. Read more

Faraoun: CCPR/C/109/D/1884/2009. Full text of decision - A | E | F | S
Mihoubi: CCPR/C/109/D/1874/2009. Full text of decision - A | E| F | S    
Belarus Komarovsky v. Belarus    
  • Article 19 (2) - Freedom of expression
The author of this case was arrested and condemned to 7 days of administrative detention for participating in a small gathering in front of a monument. The Committee considered that the limitation to his freedom of expression was not justified. Read more

CCPR/C/109/D/1839/2008.Full text of decision - E | F | R | S 
Protsko and Tolchin v. Belarus 
  • Article 19 (2) - Freedom of expression
The Committee considered that the limitation to the freedom of expression of the author did not comply with the proportionality and necesity test. The athor was detained while he was distributing information of a forthcoming commemorative event and was detained for two days.  Read more

CCPR/C/109/D/1919-1920/2009.Full text of decision - E | F | R | S    

Sekerko v. Belarus
  • Article 21 - Freedom of assembly
The author  sought authorization from the Belarusian authorities to hold a mass event but the application was denied. The Committee found Belarus to be in violation of ICCPR because although the restriction was imposed following lawful procedures, it did not meet requirements of necessity and proportionality. Read more

CCPR/C/109/D/1851/2008. Full text of decision - E | F | R | S
Zhuk v. Belarus  
  • Article 6 - Right to life 
  • Article 7 - Torture, ill-treatment
  • Article 9 (3) - Judicial review of detention
  • Article 14 (1) - Fair trial
Mr Zhuk was arrested in Soligorsk in March 2009 on suspicions of two murders. He was executed a year later. His mother appealed to the Human Rights Committee during his incarceration on the grounds of unjust treatment and wrongful persecution by the Belarus authorities. After thorough review, the Committee concluded that the State violated articles of ICCPR and remanded changes to be made. Read more

 

CCPR/C/109/D/1910/2009. Full text of decision - E| F | R | S   
BiH Al-Gertani v. Bosnia and Herzegovina  
  • Article 9  - Procedural guarantees
  • Article 17 - Right to privacy
  • Article 23 - Protection of family
  • Article 24 - Rights of the Child 
The author of this case was an Iraqi national facing deportation. The Committee considered that the State party rightfully decided that he was not in need of international protection. However, the State party violated other Covenant rights (art. 9, 17, 23 & 24) because it did not take into consideration the potential hardships of the deportation for the author and his family. Read more 

 

CCPR/C/109/D/1955/2010. Full text of decision - E| F | S 
CanadaChoudhary et al. v. Canada 
  • Article 2 (3) - Effective remedy
  • Article 6 (1) - Right to life 
  • Article 7 - Torture, ill-treatment  
Mr Choudhary is an active Shia member from Pakistan.  He and his wife moved to Canada seeking refugee protection from religious prosecutions. He appealed to the Human Rights Committee after his asylum requests were denied and faced deportation along with his Canadian born children. The Committee concluded that the State violated articles of ICCPR and remanded changes to be made. Read more

CCPR/C/109/D/1898/2009. Full text of decision - E | F | S 
Russia Alekseev v. Russian Federation   
  • Article 21 - Freedom of assembly

The Committee decided that the restriction imposed to the author constituted a violation of the right to peaceful assembly of the author. The author had planned a protest against executions of homosexuals and minors in Iran in front of the Iranian embassy.  Read more

 

CCPR/C/109/D/1873/2009. Full text of decision - E| F | R | S  
Alekperov v. Russian Federation
  • Article 2 - Effective remedy
  • Article 6 - Right to life
  • Article 14 (1) - Fair trial
  • Article 15 (1) - Retroactive application of the law
  • Article 26 - Equality before the law
Mr Alekperov was originally convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. He was then given a presidential pardon, which commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. He alleged that the State party has violated several of his rights concerning judicial proceedings. However, the Committee considered that his trial and appeal did not violate any ICCPR's provisions. Read more

CCPR/C/109/D/1764/2008. Full text of decision - E | F | R | S
Sevostyanov v. Russian Federation
  •  Article 9 (1) - Arbitrary arrest/detention
  •  Article 14 (5) - Right to an Appeal
The petitioner of this case, convicted of murder, was uninterruptedly detained until the end of his trial. The Committee held that his detention was arbitrary as it was based on a phone call from the investigator. The author also alleged violation of his right to have his sentence reviewed, but the Committee found his appeal was processed according to law. Read more
 
CCPR/C/109/D/1856/2008. Full text of decision - E | F | R | S
 Zhirnov v. Russian Federation  
  • Article 14 (3) (b) - Preparation of defence

For every criminal procedure, the accused should have right to a legal counsel of his/her choosing, and should be entitled to adequate time and facilities in preparation for defense. The Committee found that these rights were not respected in the case of Zhirnov, especially given the seriousness of his charges.  Read more 

 

CCPR/C/109/D/1795/2008. Full text of decision - E | F | R | S   
Inadmissible Inadmissible cases

Martinez et al. v. Algeria
CCPR/C/109/D/1922/2009. Full text of decision - E | F | S 
F.B.L. v. Costa Rica 
CCPR/C/109/D/1612/2007.  Full text of decision -  E | F | S 
A.W.P. v. Denmark   
CCPR/C/109/D/1879/2009. Full text decision - E| F | S
R.C. v. France    
Read more
CCPR/C/109/D/1923/2009. Full text of decision -  E | F  | S
D.J. v. Lithuania 
Read more 
CCPR/C/109/D/2014/2010. Full text of decision - E |F | S