NCJ Number
203107
Journal
Journal of the Institute of Justice and International Studies Issue: 1 Dated: 2002 Pages: 83-111
Date Published
2002
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses some case law on detention issues by the Human Rights Committee (HRC) that supervises the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as HRC case law on the so-called "death row phenomenon," which involves forcing a person to live under conditions that spawn intense fear, distress, and the virtual destruction of the personality while awaiting execution.
Abstract
The ICCPR is one component of the International Bill of Rights, which consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in addition to the ICCPR. In explaining the case law of the HRC, which supervises the implementation of the ICCPR, this paper notes that bringing a case (an individual complaint) before the HRC is only possible if the state against which the complaint is directed has precommitted itself to the individual complaint procedure under the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. Victims initiate such a complaint by writing a letter to the HRC Secretariat in Geneva. This paper cites some cases acted upon by the HRC that have violated Article 7 of the ICCPR, which provides that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. The HRC has found that this Article includes psychological torture as well as physical torture. Regarding the death penalty, Article 6(1) recognizes the inherent right to life of every human being, such that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his/her life. Paragraph 2 provides that in "those countries which have not abolished the death penalty" this sentence may only be imposed under strict conditions in conformity with the provisions of the ICCPR and only for the most serious crimes. Regarding the "death row phenomenon," the HRC has stated several times that life on death row, "harsh as it may be, is preferable to death." The HRC has not, therefore, set any time limit for being on death row prior to execution, since time-consuming legal processes may be necessary to avoid unjust executions. The HRC has only found a "death row phenomenon" in two cases of extreme psychiatric circumstances. 73 footnotes