On 12 June, the ICJ made a submission to the UN Human Rights Committee in view of the Committee’s elaboration of a new general comment on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guaranteeing the right to life.
In its submission, the ICJ focussed on the following:
- the principles of non-discrimination, equality before the law, equal protection of the law and the right to life;
- the scope and nature of the duty to respect and ensure the right to life pursuant to article 6, paragraph 1: “Every human being has the inherent right to life” of the Covenant;
- the right to life and armed conflict; and
- the death penalty.
The ICJ’s initial submission touches only on a highly limited selection of issues that the Committee is likely to address in a new general comment on Article 6.
The ICJ intends to comment further on these issues, but also on other aspects of article 6 concerns, at further stages in the Committee’s deliberations, for example when a draft text might be elaborated and made available for consultation.
Universal-INITIAL ICJ SUBMISSION TO HRC RE GC 36 FINAL-Advocacy-legal submissions-2015-ENG (full text in PDF)