ICCPR

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966. Entry into force on 23 March 1976, in accordance with article 49. With regard to migrant workers: see articles 8, 13, 14, 21, 22, 26, 27.

Status of ratification, reservations and declarations

The Human Rights Committee (CCPR) is the body that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by its State parties.

CCPR gives attention to various forms of discrimination in the access to civil and political rights guaranteed in the Covenant affecting non-citizens in general and undocumented migrants in particular. It examines issues such as trafficking, detention, expulsion, deportation, ill-treatment by law enforcement officials and impact of antiterrorism laws. For further information on the topic see The UN Treaty Monitoring Bodies and Migrants Workers: a Samizdat.

Main CCPR’s General Comments concerning migrants:

• CCPR General Comment N. 15 (1986), The position of Aliens under the Covenant, affirms in its opening paragraph: «Reports from States Parties have often failed to take into account that each State Party must ensure the rights in the Covenant to “all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction” (Art. 2 para. 1). In general, the rights set forth in the Covenant apply to everyone, irrespective of reciprocity, and irrespective of his or her nationality or statelessness. »
• CCPR General Comment N. 23 (1994), The rights of minorities (art. 27 of the ICCPR), reads «Article 27 confers rights on persons belonging to minorities which "exist" in a State party. Given the nature and scope of the rights envisaged under that article, it is not relevant to determine the degree of permanence that the term "exist" connotes. (…) Thus, migrant workers or even visitors in a State party constituting such minorities are entitled not to be denied the exercise of those rights. As any other individual in the territory of the State party, they would, also for this purpose, have the general rights, for example, to freedom of association, of assembly, and of expression. »
• CCPR General Comment N. 32 (2007), Right to equality before courts and tribunals and to a fair trial (art. 14 of the ICCPR), states that “The right of access to courts and tribunals and equality before them is not limited to citizens of States Parties, but must also be available to all individuals, regardless of nationality or statelessness, or whatever their status, whether asylum seekers, refugees, migrant workers, unaccompanied children or other persons, who may find themselves in the territory or subject to the jurisdiction of the State party.”

Documents and links:

- Fact Sheet No.15 (Rev.1), The Human Rights Committee