UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
CAT/C/36
1 September 1996
Original: ENGLISH
COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE
Seventeenth session
Geneva, 11-22 November 1996
PROVISIONAL AGENDA AND ANNOTATIONS
Note by the Secretary-General
1. The seventeenth session of the Committee against Torture will be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 11 to 22 November 1996. The first meeting of the session will be convened on Monday, 11 November 1996, at 10.00a.m.
2. In accordance with rule 6 of the rules of procedure, the Secretary-General has prepared, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, the attached provisional agenda for the seventeenth session. Annotations to the provisional agenda are also attached.
3. Pursuant to rule 31 of the rules of procedure, the meetings of the Committee will be held in public unless the Committee decides otherwise or it appears from the relevant provisions of the Convention that the meetings should be held in private.
4. The attention of the States parties is drawn, in particular, to the annotations to item 4, which contain the tentative timetable for the consideration of reports at the fifteenth session. In accordance with rule 66 of the rules of procedure, representatives of States parties are invited to attend the meetings of the Committee when their reports are examined.
PROVISIONAL AGENDA
1. Adoption of the agenda.
2. Organizational and other matters.
3. Submission of reports by States parties under article 19 of the Convention.
4. Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention.
5. Consideration of information received under article 20 of the Convention.
6. Consideration of communications under article 22 of the Convention.
7. Amendments to the rules of procedure of the Committee.
ANNOTATIONS
1. Adoption of the agenda
Under rule 8 of the rules of procedure, the first item on the agenda of any session shall be the adoption of the agenda, except for the election of officers when required under rule 15. In accordance with rule 9, during a session the Committee may revise the agenda and may, as appropriate, defer or delete items; only urgent and important items may be added to the agenda.
2. Organizational and other matters
Under this item, the Committee may wish to consider its programme of work for the session, as well as any other matter concerning the modalities of discharging its functions under the Convention.
3. Submission of reports by States parties under article 19 of the Convention
It may be recalled that in accordance with rule 65 of its rules of procedure and the Committee's decisions, the Secretary-General sends reminders automatically to those States parties whose initial reports are more than 12months overdue and subsequent reminders every 6months.
In the case of reports which are more than three years overdue, the Chairman of the Committee, at its request, discusses the question of reporting obligations with the representatives of the States parties concerned or addresses a letter on the subject to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as appropriate. In addition, the Committee includes information on non-compliance by States parties with their reporting obligations in its annual report to the States parties and to the General Assembly.
The situation with regard to overdue reports as at 1 September 1996 is as follows:
State party Date on which the report was due
Initial reports
Uganda 25 June 1988 Togo
17 December 1988
Guyana 17 June 1989
Brazil 27 October 1990
Guinea 8 November 1990
Somalia 22 February 1991
Venezuela 27 August 1992
Yugoslavia 9 October 1992
Estonia 19 November 1992
Yemen 4 December 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 March 1993
Benin 10 April 1993
Latvia 13 May 1993
Seychelles 3 June 1993
Cape Verde 3 July 1993
Cambodia 13 November 1993
Burundi 19 March 1994
Slovakia 27 May 1994
Slovenia 14 August 1994
Antigua and Barbuda 17 August 1994
Costa Rica 10 December 1994
Sri Lanka 1 February 1995
Ethiopia 12 April 1995
Albania 9 June 1995
United States of America 19 November 1995
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 11 December 1995
Cuba 15 June 1996
Chad 9 July 1996
Second periodic reports
Afghanistan 25 June 1992
Belize 25 June 1992
Bulgaria 25 June 1992
Cameroon 25 June 1992
France 25 June 1992
Philippines 25 June 1992
Uganda 25 June 1992
Austria 27 August 1992
Luxembourg 28 October 1992
Togo 17 December 1992
Guyana 17 June 1993
Peru 5 August 1993
Turkey 31 August 1993
Tunisia 22 October 1993
Portugal 10 March 1994
Australia 6 September 1994
Brazil 27 October 1994
Guinea 8 November 1994
New Zealand 8 January 1995
Guatemala 3 February 1995
Somalia 22 February 1995
Malta 12 October 1995
Germany 30 October 1995
Liechtenstein 1 December 1995
Romania 16 January 1996
Nepal 12 June 1996
Cyprus 16 August 1996
Venezuela 27 August 1996
Third periodic reports
Afghanistan 25 June 1996
Argentina 25 June 1996
Austria 27 August 1996
Belarus 25 June 1996
Belize 25 June 1996
Bulgaria 25 June 1996
Cameroon 25 June 1996
Canada 23 July 1996
Egypt 25 June 1996
France 25 June 1996
Hungary 25 June 1996
Norway 25 June 1996
Philippines 25 June 1996
Russian Federation 25 June 1996
Senegal 25 June 1996
Switzerland 25 June 1996
Uganda 25 June 1996
Uruguay 25 June 1996
By decision of the Committee, Uganda, Togo, Guyana, Brazil and Guinea were requested to submit both the initial and the second periodic reports in one document.
4. Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the Convention
A tentative timetable for the consideration of reports at the fifteenth session, prepared by the Secretary-General in consultation with the Chairman and subject to approval by the Committee, is given below:
Tuesday, 12 November 1996
Russian Federation: second periodic report CAT/C/17/Add.15
Wednesday, 13 November 1996
Republic of Korea: initial report CAT/C/32/Add.1
Monday, 18 November 1996
Algeria: second periodic report CAT/C/25/Add.8
Tuesday, 19 November 1996
Uruguay: second periodic report CAT/C/17/Add.16
Wednesday, 20 November 1996
Poland: second periodic report CAT/C/25/Add.9
Thursday, 21 November 1996
Georgia: initial report CAT/C/28/Add.1
5. Consideration of information under article 20 of the Convention
In accordance with the provisions of chapter XVII of its rules of procedure, the Committee will consider under this item information which is, or appears to be, submitted for its consideration under article 20 of the Convention.
In accordance with the provisions of article 20, paragraph 5, of the Convention and rules 72 and 73 of the rules of procedure, all documents and proceedings of the Committee relating to its functions under article 20 of the Convention shall be confidential and all the meetings concerning its proceedings under that article shall be closed.
6. Consideration of communications under article 22 of the Convention
In accordance with the provisions of chapter XIX of its rules of procedure, the Committee will consider under this item communications which are, or appear to be, submitted to it under article 22 of the Convention.
In accordance with article 22, paragraph 6, of the Convention and rule 101, paragraph 1, of the rules of procedure, meetings of the Committee or its subsidiary bodies during which communications under article 22 of the Convention are examined shall be closed.
7. Amendments to the rules of procedure of the Committee
The consideration of this item has been postponed by the Committee at its sixteenth session to the present session.
