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/></td> <td> <p style="font-size:1.4em;">United Nations</p> </td> <td> <p> <span style="font-size:2em;">CCPR</span>/C/ZAF/CO/1</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.7em;">International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights</p> </td> <td> <p>Distr.: General</p> <p>27 April 2016</p> <p> </p> <p>Original: English</p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="content"> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;">Human Rights Committee </p> <h2>Concluding observations on the initial report of South Africa*</h2> <p>1.The Committee considered the initial report of South Africa (CCPR/C/ZAF/1) at its 3234th and 3235th meetings (CCPR/C/SR.3234 and 3235), held on 7 and 8 March 2016. At its 3258th meeting, held on 23 March 2016, it adopted the present concluding observations.</p> <h3>A.Introduction</h3> <p>2.The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of South Africa and the information presented therein, and regrets that it is 14 years overdue. It expresses appreciation for the opportunity to engage in a constructive dialogue with the State party s high-level delegation on the measures that the State party has taken since the entry into force of the Covenant to implement its provisions. The Committee is grateful to the State party for its written replies (CCPR/C/ZAF/Q/1/Add.1) to the list of issues (CCPR/C/ZAF/Q/1), which were supplemented by the oral responses provided by the delegation, and for the supplementary information provided to it in writing.</p> <h3>B.Positive aspects</h3> <p>3.The Committee welcomes the following legislative and institutional measures taken by the State party:</p> <p>(a)The enactment on 25 July 2013 of the Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Act, which criminalizes torture; </p> <p>(b)The enactment on 29 July 2013 of the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, which came into effect on 9 August 2015;</p> <p>(c)The enactment of the Child Justice Act in 2008, which took effect on 1 April 2010 and enhances protection for children in conflict with the law; </p> <p>(d)The adoption of several legislative and institutional reforms aimed at combating violence against women, including the Domestic Violence Act of 2003 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act of 2007, the re-establishment of specialized sexual offences courts and the establishment of Thuthuzela Care Centres;</p> <p>(e)The establishment in 2011 of the national task team to counter discrimination and violence against persons based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and the launch in 2014 of the National Intervention Strategy for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Sector; </p> <p>(f)The passing of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1996 and other measures designed to increase access to safe abortion resulting in a significant decrease in maternal mortality and morbidity.</p> <p>4.The Committee welcomes the ratification of, or accession to, the following international instruments by the State party since the entry into force of the Covenant in 1998:</p> <p>(a)The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on 28 August 2002;</p> <p>(b)The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, on 30 November 2007;</p> <p>(c)The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, on 12 January 2015;</p> <p>(d)The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, on 30 June 2003, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, on 24 September 2009;</p> <p>(e)The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, on 18 October 2005.</p> <p>5.The Committee welcomes the State party s declaration made on 18 June 1987, under article 41 of the Covenant, recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider inter-State communications. </p> <h3>C.Principal matters of concern and recommendations</h3> <h3>Domestic applicability of the Covenant</h3> <p>6.The Committee notes the apparent inconsistency between the text of the Constitution, which provides that a self-executing provision of an international agreement approved by Parliament is considered to be part of domestic law, and the information contained in the core document (HRI/CORE/ZAF/2014, para. 95), which states that provision of an international treaty cannot be invoked before or directly enforced by the courts. The Committee also notes that only two individual communications have been submitted under the Optional Protocol to the Covenant since 2002, and that this may be illustrative of a lack of awareness of the Covenant and the Optional Protocol (art. 2). </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">7. The State party should consider taking measures to give full legal effect to the Covenant under domestic law, and make more vigorous efforts to raise awareness about the Covenant and the Optional Protocol among judges, lawyers, prosecutors and the public at large. In the event of a violation of the Covenant, the State party should ensure access to an effective remedy, in accordance with article 2 (3).</p> <h3>Non-compliance with domestic court decisions </h3> <p>8.The Committee notes the ruling of the North Gauteng High Court, which considered the authorities failure to detain Omar al-Bashir, President of the Sudan, in June 2015 pursuant to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant, to be inconsistent with the Constitution and expresses concern that President Al-Bashir was authorized to leave the country in violation of an interim court order (arts. 2 and 14). </p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">9. The State party should continue its investigation of the events surrounding the failure to comply with the interim court order on President Al-Bashir and take the measures necessa