Human Rights Committee Adopts Reports on Follow-Up to Concluding Observations Concerning Botswana, Cambodia and Ukraine

The Human Rights Committee today adopted reports on follow-up to concluding observations concerning Botswana, Cambodia and Ukraine.

Yvonne Donders, Committee Expert and the Special Rapporteur on follow-up to concluding observations, said that as the Committee monitored States' implementation of the Covenant over an eight-year cycle, it was important to continue monitoring and dialogue during this period. In the follow-up process, the Committee selected three issues from its concluding observations which States parties were to report on after three years. Other stakeholders were also invited to submit information. Based on the information it received, the Committee assessed the progress made.

Ms. Donders presented assessments of the responses provided by Botswana, Cambodia and Ukraine. The overall recommended action for all three assessments was to send a letter to each of the States parties informing them of the discontinuation of the follow-up procedure and asking them to address the information requested by the Committee in their next periodic reports, which were due in 2028 or 2029.

Concerning Botswana, she said the Committee welcomed measures to bring detention conditions into compliance with the Mandela Rules, the reception of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the offender reintegration strategy, and efforts to reduce overcrowding. However, it remained concerned that detention conditions continued to be poor; that prison populations still exceeded prison holding capacity; that pretrial detention was lengthy and remained mandatory for murder and treason; and that foreign nationals and persons declared unfit to stand trial continued to experience prolonged remand periods. The Committee urged the State party to ensure that all information regarding legislative amendments affecting the rights of persons deprived of liberty was made publicly accessible.

The Committee also welcomed Botswana's efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, particularly the measures taken to implement the anti-human trafficking act, and awareness-raising campaigns and capacity building workshops for law enforcement officers and village leaders. However, further efforts were required to strengthen investigations and ensure accountability, as convictions reportedly remained rare. The Committee regretted that there was a lack of public data on child labour and of information on access to shelters and adequate legal, medical and psychological services. It urged the State party to continue its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons.

The Committee commended Botswana's adoption of the 2024 refugees act; and State efforts to establish fair and effective asylum procedures, improve detention conditions at the Dukwi Refugee Settlement, and change the policy on children and families with children. However, it regretted that most refugees and asylum-seekers reportedly continued to be detained and reiterated its recommendations in this regard. Further, it welcomed the Botswanan Parliament's approval of the review of three bills aimed at resolving issues related to statelessness and its study to assess the situation of statelessness, and encouraged the State party to increase its efforts towards ratifying the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Turning to Cambodia, Ms. Donders said the Committee regretted the absence of concrete measures to effectively combat corruption and to ensure adequate protection for whistle-blowers, witnesses and victims of corruption. It was particularly concerned by reports of convictions and imprisonment of civil society actors for exposing alleged corruption and illegal exploitation of natural resources. It urged the State party to adopt and implement effective measures to guarantee the protection of whistle-blowers and to ensure that civil society actors were not subjected to reprisals for the legitimate exercise of their rights.

The Committee remained concerned by reports of the continued use of legislation in Cambodia that included vague terminology and overly broad restrictions, and of judicial proceedings to silence or prosecute journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society actors. It urged the State party to take effective steps to ensure the full protection of freedom of expression and the effective implementation of electoral regulations in practice, guaranteeing full compliance with the Covenant.

Regarding Ukraine, Ms. Donders said the Committee welcomed the steps taken by the State party to align its legal framework with international standards, as well as its efforts to investigate criminal offences related to privacy violations. However, it regretted the lack of information on the adoption of draft laws and measures to ensure that any interference with the right to privacy was subject to prior judicial authorisation and oversight. The Committee encouraged the State party to strengthen its efforts to ensure strict adherence to the principles of legality, proportionality and necessity.

The Committee noted Ukraine's continued efforts to reinforce the independence and impartiality of judges and the autonomy of prosecutors, including measures to resume the work of the High Qualification Commission of Judges; establish the Ethics Council, the Public Integrity Council and the commission for the review of appeals against prosecutors; and create a transparent and merit-based process for selecting senior prosecutors. However, the Committee was concerned about the absence of information on the impact of these reforms, and whether they would guarantee the full independence and autonomy of judges and prosecutors. It encouraged the State party to continue strengthening these reforms and to ensure the full independence and impartiality of judges and prosecutors.

The Committee was concerned by reports of a persistent pattern of unjustified interference with freedom of expression in Ukraine; allegations of criminalisation of peaceful advocacy, intimidation, raids and surveillance; and the use of broadly framed national security provisions in the Criminal Code to restrict legitimate expression. It was also concerned by reports that human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers could face prosecution or detention in retaliation for their professional activities, and by the absence of effective investigations into acts of violence, including the violent seizure of the cathedral in Cherkasy on 17 October 2024. The Committee urged the State party to ensure that any restriction on freedom of expression on national security grounds complied with the strict requirements of the Covenant and the Committee's general comment 34.

In closing remarks, Ms. Donders said that many follow-up reports were pending consideration, and there were also increasing delays in the preparation of assessments due to serious financial constraints on the Committee, which affected all aspects of its work. She expressed hope that this situation would change very soon. Concluding, she thanked all persons who had facilitated the follow-up process.

The draft reports were adopted by the Committee as amended during the discussion and will be available on the webpagededicated to the follow-up procedure for concluding observations.

The Human Rights Committee's one hundred and forty-fifth session is being held from 2 to 19 March 2026. All documents relating to the Committee's work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session's webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee's public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

The Committee will next meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 March to hear the presentation of the progress report of the Committee's Special Rapporteur on follow-up to Views.

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