Human Rights Committee Adopts Report on Follow-Up to Views Concerning Australia, Finland, Maldives, Nepal, Spain and Sweden
The Human Rights Committee today adopted a report on follow-up to Views concerning Australia, Finland, Maldives, Nepal, Spain and Sweden.
Dalia Leinarte, Committee Special Rapporteur on follow-up to Views, presenting the report, introduced communication 2999/2017 on Australia concerning the deportation of a long-time non-citizen resident to North Macedonia owing to criminal activity. She said the Committee’s Views obliged the State party to ensure that the deported person had the opportunity to re-enter Australia and to provide him with adequate compensation. The State party had stated that it disagreed with the Committee’s findings that it violated the person’s Covenant rights, and that it had issued a new policy that required that the strength, nature and duration of ties to Australia be treated as a primary consideration in decisions involving the cancellation of a person’s visa. However, the author’s counsel stated that the person was still in North Macedonia following his removal from Australia in late 2018, and that the State had not to date provided an effective remedy. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of unsatisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3088/2017 on Australia concerned the right to privacy and right to fair trial guarantees in the conduct of a corruption inquiry. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to take appropriate steps to provide adequate compensation and reparation to the author for the violation suffered. The State party submitted that it disagreed with the Committee’s View that it had breached the Covenant, noting the commencement of operations by the National Anti-Corruption Commission on 1 July 2023. The author submitted that he, his family and the family businesses had suffered 13 years of pain, damage and losses after the State’s publication of findings that the author’s conduct “could” constitute or involve criminal offenses, even though he was never charged with any crimes. He had not received any compensation or reparation. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of unsatisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3585/2019 on Australia concerned effective participation of indigenous peoples in the mechanism for the determination of their rights to traditional territory. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to reconsider the Wunna Nyiyaparli’s native title claim and ensure their effective participation in the demarcation and titling of their claimed traditional territory; review the mining concessions already granted within the claimed traditional territory; and provide adequate compensation to the authors for the harm they had suffered. The State party indicated that it was of the view that no violation of the Covenant had occurred and it did not accept the Committee’s recommendations with respect to remedies. The authors, however, stated that Wunna Nyiyaparli still could not visit their traditional lands without being arrested and charged with trespass. The Committee decided to maintain follow-up dialogue and hold a meeting with the representatives of the State party at one of its upcoming sessions.
Communication 2668/2015 on Finland concerned the right to vote in elections to the Sami Parliament. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to review legislation on the criteria for eligibility to vote in Sami in a manner that respected the right of the Sami people to exercise their internal self-determination. The State party submitted that following legislative amendments enforced in 2025, all measures required by the Committee’s Views had been duly implemented. The Committee decided to close the case with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3248/2018 on Maldives concerned judicial restrictions imposed on the national human rights institution. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide effective remedy, including full reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights had been violated. The State party stated that it had implemented a law in 2020 that stipulated that the national human rights institution should enjoy unfettered authority to establish bilateral and multilateral relations with law enforcement agencies, forensic investigatory institutions, and other States in the effort to protect and promote human rights. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of the Committee’s Views.
Communication 2245/2013 on Nepal concerned sexual abuse of a suspected Maoist supporter by army officers. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to conduct a thorough and effective investigation into the facts submitted by the author; prosecute, try and punish those responsible for the author’s arbitrary detention, torture and harassment; and provide adequate rehabilitation and compensation to the author for the violations suffered. The State party did not provide any response to the counsel’s submissions despite numerous requests, and the author had not received any compensation, restitution or reparation. The Committee decided to keep the follow-up dialogue ongoing on this case.
Communication 3102/2018 on Spain concerned a lack of recourse to compensation, arbitrary arrest and detention. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide effective remedy, including by making full reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights had been violated. The counsel stated that the author died in May 2025, hence the Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue.
Communication 1416/2005 on Sweden concerned immediate expulsion on national security grounds of an Egyptian national from Sweden to Egypt with the involvement of foreign agents, and abusive treatment. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide the author with an effective remedy, including compensation. The State party submitted that a settlement of 380,000 United States dollars had been awarded to the author and that the author had been granted a permanent residence permit in Sweden in 2014. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 2813/2016 on Sweden concerned the use of lethal force by police against a person with a psychosocial disability. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide effective remedy and full reparation. The State party stated that it was not under any international obligation to provide authors of individual communications with financial compensation and reported that a new act on the use of firearms by the police had entered into force in 2026. The Committee decided to keep follow-up dialogue ongoing on this case.
Communication 3069/2017 on Sweden concerned deportation to Afghanistan. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to review the author’s case, considering the State party’s obligations under the Covenant; and refrain from expelling the author while his request for asylum was being reconsidered. The State party stated that the author was granted subsidiary protection status and a temporary residence permit for 13 months, and that a work permit was also issued to the author for the same period. The author had not provided a follow-up submission. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3623/2019 on Sweden concerned deportation to Zambia. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide the author with an effective remedy and review the author’s and her daughter’s applications for asylum, considering the State party’s obligations under the Covenant. The State party stated that in 2024, the Migration Agency decided to grant a new examination of the complainant’s and her daughter’s applications. However, the new application was rejected, with the Migration Board maintaining previous decisions that the applicant was a citizen of Zambia. In January 2026, the author submitted that she had left Sweden. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of partially unsatisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3070/2017 on Sweden concerned deportation to Afghanistan, torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to review the author’s case, considering the State party’s obligations under the Covenant, and refrain from expelling the author while his request for asylum was being reconsidered. The State party submitted that in February 2020, the Swedish Migration Agency decided to grant the author a permanent residence permit, and the author confirmed the information provided by the State party. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3245/2018 on Sweden concerned family reunification. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide effective remedy, including re-evaluation of the individual’s application for family reunification, considering the Committee’s findings for this case. The author submitted that in November 2024, the Swedish Migration Agency granted the author a residence and work permit in Sweden for a period of two years. They called on the State party to adopt specific rules and preventive measures to avoid future violations of Covenant rights in similar cases. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
Communication 3706/2020 on Sweden concerned deportation to Burundi. The Committee’s Views obliged the State party to provide full reparation to individuals whose Covenant rights had been violated, re-examine the author’s case, and refrain from deporting the author while his application for asylum was being reviewed. The author reported that in December 2023, the Swedish Migration Agency decided to grant the author refugee protection and issue him with a residence permit card, an identity card, and a travel document. The author believed that the Agency had complied with the Views. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of its Views.
The draft report was adopted by the Committee as amended during the discussion. The final report will be released on the Committee’s website.
The Human Rights Committee’s one hundred and forty-fifth session is being held from 2 to 19 March 2026. All the 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 is scheduled to next meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday, 19 March to adopt its annual report and close its one hundred and forty-fifth session.
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