UN Human Rights Committee Publishes Findings On Albania, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Montenegro And Zimbabwe

GENEVA (28 March 2025) – The UN Human Rights Committee issued today its findings on Albania, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Montenegro, and Zimbabwe after examining the five States parties during the latest session.

The findings contain the Committee’s main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as positive aspects. Highlights include:

Albania
The Committee was concerned about the potential conflicts between provisions of the Covenant and the Protocol between the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Government of the Italian Republic for Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Migration and noted the suspension of its implementation. The Committee also raised concerns over the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection. It called on Albania to ensure that all those seeking international protection are granted unrestricted access to its territory and to a fair, individualised assessment of their refugee status, in full respect of the principle of non-refoulement. It emphasised that Albanian legislation, along with the Protocol with Italy, must fully align with these requirements. In particular, the Committee stressed that the detention of migrants and asylum seekers should be applied strictly as a measure of last resort.

While noting Albania’s efforts to address violence against women, the Committee remained highly concerned that the problem is still structural and endemic, highlighting barriers faced by victims in reporting abuse and the lack of trust in the police and judiciary. The Committee was also concerned that the definition of rape under Article 102 of the Criminal Code is based on the use of violence rather than the absence of consent. It asked Albania to strengthen efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls through comprehensive legislation and policies, ensure all cases of violence against women are investigated and prosecuted, and guarantee women access to information and remedies, as well as a consent-based legal definition of rape.

Burkina Faso
The Committee highlighted its concern over reports of serious human rights violations committed during security operations against civilians and suspects of terrorism acts, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, and secret detentions. It also flagged its concern over the use of emergency measures and decrees to suppress civic space and silence journalists, lawyers, magistrates, and human rights defenders critical of the authorities. The Committee asked the State party to provide effective guarantees, including appropriate judicial oversight, for any restrictions on human rights imposed for national security reasons, ensure such measures are lawful, necessary, and proportionate, and that individuals accused of terrorism acts are provided with all legal safeguards. It further urged that state of emergency and anti-terrorism legislation are not used to unjustifiably limit rights enshrined in the Covenant.

The Committee noted with concern that the State party is considering reinstating the death penalty for acts of terrorism, threats to state security, and high treason, despite its abolition for ordinary crimes in the 2018 Penal Code. It regretted the lack of progress toward acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, which aims to abolish the death penalty. The Committee called upon the State party to abandon plans to reinstate the death penalty and consider acceding to the Protocol.

Mongolia
While taking note of recent reforms, the Committee expressed concern over widespread corruption in the State party, including high-level cases involving public officials and politicians. The Committee also regretted the lack of data on convictions and sanctions of corruption cases and highlighted issues affecting the independence and effectiveness of the Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC), such as insufficient resources and political pressure. The Committee called on Mongolia to strengthen anti-corruption efforts by ensuring effective law enforcement, prioritising investigation and prosecution of corruption cases involving high-level politicians and officials, improving training for legal professionals, and protecting whistle-blowers and witnesses.

The Committee raised concerns about a decline in freedom of expression in the State party, in particular, cases of intimidation and legal action against journalists and human rights defenders, including defamation suits and criminal prosecution with vague criminal law provisions on false information. It also noted the use of the Law on State and Official Secrets to restrict access to information, political influence over media outlets, lack of ownership transparency, and widespread self-censorship among journalists. The Committee urged Mongolia to better protect journalists and human rights defenders from harassment, revise its current and pending legislation, including the Criminal Code and the draft laws on media freedom and access to information, improve access to public information, and safeguard media independence by ensuring the transparency of private ownership.

Montenegro
The Committee was concerned about the widespread hate speech in the State party, particularly targeting political opponents, ethnic and religious minorities, including Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians, women, LGBT individuals, people with disabilities, and those living in poverty. It also noted the troubling presence of war crimes denial and glorification of war criminals, the lack of awareness about redress regarding hate speech, and inadequate penalties. The Committee called for stronger measures to combat hate speech, including thorough investigation and prosecution of hate crimes, public condemnation of hate speech and historical revisionism relating to war crimes, targeted training for officials, stricter regulation of online platforms, and promoting respect for diversity.

The Committee remained concerned about the lack of full accountability in older cases of attack against journalists, notably the assassination of Duško Jovanović in 2004 and the 2018 shooting of Olivera Lakić. It called for prompt and independent investigation of all cases of violent attacks against journalists. The Committee was also concerned about the reported prevalence of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), particularly defamation suits aimed at silencing journalists covering public-interest issues. It also expressed concern about the lack of information regarding the growing trend in classifying public information without clear justification. The Committee asked Montenegro to ensure measures are in place to prevent misuse of SLAPPs, expedite the adoption of a revised law on access to information, and expand efforts to make more information publicly available.

Zimbabwe
The Committee welcomed the abolition of the death penalty but expressed concern that it can still be imposed during a state of emergency under clause 7 of the Death Penalty Abolition Act. It also regretted that individuals sentenced to death before the abolition have not had their sentences commuted. The Committee urged the State party to fully eliminate the death penalty by repealing clause 7, commuting existing death sentences to terms of imprisonment, and acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant for the abolition of the death penalty.

The Committee was concerned that the Private Voluntary Organization Amendment Bill 2024, which aims to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism, could potentially restrict civic space and have a chilling effect on the exercise of the right to freedom of association and assembly. It further raised its concern about the extremely grave penalties, including loss of citizenship, denial of the right to vote and the death penalty, under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Act (the ‘Patriot Act’) of 2022, which criminalises anyone who “wilfully injur[es] the sovereignty and national interest of Zimbabwe” and those who promote calls for economic sanctions against the country. The Committee urged the State Party to consider abandoning the enactment of the Private Voluntary Organisation Bill and returning the Bill to Parliament. It should also convene wide consultations with relevant stakeholders to align the Bill with the Constitution and international standards. The Committee also called on Zimbabwe to repeal provisions of section 22 A of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Amendment Act of 2022 that impede the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The above findings, officially known as Concluding Observations, are now available on the session page.

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