A/HRC/13/30
detaining authorities have refused to obey a judicial release order, the proceedings are
unduly delayed, the review is limited to mere technicalities, or States have suspended
habeas corpus during periods of emergency.35
80.
The Working Group notes that based on the communications received over the years
as well as its missions, a weakened habeas corpus institution has led to a weaker challenge
to the practice of arbitrary detention. Furthermore, administrative detention and a weak or
non-existent habeas corpus facility appear to be correlated. States find it convenient to
employ administrative detention as a means to control or manage migration within their
territories. A robust challenge to this practice would be an increased use of the right of
habeas corpus as required by article 9 (4) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
E.
Compliance and remedies
81.
The Working Group promotes compliance with international human rights law and
standards prohibiting and preventing arbitrary detention. It also promotes adequate redress
when arbitrary detention has occurred, in terms of articles 2 (3) and 9 (4) and (5) of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
82.
Having established the arbitrariness of detention in its Opinion, the Working Group
requests the Government to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation and to bring it
into conformity with the standards and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. When a case falls
within category I and/or II of the categories applicable to the consideration of cases
submitted to it, the necessary steps to be taken to remedy the situation is typically the
immediate release of the detained person, and the Working Group in that case states this
explicitly. Such remedy follows from the generally recognized principle of restitution ad
integrum, requiring the immediate restoration of the physical liberty of the arbitrarily
detained person. It is also reflected in article 9 (4) of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, which requires that a court must be empowered to order the release of
an unlawfully detained person.
83.
For such remedy to be effective, as required by article 2 (3) of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, detaining States are under an obligation to release
the arbitrarily detained (foreign) detainee into their own territory even if they wish to deport
the (foreign) detainee, but where deportation of the detainee otherwise liable for removal to
the country of origin or to a third country accepting the detainee is not promptly possible.
This could occur, e.g., if a removal would violate the principle of non-refoulement or if it is
not possible for any other legal or factual reasons. Otherwise the international human rights
obligation for immediate restoration of the liberty of the arbitrarily detained person would
be undermined.
84.
When the Working Group finds in its Opinion that the detention of the concerned
individual exclusively falls within category III as gravely violating the right to fair trial, the
appropriate remedy might take different forms to that of the immediate release of the
arbitrarily detained person. For example, affording the detainee a retrial that meets all fair
35
22
Decisions Nos. 3/1993, 8/1993, 22/1993, 33/1993, and 49/1993 (E/CN.4/1994/27); 55/1993
(E/CN.4/1995/31/Add.1); 16/1994 (E/CN.4/1995/31/Add.2); 2/1996, 32/1996
(E/CN.4/1997/4/Add.1); Opinions Nos. 12/1997 (E/CN.4/1998/44/Add.1); 29/2000
(E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.1); 3/2002 (E/CN.4/2003/8/Add.1); 16/2005 (E/CN.4/2006/7/Add.1); 43/2006
(A/HRC/7/4/Add.1); 23/2007 (A/HRC/10/21/Add.1); 32/2008, 45/2008, 2/2009, and 3/2009
(addendum 1 to this report).
GE.10-10294
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