India Successfully Concludes Its Fourth Periodic Review by the UN Human Rights Committee

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Adoption and Enforcement

Adopted by: U.N. General Assembly in 1966

Enforced: 1976

Part of the International Bill of Human Rights

The ICCPR is one of three major international human rights documents, alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

Basic Protections

• Right to life
• Human dignity
• Equality before the law
• Freedom of speech, assembly, and association
• Religious freedom
• Privacy
• Freedom from torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention
• Gender equality

Obligations

Countries that ratify the ICCPR must protect human rights and provide effective remedies for any violations of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.

Global Participation

174 countries are parties to the Covenant as of 2024.

India's Participation

India joined the ICCPR in 1979, with its last review conducted in 1997.