Abstract
The concept of human rights at sea and the protection of people at sea has become more prominent in recent years. Various aspects of such protection have been addressed by the UN human rights treaty bodies (UNTBs or Committees) through their methods of work, namely general comments or general recommendations, concluding observations, and individual communications. The Human Rights Committee (HRCtee) and the CAT Committee have addressed protection of the right to life and non-refoulement obligations in individual complaints brought before them. The HRCtee, the CRC Committee and the CMW Committee have adopted general comments which are relevant to the protection of persons at sea. The CAT Committee, the HRCtee and the CRC Committee have adopted relevant concluding observations, where they express their concerns as well as recommendations to State parties about improving such protection. This chapter first highlights the inclusion of the protection of persons at sea in the mandate of UNTBs. Then, the chapter analyses the scope of such engagement by looking more closely to three specific issues, which include search and rescue at sea and the right to life, pushbacks and the obligation of non-refoulement, and measures concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis includes relevant treaties, documents issued by UNTBs and regional organizations, as well as scholarly writing.
Bio
Gentian Zyberi is a Professor of International Law and Human Rights at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. Professor Zyberi has been a member of the UN Human Rights Committee (2019-2022) and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, the Netherlands (2016-2028). He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency for the period 2023-2028.