ABSTRACT
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is one of the two basic documents dealing with rights relating to the relationship between people and government. The Covenant was adopted in 1967 along with two Optional Protocols. The First Optional Protocol provides that an individual claiming to be a victim of a violation of civil or political rights may file a complaint against a state that signs the protocol. Countries that adopt the Second Optional Protocol pledge to abolish the death penalty. (The other basic document, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, is reviewed in Chapter 6.)
