ABSTRACT
The right of individual communication is seen clearly as an additional but equally important method of vindicating and implementing the rights enshrined in the Covenant. The Human Rights Committee technically 'receives' and 'considers' 'communications' not petitions, though the term petition had appeared in earlier drafts of what became the Optional Protocol. The act of the Committee in considering individual communications, as specified in the Optional Protocol, is that it 'shall forward its views to the State Party concerned and to the individual'. As of 1 August 1997 there are 92 States Parties to the Optional Protocol out of the 138 States which are Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The developments signify a radical change of direction for the States which until very were loath to recognise the rights of individuals in international law.
