JPTi Submits UPR Report on U.S. Non-Compliance with Article 4 of the ICCPR - Geneva, 8 April 2025
- Intern JPTi
- Apr 17
- 2 min read
JPTi has formally submitted its stakeholder report to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States of America. The submission focuses exclusively on the United States’ systemic non-compliance with Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)—a provision that governs the lawful use of emergency powers during public emergencies.
Despite ratifying the ICCPR in 1992, the United States continues to operate under a domestic emergency framework—chiefly through the National Emergencies Act (NEA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)—that fails to meet the basic procedural and substantive safeguards required under Article 4. Most critically, the U.S. has never submitted a single formal notification under Article 4(3) to the UN Secretary-General, nor has it proclaimed any national emergency in accordance with the strict threshold set forth in Article 4(1): a “public emergency which threatens the life of the nation.”
JPTi’s report highlights the practice of prolonged, indefinite, and extraterritorial emergency declarations, implemented without oversight, transparency, or judicial review. These declarations often result in de facto derogations of ICCPR-protected rights, including the rights to due process, freedom of expression, and protection from discrimination—contravening both the letter and spirit of Article 4 and General Comment No. 29 of the Human Rights Committee.
The United States’ persistent reliance on emergency powers without adhering to its international obligations represents not only a procedural violation, but a structural threat to the global human rights architecture. Through this submission, JPTi urges the Human Rights Council and Member States to call upon the United States to bring its legislation and practice into compliance with its treaty obligations under Article 4 of the ICCPR.
Read the full report here
📬 Contact: registry@jpti.ch
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