INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (ICCPR)

About: 

• According to Sri Lankan authorities, a journalist has been arrested for his writing on anti-Muslim riots and Buddhist extremists under the country's laws compliant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
  
  
• However, according to the Free Media Movement rights group, no evidence to prove it contains anything that amounts to hate speech or defamation was provided against him.
  
  

International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights (ICCPR)?

• The ICCPR is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The ICCPR is monitored by the United Nations Human Rights Committee
  
  
• The covenant commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial.
  
  
• The ICCPR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
  
  
• It became effective in 1976.