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Minister concerning the conduct of the ODA-funded Senior Crown Counsel, Ray Astin, and the Puisine Judge's overturning of the receivership order on First American. ExCo had been due to meet on 18 September to discuss the revocation of FAB's licence, but the devastation wreaked by the hurricane had caused the question to be put on ice. The future of the investigation in the wake of the hurricance
was
not yet clear, it was possible that useful evidence had been destroyed.
Item 3 Human rights issues
13. Mr Broom reported that the Montserrat and Hong Kong governments had recently agreed to abolish judicial corporal punishment. HMG would therefore be able this year to report considerable progress on this subject before the Human Rights Committee. Four DTs now retained judicial corporal punishment on their statute-books. UND saw no benefit in putting further pressure on
on them for the moment lest it proved counterproductive.
14.
The deadline for presentation of the Third Report under the ICCPR was 30 October. Reports were now in the final stages of preparation. The Reports would probably be presented to the Commission next year, the major focus being on the Hong Kong report which on account of
account of its sensitivity would be submitted to Ministers beforehand. (Since China would be taking over responsibility for Hong Kong after
1997, it was essential to demonstrate clearly that the UK was honouring its responsibilities.)
15. Mr Broom drew attention to the administrative problems encountered by the smaller DTs when seeking to fulfil their reporting obligations under international treaties. UND had proposed that money should be allocated from AUS budgets to pay for a consultant who would draw up on behalf of the smaller DTs the reports due under the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Torture Convention. This recommendation had already been submitted to AUSS. UND also hoped too that the consultant would produce standard guidelines on report compilation which might serve as a basis for DT governments themselves to follow in the future.
Item 4 Aviation: Airports and Aviation Terrorism
16. Mr Halley drew attention to MAED's discovery in mid-1989 that not one DT had yet submitted its annual air safety certificate. Most had now done so, including Bermuda where the US authorities had prepared the certificate.
(Hong Kong of course had now been dropped from this exercise). However, Gibraltar was still claiming exemption on the grounds that its airport belonged to MOD, and the
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