STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ELECT NINE MEMBERS TO MONITORING COMMITTEE
Press Release
RD/896
STATES PARTIES TO CONVENTION ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ELECT NINE MEMBERS TO MONITORING COMMITTEE
20000118The States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at their thirty-seventh meeting this morning elected nine members of to the committee charged with monitoring implementation of the Convention.
In one round of voting, Marc Bossuyt (Belgium), François Lonsény Fall (Guinea), Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill (South Africa), and Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai (India) were elected and Ion Diaconu (Romania), Yuri Reshetov (Russian Federation), Luis Valencia Rodriguez (Ecuador), Mario Jorge Yutzis (Argentina) and Zou Deci(China) were re-elected to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Thirteen experts had been nominated by States parties from among their nationals to fill the nine vacancies. Biographical information is contained in CERD/SP/61 dated 2 December 1999.
In accordance with terms established in the Convention, the elections were by secret ballot and candidates had to receive the votes of a majority of parties present and voting; 148 votes were cast - all valid. The new members will replace those, whose four-year terms are due to expire on 19 January. The eighteen experts on the Committee serve in their personal capacity.
The current terms of Theodoor Van Boven (Netherlands), Ion Diaconu (Romania), Eduardo Ferrerro Costa (Peru), Ivan Garvalov (Bulgaria), Yuri A. Reshetov (Russian Federation), Shanti Sadiq Ali (India), Luis Valencia Rodriguez (Ecuador), Mario Jorge Yutzis (Argentina), and Zou Deci (China) will expire on 19 January.
The terms of the other nine members -- Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr (Egypt), Michael Parker Banton (United Kingdom), Régis de Gouttes (France), Carlos Lechuga Hevia (Cuba), Gay McDougall (United States), Peter Nobel (Sweden), Agha Shahi (Pakistan), Michael E. Sherifis (Cyprus), and Rüdiger Wolfrum (Germany) - - expire on 19 January 2002.
Alounkeo Kittikhoun (Lao Peoples Democratic Republic), who was elected Chairman of the meeting by acclamation, said that the fight against racism was at the heart of international community, and the meeting today was a testimony to the determination of that community to fight for the goals set by the Convention.
Opening the session on behalf of the Secretary-General, Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and South Africa had
Racial Discrimination Committee - 2 - Press Release RD/896 27th Meeting (AM) 18 January 2000
become signatories since the last States parties meeting in 1998, bringing the total number of ratifications of the Convention to 155. The Committee continued to monitor the implementation of the Convention. It had considered reports from 44 States at its 1998 and 1999 sessions, and additionally reviewed the situation in seven States that were seriously overdue in submitting reports. Noting that 29 States parties had to date made the declaration under article 14 of the Convention allowing the Committee to consider communications from individuals, he added that the Committee continued to consider such communications.
He said that only 25 States parties had formally accepted the amendment to the Convention proposed by the General Assembly in 1992 that would have the Committee financed from the United Nations regular budget, and urged States to advise of their acceptance. The Committee was currently funded from the United Nations budget. He also urged States parties that owed funds for the Committees upkeep from the period prior to the assumption of its expenses by the United Nations to pay.
Janis Priedkalns (Latvia), Dalila Samah (Algeria) and Walter Balzan (Malta) were elected Vice Chairmen this morning.
States Parties
The Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 1965 and entered into force on 4 January 1969. The 155 States Parties, as of 17 January 2000, are as follows:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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