COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION TO MEET AT PALAIS WILSON FROM 23 FEBRUARY TO 12 MARCH 2004

Background Release                                         

COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION TO MEET

AT PALAIS WILSON FROM 23 FEBRUARY TO 12 MARCH 2004

Committee to Consider Reports of Suriname, Spain,

Sweden, Bahamas, Libya, Lebanon, Nepal, Brazil and Netherlands

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 19 February (UN Information Service) -- The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination will meet at the Palais Wilson from 23 February to 12 March 2004 to review anti-discrimination efforts undertaken by the Governments of Suriname, Spain, Sweden, the Bahamas, Libya, Lebanon, Nepal, Brazil and the Netherlands.

These countries are among the 169 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a treaty that first took effect in 1969.  The 18-member Committee, the first body created by the United Nations to review actions by States to fulfil obligations under a specific human-rights agreement, examines reports submitted periodically by States parties on efforts to comply with the Convention.  Government representatives generally present the report, discuss its contents with Committee members, and answer questions.

At this sixty-fourth session of the Committee, the Experts will also look at the implementation of the Convention in Guyana, Nigeria, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Madagascar, Tanzania and Venezuela under its review procedure.  All of these States parties are at least five years late for the submission of their initial or periodic reports to the Committee.

On the first day of the session, the Committee will hear nine of its members who have been elected or re-elected make a solemn declaration to perform their duties and exercise their powers as members of the Committee honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously.  It will also elect from its members a Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur.

Also this session, the Committee will continue its consideration of the prevention of racial discrimination, including through early warning measures and urgent action procedures.  Here, the Committee may decide to take steps to prevent existing problems from escalating into conflicts or may decide to initiate urgent action aimed at responding to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention.  The Committee may schedule a review of the situation in some countries at short notice.

In addition, the Committee will study, in closed session, communications from individuals claiming to be victims of racial discrimination.  Only complaints against the 44 States parties that have recognized the competence of the Committee under article 14 of the Convention are admissible.

On 1 March in the afternoon, and during the morning of 2 March, the Committee will hold a thematic discussion on non-citizens and racial discrimination.

Other agenda items relate to discussion of the effective implementation of international instruments on human rights; review of the progress of the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination; and follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.

Submission of Reports

Under article 9 of the Convention, States undertake to report to the Committee on legal, judicial and other measures they have adopted to ensure effective protection against racial discrimination within their jurisdiction.  States parties to the Convention agree to condemn and seek to eliminate racial discrimination in their territories; to review their policies in order to amend or nullify any regulations which create or perpetuate such discrimination, based on racial superiority or hatred; and to prohibit organizations and activities which promote or incite racial discrimination.  They also agree to provide remedies for victims of racial discrimination and to adopt measures to combat prejudice and promote understanding among different national, racial and ethnic groups.

In addition, States parties undertake to guarantee the right of everyone to equality before the law without distinction to race, colour, or national and ethnic origin.

In the past, the Committee has called upon the Secretary-General to bring to the attention of States parties, at their annual meeting, the unfortunate consequences of delays in the submission of reports and to encourage them to consider ways and means by which all parties might be brought to fulfil their reporting obligations.  The Committee has also instituted a procedure to review the implementation of the Convention in those States parties responsible for the longest delays in submitting periodic reports.  In a letter addressed to the Governments of those States, the Committee said that delays in the submission of reports hampered its efforts to monitor the implementation of the Convention.

The situation in Spain was considered in March 2000 and the Committee’s recommendations on it can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.95.  Conditions in Brazil were examined in August 1996 and the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations on them can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.11.  The situation in Libya was considered in March 1998 and the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations on it can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.52.  The state of affairs in Lebanon was examined in March 1998 and the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations on it can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.49.  Conditions in Nepal were considered in August 2000 and the Committee’s recommendations on them can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.108.  The situation in Sweden was considered in August 2000 and the concluding observations on them can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.103.  Conditions in the Netherlands were considered in August 2000 and the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on them can be found in document CERD/C/304/Add.104.  The state of affairs in the Bahamas was examined in March 1997 on the basis of a previous report (no report has been presented since 1982), and the conclusions and recommendation of the Committee can be found in document A/52/18.  And the Committee examined the situation in Suriname in August 1997, although the country has never presented a report, and it adopted its conclusions and recommendations which can be found in document A/52/18.

Concerning the situation in the countries that will be considered under the review procedure, the Committee previously reviewed the situation in Guyana and Saint Lucia in the absence of any report, and it adopted conclusions which can be found in documents A/52/18 and A/53/18.  The Committee’s conclusions on the last reports presented by Nigeria and Venezuela can be found in documents A/50/18 and CERD/C/304/Add.17, respectively.  Conclusions on the situation in Barbados, Madagascar and Tanzania, adopted after the Committee reviewed conditions based on previous reports, can be found in documents A/49/18, CERD/C/304/Add.6 and A/50/18, respectively.

States Parties to Convention

At present, the following 169 States are parties to the Convention: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Benin, 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, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, San Marino, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Communications under Article 14

Under article 14 of the Convention, the Committee considers communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation by States parties of any of the rights set forth in the Convention, provided the States concerned have recognized the competence of the Committee in this regard.  The following 44 States parties have already done so:  Algeria, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Committee Membership and Officers

The members of the Committee, elected in their individual capacity, are:  Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr (Egypt); Nourredine Amir (Algeria); Alexei Avtonomov (Russian Federation); Ralph Boyd (United States); Jose Francisco Cali Tzay (Guatemala); Fatima-Binta Victoire Dah (Burkina Faso); Régis de Gouttes (France); Kurt Herndl (Austria); Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill (South Africa); Morten Kjaerum (Denmark); José Augusto Lindgren Alves (Brazil); Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai (India); Agha Shahi (Pakistan); Linos Alexander Sicilianos (Greece); Tang Chengyuan (China);  Patrick Thornberry (United Kingdom); Luis Valencia Rodriguez (Ecuador); and Mario Jorge Yutzis (Argentina).

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