States Parties to Convention on Elimination of Racism

 

Elect Nine Members to Monitoring Body

 

The States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination met at United Nations Headquarters in New York today to elect nine members to the Convention’s monitoring body to serve for a two-year period, beginning on 19 January.

The meeting began with the election by acclamation of Le Luong Minh of Viet Nam to chair the twenty-third meeting of States parties.  Also elected were Michel Tommo Monthe (Cameroon), Miriam MacIntosh (Suriname), and Alexandru Ciorobea (Romania) as Vice-Chairpersons of the meeting.

Having received the required majority of 81 votes in one round of secret balloting, the following were elected to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to replace members whose terms expire 19 January:  Nourredine Amir of Algeria (150 votes); Anastasia Crickley of Ireland (149); Regis De Gouttes of France (147); Kokou Mawuana Ika Kana Ewomsan of Togo (153); Anwar Kemal of Pakistan (149); Gün Kut of Turkey (153); Jose Augusto Lindgren-Alves of Brazil (157); Waliakoye Saidou of Niger (153); and Patrick Thornberry of the United Kingdom (144).

The Convention entered into force on 4 January 1969.  By its terms, States parties, convinced that the existence of racial barriers is repugnant to the ideals of any human society, resolved to adopt all necessary measures for speedily eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations.  The Convention’s 18-member monitoring body considers reports from States parties and ‑‑ if the State concerned has accepted the Convention’s Optional Protocol –- considers petitions from individuals or groups alleging violations of the Convention.

Delivering a message on behalf of the Secretary-General, Craig Mokhiber, Deputy Director of the New York Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the high number of States parties ‑‑ 173 -- reflected the international community’s continuing interest in advancing the Convention’s goals, but with only four opinions issued by its monitoring committee in two years, its communications procedure remained underused.

“As important as the Convention’s contributions have been to date, there is obviously some room for improvement,” said Mr. Mokhiber.

He explained that only 53 countries had recognized the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as a body that could receive communications from individuals with unresolved grievances.  According to article 14 of the Convention, citizens of those countries had the right to communicate to the Committee alleged violations of their rights under the Convention, if they believed such matters were not satisfactorily dealt with by national bodies.

Since its start, the Committee had held 75 sessions, he said.  During its 2008 and 2009 session, it had considered 35 initial or periodic reports and, in each case, had adopted conclusions and recommendations aimed at the effective implementation of the Convention at the national level.  The Committee had also reviewed implementation in one State whose reports was among those seriously overdue.

He added that, at its 2009 session, the Committee had adopted General Recommendation No. 32, on “The meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.”  The purpose of the general recommendation was to provide practical guidance on the meaning of special measures under the Convention in order to assist States parties in the discharge of their obligations, in that regard.

General Recommendation No. 33, on “Follow-up to the Durban Review Conference,” was adopted at the same session, he said.  In that general recommendation, the Committee welcomed the impetus given by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to further implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

In December 2008, the General Assembly had authorized the Committee to meet for an additional week at each session until 2011 to clear its backlog of reports, and the Committee was expected to do so.

Turning to the financing of activities under the Convention, he recalled that General Assembly resolution 47/111 of 16 December 1992 endorsed the amendment to article 8 of the Convention providing for the financing of the Committee’s activities from the regular United Nations budget and requested the Secretary-General to ensure the provision of the financing in that way, beginning in the biennium 1994-1995.  Acceptance must be received from two thirds of the States parties for the amendment to enter into force.  To date, only 43 States parties had ratified the amendment, despite the Assembly’s repeated calls.

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For information media • not an official record