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Distr.
GENERAL E/CN.4/2004/127
19 April 2004
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sixtieth session
Agenda item 6
RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA
AND ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
Note by the secretariat
1. At its 2nd meeting, on 15 March 2004, the Commission on Human Rights decided that chairpersons of treaty bodies, if they so wish and are available, would be invited to address the Commission.
2. The Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, who was unable to attend the Commission, has submitted the text of his oral statement* which is reproduced below for information purposes.
Annex
STATEMENT BY MR. MARIO YUTZIS, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION
OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION TO THE 60TH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which has been ratified by 169 States, constitutes the main international normative basis to combat racial discrimination, and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has a crucial role to play in monitoring the implementation of the Convention and also contributes to monitoring the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
My remarks will focus on various aspects of the Committee's activities and will highlight the Committee's working methods as reviewed during its 60th, 61st, 62nd and 63rd sessions (at its 63rd session held in August 2003, the Committee adopted a paper on working methods which was published as an annex to its 2003 annual report to the General Assembly, A/58/18, Annex IV).
Consideration of initial and periodic reports submitted by States Parties
The most important task of the Committee is the consideration of States parties' reports. It examines around 20 such reports each year. During its last two sessions held from 5 to 23 August 2003 and from 23 February to 12 March 2004, it examined respectively 10 reports (Albania, Bolivia, Cape Verde, the Czech Republic, Finland, The Islamic Republic of Iran, Latvia, Norway, the Republic of Korea and Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines) and 9 reports (Bahamas, Brazil, Lebanon, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Nepal, the Netherlands, Spain, Suriname and Sweden).
In its 2003 annual report to the General Assembly (A/58/18), the Committee listed the States parties whose reports were overdue by at least 10 years and recorded that this was the case for 21 States. It also listed the States that were between 5 and 10 years late in the submission of their periodic reports and recorded 34 such States. Out of 169 States parties, nearly one third are at least five years late, the delay being up to more than 20 years for 6 States. This situation is of great concern to the Committee, as reporting by States parties is the fundamental mechanism by which it discharges fully its obligation to monitor the observance of obligations under the Convention.
In order to remedy this situation, the Committee has had in place since 1991 its so-called review procedure. The Committee includes in the agenda of each session the review of the implementation of the Convention in several States parties that are at least five years late in the submission of their initial or periodic reports. The first step taken by the Committee is to get in contact, through the Secretariat, with the State party concerned, and to encourage it to submit a report within the next 6 months to one year. The Committee has found that many States parties responded very positively to the efforts made by it to engage in, or to resume, a dialogue. If the State party commits to submit a report, the Committee always grants further delay and suspends the review procedure.
In the few cases where the State party fails to respond, the Committee reviews the implementation of the Convention in this State on the basis of the previous report if any, and of any other information from other UN bodies and from NGOs. It makes recommendations to the State party with a view to ensuring the implementation of the Convention. At its 64th session (23 February-12 March 2004), the Committee has modified the review procedure and now adopts such observations and recommendations as a provisional text which is kept confidential and transmitted only to the State party concerned. The latter is granted time until the next session of the Committee to indicate whether it will submit a report in the near future. In the absence of any response from the State party, the provisional observations will be considered as final.
Follow up to the Committee' Concluding Observations/Recommendations
The follow up given by States parties to the concerns and recommendations formulated by the Committee after consideration of reports is of fundamental importance. If the Committee wishes to request further information or an additional report concerning, inter alia, action taken by States parties to implement the Committee's recommendations, it can do so according to article 65 of the rules of procedures. At its last session held last month, the Committee decided to amend article 65 of its rules of procedure and to add to it a second paragraph providing that, in order to further the implementation of the decisions to request further information from States parties, the Committee shall appoint a coordinator for a period of two years. In fulfilling his/her tasks, the coordinator shall cooperate with country rapporteurs.
National Human Rights Institutions
The Committee is fully aware of the fundamental role which national human rights institutions play, inter alia, in combating racism and racial discrimination, as stressed during the Durban Conference. I would like to emphasise the importance which the Committee attaches to the information provided by these institutions, and I take this opportunity to recommend to States parties which have not yet done so that they consider creating or reinforcing these institutions. Their role is essential to ensure a better implementation of the Convention at the national level and to ensure adequate follow-up to the conclusions and recommendations adopted by the Committee following its consideration of periodic reports.
Early Warning and urgent procedures
At its 42nd session (1993), The Committee took note of the conclusion of the fourth meeting of persons chairing the human rights treaty bodies according to which these bodies "have an important role to play in seeking to prevent as well as to respond to human rights violations". Since then, the Committee has considered the question of the prevention of racial discrimination, in particular through its early warning and urgent procedures, as one of the main regular items on its agenda. The Committee has examined over the past ten years the situation of various States parties under its early warning and urgent procedures. It has also reached a consensus on the need to improve this procedure on the basis of the experience its has gained since 1993 and to adapt the timing, the criteria, the methodology as well as the actual mechanism in order to prevent serious violations of the Convention.
Thematic Debates
Over the years, the Committee has found that some thematic issues required specific attention, and accordingly, it held a first thematic debate in August 2000 on the question of discrimination against Roma and a second thematic discussion in August 2002 on descent-based discrimination. At its 64th session, on 1 and 2 March 2004, the Committee held a third thematic debate, this time on non-citizens and racial discrimination. These thematic debates are extremely useful, as the information provided by States parties, inter-governmental organisations as well as by experts, academics and a large number of non-governmental organisations and victims of racial discrimination constitutes a rich and valuable basis upon which the Committee can deepen its analysis of various aspects of racial discrimination and identify ways to eliminate the causes and consequences of such discrimination. The Committee can base itself on such information in order to adopt new general recommendations which specify the extent of States parties' responsibilities under the Convention and provide these States with guidelines for a better and more complete fulfilment of their obligations.
Cooperation of the Committee with other bodies and specialised agencies
The Committee keeps channels open for exchanging information with the other treaty bodies and other organs and bodies of the United Nations system that in one way or another deal with issues relevant to the work carried out by the Committee. As you will recall, two members of the Committee participated in January 2003 in the first session of the Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. This year again, the former Chairman and two members of the Committee took part in the second session of the Working Group and intervened in the panel discussion on complementary standards. As recommended by the Working Group, the Committee will prepare and discuss at its 65th session, to be held next August, a written contribution to the discussion on this issue for submission to the third session of the intergovernmental working group to be held in early 2005.
The Committee will also hold a meeting with the International Law Commission in August this year on the issue of reservations to human right treaties.
Consideration of communications under article 14
The Committee regrets that only 45 of the 169 States parties to the Convention have made the declaration under article 14 allowing for the submission of complaints by individuals or groups of individuals. In this respect, I wish to recall that Paragraph 75 of the Durban Programme of action recommends to the States Parties that have not yet done so to make this declaration and I welcome the call made by the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights in the same direction on 10 March 2004.
I would like to conclude by recalling the last paragraph of the Durban Declaration:
"…We recognize that the formulation and implementation of [the] strategies, policies, programmes and actions [to achieve the complete elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance], [….] are the responsibility of all States, with the full involvement of civil society at the national, regional and international levels."
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* Reproduced in the annex as received, in the language of submission only.
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