COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION OPENS NINETY-SEVENTH SESSION IN GENEVA

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning opened its ninety-seventh session during which it will review anti-discrimination efforts by Albania, Honduras, Iraq, Norway, Qatar, and the Republic of Korea. The Committee heard an address by Adam Abdelmoula, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and it adopted the session’s programme of work and revised agenda.

In his opening statement, Mr. Abdelmoula reminded that the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during her first address to the Human Rights Council in September 2018, had highlighted the fundamental contribution that treaty bodies and their recommendations made to the prevention, mitigation and the ending of human rights violations.

Mr. Abdelmoula recalled that the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance had presented two reports at the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly on the threat that nationalist populism posed to the fundamental human rights principles of non-discrimination and equality, and on the contemporary use of digital technology in the spread of neo-Nazism and related intolerance. The Special Rapporteur had underlined that online communities could, and indeed had functioned as safe harbours for groups that espoused racial superiority and intolerance, as the anonymity permitted by digital technology and its relatively easy transnational accessibility, had aided in shifting extremist ideology closer to the mainstream.

In the same vein, the Chair of the Working Group of Experts on people of African descent had presented the annual report of the Working Group and had expressed deep concern about the increasingly open and often tolerated manifestations of racism, bigotry and xenophobia in all parts of the world. In addition, he had presented summary conclusions of the last thematic session of the Working Group, which had focused on the “Framework for a declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent.” Such a declaration would provide an opportunity to consider the impact of historical injustices and structural racism on people of African descent and to remedy their consequences.

At its thirty-ninth session in September 2018, the Human Rights Council had held a high-level panel to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Mr. Abdelmoula reminded. During the discussion, the High Commissioner for Human Rights had highlighted that the scourge of genocide remained both a threat and a reality in the twenty-first century. She had stressed that genocide had always been preceded by warning signs, including a pattern of abuse against a group.

At the same session, the Human Rights Council had also adopted resolution 39/13 entitled “Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples” in which it encouraged States to give due consideration to the rights of indigenous peoples and the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination faced by them. It had decided to convene two panel discussions in 2019, one on the promotion and preservation of indigenous languages, and the other on indigenous human rights defenders.

During its fifth session held in October 2018, the Group of independent eminent experts on the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action had emphasized the need to meet with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to discuss issues of common concern. The Group had agreed to devote part of the work of its upcoming sixth session of May 2019 to discuss topics on which the Committee had already developed jurisprudence, such as the issue of racist and hate speech in political discourse.

Turning to capacity-building of States, Mr. Abdelmoula said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had enhanced its focus on the implementation of the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms and its work on equality and countering all forms of discrimination. It was of utmost importance to strengthen the capacities of States to meet their international human rights obligations. That included the submission of regular reports to human rights bodies, but also the implementation of and follow-up to the recommendations made by such bodies in order to achieve concrete results on the ground.

In partnership with regional and national organizations, the Office had conducted workshops throughout 2018 and it had provided assistance to States parties with regard to reporting to treaty bodies, and with regard to follow-up to recommendations. Further workshops and activities were planned for the coming months. Those activities also aimed to build the capacities of civil society and offered an opportunity for States to share their experiences and good practices, including on the fight against racial discrimination.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was planning a workshop on human rights, non-discrimination and promoting tolerance in south-east Asia in December 2019 in Malaysia. It was part of a series of regional seminars and workshops, organized by the Anti-Racial Discrimination Section of the Office, in partnership with regional and national partners, to improve the understanding of issues of racial discrimination and to impact laws, policies and practices to more effectively combat discrimination.

Finally, Mr. Abdelmoula invited the Committee Experts to carefully look at the conclusions and recommendations agreed upon at the thirtieth annual meeting of the chairs of treaty bodies that had taken place in New York from 28 May to 1 June 2018 in light of the 2020 review of the treaty body system. The Committee continued to consider the streamlining of its methods of work and Mr. Abdelmoula encouraged it to pursue that work, taking into account the recommendations made in the General Assembly resolution 68/268 and those of the chairs of treaty bodies.

Nouredinne Amir, Committee Chairperson, thanked Mr. Abdelmoula for the overview of the Office’s activities and work, especially the work it was doing in New York.

An Expert highlighted some of the areas flagged by Mr. Abdelmoula, especially national populism which was on the rise and challenges that the international community was facing in that respect. He stressed the importance of the International Decade for People of African Descent and the upcoming Fourth Global Conference on Racial Discrimination. States had to condemn racism and implement efficient strategies to combat it.

Another Expert added that the Committee should be looking at the outcome of ongoing populist policies, and he reminded that the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples had not enjoyed funding support. He asked about details of the two panel discussions on indigenous peoples that would be convened by the Human Rights Council in 2019.

Answering Experts’ comments, Mr. Abdelmoula said that the secretariat would provide them with the details of the events on indigenous peoples.

The Committee then adopted the session’s programme of work and revised agenda.


The Committee will next meet in public on Tuesday, 27 November, at 10 a.m. when it will hold an informal meeting with non-governmental organizations from Qatar, Honduras and Iraq, whose reports will be reviewed this week.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CERD18.22E