Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Opens One Hundred and Fifteenth Session in Geneva
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning opened its one hundred and fifteenth session in Geneva, during which it will review anti-discrimination efforts by Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea and Ukraine under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The Committee heard from a representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and adopted the session’s agenda.
Antti Korkeakivi, Chief, Human Rights Treaties Branch, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and representative of the Secretary-General, opening the one hundred and fifteenth session, paid tribute to the important work of the Committee in promoting and protecting the human rights of all people without discrimination. With the Convention marking its sixtieth anniversary this year, it was an opportunity to explore avenues to generate greater political will and concrete action to fight racial discrimination.
Mr. Korkeakivi said a heavy programme of work was before the Committee over the next three weeks, with five major State party reviews; the consideration of five follow-up reports for Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Tajikistan and Uruguay; a half-day of general discussion on reparations for the injustices from the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans, which would inform a new general recommendation on the topic; consideration of cases under the early warning and urgent action and individual complaints procedures; and meetings with various stakeholders. He wished the Committee a fruitful and productive session.
Michal Balcerzak, Committee Chairperson, congratulated Mr. Korkeakivi on assuming his position, and expressed hope that he could help navigate the treaty body system through the stormy weather it was currently facing. Mr. Balcerzak also said he hoped that, during the session, the Committee would have fruitful interactive dialogues with Ukraine, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea, Gabon and Kyrgyzstan. He thanked the members of the Committee’s secretariat for their help in facilitating Committee Experts’ work during and between sessions.
The programme of work and other documents related to the Committee’s one hundred and fifteenth session can be found here. Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.
The Committee will next meet in public on Wednesday, 23 April at 3 p.m. to consider the combined twenty-fourth to twenty-sixth periodic reports of Ukraine (CERD/C/UKR/24-26).
Statements
ANTTI KORKEAKIVI, Chief, Human Rights Treaties Branch, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and representative of the Secretary-General, opening the one hundred and fifteenth session, said the international system was going through a tectonic shift, and the human rights edifice that was built up so painstakingly over decades had never been under so much strain. Everyone needed to make an all-out effort to ensure that human rights and the rule of law remained foundational to communities, societies and international relations. Otherwise, the picture would be very dangerous.
The Secretary-General, in his message on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, warned that “The poison of racism continues to infect our world – a toxic legacy of historic enslavement, colonialism and discrimination. It corrupts communities, blocks opportunities, and ruins lives, eroding the very foundations of dignity, equality and justice. Forged amidst the civil rights, anti-apartheid, and decolonisation movements of the 1960s, the Convention sets out concrete steps countries must take to combat racist doctrines, promote understanding, and build a world free from racial discrimination. Today, it remains a beacon of hope to guide us in dark times.”
Mr. Korkeakivi paid tribute to the important work of the Committee to monitor the implementation of the Convention and its significant contributions in promoting and protecting the human rights of all people without discrimination. With the Convention marking its sixtieth anniversary this year, it was an opportunity to explore avenues to generate greater political will and concrete action to fight racial discrimination.
In this connection, several events were held to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the sixtieth anniversary. The Committee Chair, Mr. Balcerzak, participated in person in commemorative events at the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, presenting a joint statement led by the Committee together with 10 other mechanisms. The Office of the High Commissioner would continue to support the Committee in its objectives for the yearlong anniversary campaign. It had created a website on the anniversary, which presented a list of commemorative activities that would be updated throughout the year.
The High Commissioner’s annual report on the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, presented to the fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council last month, extensively referenced the Committee’s assessment of the realisation of minority rights and acknowledged the important contribution made by the Committee in advancing the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation worldwide. Last December, the United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Protection of Minorities organised a community-of-practice on the Committee’s general recommendation 37 to discuss how countries could use it to eliminate racial discrimination in the context of health.
Further, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in its 2024 study on mechanisms to achieve the United National Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, underscored the relevance of the Committee’s jurisprudence in protecting the political and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. The study highlighted how the Committee’s work reinforced the principles of the Declaration and strengthened the role of international treaty bodies in holding States accountable for respecting the collective rights of indigenous peoples.
In December 2024, the General Assembly proclaimed 2025-2034 as the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, with the theme “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”. The Office of the High Commissioner had continued consultations to inform the implementation of its agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality.
The session of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent in December 2024 also focused on reparatory justice. Their report would be presented at the Human Rights Council session in September 2025. The Working Group organised yesterday a panel to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of the Convention. Also, in December 2024, the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent held its first regional consultation on the draft United Nations Declaration on the Human Rights of People of African Descent in Barbados. The fourth session of the Permanent Forum held last week focused on “Africa and people of African descent: United for reparatory justice in the age of Artificial Intelligence”.
Additionally, the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement would hold its fourth session from 5 to 9 May 2025 in Geneva. It would discuss “addressing systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the criminal justice system” in preparation of its thematic report on the same topic.
In March 2025, the Office of the High Commissioner organised a regional consultation for Europe on racism in sports in Belgium. The second consultation for the Latin American region would take place in Mexico. The outcomes of these regional consultations would inform the High Commissioner’s report on a world of sport free from racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, to be presented at the Human Rights Council’s September session.
The fifteenth session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the elaboration of complementary standards to the Convention was continuing efforts to elaborate an additional protocol to the Convention aiming at criminalising acts of a racist and xenophobic nature. This session would focus on concrete provisions related to the prohibition and criminalisation of such acts, procedural guarantees for indicted persons and the protection of victims. The session also included a commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Convention.
The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance would present two thematic reports on intersectionality from a racial justice perspective, and combatting the glorification of Nazism, as well as a report on her country visit to Brazil, at the fifty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council in June 2025.
The past year had been particularly challenging for the treaty body system. In addition to chronic resource constraints, the liquidity crisis continued to hamper the planning and implementation of the Committee’s work. The Office was doing its utmost to ensure that this Committee and other treaty bodies could implement their mandates, including by highlighting the direct impact that resource limitations had on human rights protection on the ground. Nevertheless, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future. While all treaty bodies had been able to hold their first sessions, the outlook for the rest of the year remained uncertain, both in terms of plenary meeting and visits. The Office would inform the Committee when it received information regarding its second session for the year.
Despite these challenges, the treaty body strengthening process remained active. It reached a key moment with the adoption in December of last year of the biennial resolution on the treaty body system by the General Assembly, which invited the treaty bodies and the Office to continue to work toward a regularised schedule for reporting and to further use digital technologies. However, the biennial resolution did not endorse the proposal for an eight-year predictable schedule of reviews.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Korkeakivi said a heavy programme of work was before the Committee over the next three weeks, with five major State party reviews; the consideration of five follow-up reports for Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Tajikistan and Uruguay; a half-day of general discussion on reparations for the injustices from the transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans, and the ongoing crimes against people of African descent, which would inform a new general recommendation on the topic; consideration of cases under the early warning and urgent action and individual complaints procedures; and meetings with various stakeholders. He wished the Committee a fruitful and productive session.
MICHAL BALCERZAK, Committee Chairperson, congratulated Mr. Korkeakivi on assuming his position. The Committee hoped that he could achieve his mandate and navigate the treaty body system through the stormy weather it was currently facing. Mr. Balcerzak expressed hope that, during the session, the Committee would have fruitful interactive dialogues with Ukraine, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea, Gabon and Kyrgyzstan. He thanked the members of the Committee’s secretariat for its help facilitating Committee Experts’ work during and between sessions.
NOUREDDIN AMIR, Committee Expert, said that he had been fighting all forms of racial discrimination for half a century, including as the Committee’s former Chair. Despite his failing eyesight, he would continue to breathe life to the Committee’s struggle against racial discrimination. The world was in a sorry state, Mr. Amir said. The Committee needed to ensure that the international community was fully cognisant of what was happening in the world today. Murders were being committed in Palestine, in Gaza. What could the Committee do to put an end to these crimes against women and children. This situation beggared belief, yet it continued. People needed to be held accountable. The Committee had a responsibility to continue to fight for its mandate.
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