COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES ITS NINETIETH SESSION

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination closed its ninetieth session this afternoon after adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Greece, United Kingdom, Paraguay, South Africa, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Pakistan on how those countries implement the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The Committee’s concluding observations and recommendations on the eight country reports will be available on the Committee’s webpage next week.

Committee Chairperson Anastasia Crickley, in closing remarks, said that the Committee had successfully reviewed eight country reports. The early warning and urgent action procedure group had presented the Committee with four important cases and letters would be written. A decision had been taken under the early warning and urgent action procedure on the situation in Burundi which was a matter of grave concern. The Committee had called on Burundi to respect its international obligations and requested the attention of all United Nations bodies to bear on the human rights situation in Burundi, given the concern about the genocidal rhetoric which could endanger the peaceful inter-ethnic coexistence of the State.

Ms. Crickley recalled that the Committee accorded priority in its work to minorities, indigenous peoples and persons of African descent. She underlined that too often, women belonging to minorities and women migrants faced double discrimination - for their identity and for their gender. She also regretted the lack of resources provided to the Committee despite efforts by the High Commissioner for Human Rights to help.

Ms. Crickley noted that the Committee had spent the first part of its closing meeting discussing follow-up to concluding observations concerning Denmark and Peru. The Committee had adopted the text prepared by Committee Rapporteur Gun Kut concerning those two States. Ms. Crickley said it was essential to strengthen the follow-up procedure.

Comprehensive meeting coverage of all public meetings held this session, including the country reviews, can be found here.

The ninety-first session of the Committee will be held from 21 November to 9 December 2016. The reports of Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Togo, Turkmenistan and Uruguay, which will be considered during the session, can be accessed here.


For use of the information media; not an official record

CERD16/024E