UN anti-racism committee set to open final 2003 session

The United Nations panel monitoring progress on worldwide efforts to prevent racism and racial discrimination is set to open its second substantive session of 2003 next week in Geneva.

The 18-member Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) – the first body created by the UN to review actions by States to fulfil obligations under a specific human rights agreement – will meet from 4 to 22 August to review national anti-discrimination efforts and discuss ways to prevent racial discrimination.

The Governments of Albania, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Czech Republic, Finland, Iran, Latvia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the United Kingdom, are expected to send representatives to present reports on national efforts to give effect to their treaty obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. These countries are among the 169 States parties to the Convention, which took effect in 1969.

At this sixty-third session of the Committee, its members will also look into the state of affairs in the Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Laos, Malawi, Suriname, Tajikistan and Zambia under its review procedure. All of these States parties are at least five years late for the submission of their initial or periodic reports to the Committee.

On 19 August, the Committee will hold its first-ever meeting with States parties to the Convention. Also this session, the experts will continue consideration of the prevention of racial discrimination, including through early warning measures and urgent action procedures. They may decide to take steps to prevent existing problems from escalating into conflicts or may decide to initiate urgent action aimed at responding to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention. The Committee may schedule a review of the situation in some countries at short notice.

In addition, the Committee will study, in closed session, communications from individuals claiming to be victims of racial discrimination. Only complaints against the 41 States parties that have recognized the competence of the Committee under article 14 of the Convention are admissible.

Other agenda items relate to a general debate on subjects of interest to the Committee, including on issues concerning the Committee's methods of work; discussion of the effective implementation of international instruments on human rights; review of the progress of the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination; and follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance.