UN panel on racism opens 63rd session with human rights under siege

Human rights are under siege from terrorism, rampant inequality, religious persecution, racism and other gross violations, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was told today.

Opening the Committee’s 63rd session in Geneva, Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand G. Ramcharan said the meeting was taking place at a troubled time for human rights.

Terrorists continued to strike in various parts of the world, and innocent lives were lost and people maimed, he declared. Such acts were condemned unreservedly, wherever and by whomever committed. Terrorism was just plain wrong and criminal.

Inequality, within and among nations, was rampant, as were religious discrimination and persecution, he said. Discrimination against migrants was commonplace. Racism and racial discrimination were as serious as when the Convention was drafted nearly 40 years ago. Gross violations of human rights were commonplace in many parts of the world, and the recommendations of international human rights treaty bodies were frequently flouted, Mr. Ramcharan added.

In the midst of all this, he said, the Committee was called upon to uphold the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Nothing was more central to the success of the UN than fulfilment of its human rights mission, and the Committee had made a crucial contribution to this task. It was in its charge to foster democratic societies grounded in the rule of law and respect for the principle of equal enjoyment of human rights by all, while taking into account the historical context and present-day realities of each country.

In the course of its three-week session, the Committee will review anti-discrimination efforts undertaken by a dozen countries among the 169 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.