COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ADOPTS OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON REPORT OF EGYPT

CERD
59th session
15 August 2001
Morning





Starts Adopting Conclusions on Report of Viet Nam,
Expresses Strong Disagreement with a Report
Criticizing the Work of Human Rights Treaty Bodies


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning adopted its concluding observations and recommendations on the sixteenth periodic report of Egypt, expressing concern about a discriminatory law against children born to Egyptian women married to non-nationals.

The Committee expressed its concern about a nationality law which prevents an Egyptian mother married to a foreigner from passing on her nationality to her children. It was also concerned that children born to Egyptian mothers and foreign fathers were discriminated against in the field of education. The Committee recommended that the nationality law be revised so as to bring it into line with the provisions of the Convention, as was promised by the State party.

The Committee considered, among other things, as very positive the significant role of the Supreme Constitutional Court in the judicial system of Egypt in upholding human rights and constitutional guarantees, particularly with regard to the protection of equal rights.

The Committee also started adopting its conclusions on the ninth periodic report of Viet Nam, commending the efforts of the State party to rebuild and renew the social and economic structure of Vietnamese society.

In addition, the Committee approved a text in which it expressed its strong disagreement with the statements made in a recent report prepared by a Canadian academician Anne Bayefsky in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled "The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads".

The Committee strongly rejected the report's allegations of bias in its concluding observations on State reports under the Convention, and equally resented the allegation that its early warning procedures were driven by political considerations. It said the report had been utilized by at least one Government to deliver a political critique of the Committee. The Chairperson asked the Secretariat to distribute the text of the Committee to Permanent Missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva and to the Chairs of the other human rights treaty bodies.

The Committee also exchanged views on the report of the Chairpersons of the human rights treaty bodies on their thirteenth meeting held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 18 to 22 June 2001.

Participating in the debate were Committee members Michael E. Sherifis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Francois Lonseny Fall, Patrick Thornberry, Marc Boussuyt, Agha Shahi, Yuri A. Reshetov, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Regis des Gouttes, Ion Diaconu and Tang Chengyuan.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will continue adopting its conclusions on the report of Viet Nam.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Egypt

The Committee considered, among other things, as very positive the significant role of the Supreme Constitutional Court in the judicial system of Egypt in upholding human rights and constitutional guarantees, particularly with regard to the protection of equal rights, as well as the prevention and elimination of discrimination; it noted with satisfaction that the Court defined racial discrimination in terms very close to the definition given by the Convention; and it welcomed the initiatives taken by the Government in the area of human rights education in schools and universities.

The Committee recommended that the State party provide information on its ethnic groups, in particular economic and social indicators reflecting their situation, including their participation in public life and the preservation of their culture; it said it remained concerned that the State party did not seem to respond fully to the requirements of article 4 of the Convention, especially articles 4 (a), which required State parties to declare as an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, among other things; and it recommended that the State party review its domestic legislation in the light of the provisions of article 4.

The Committee expressed its concern about the nationality law which prevented an Egyptian mother married to a foreigner from passing on her nationality to her children; it was also concerned that children born to Egyptian mothers and foreign fathers were faced with discrimination in the field of education; and it recommended that the nationality law, which discriminated against children born to Egyptian women married to non-nationals, be revised so as to bring it into line with the provisions of the Convention, as was promised by the State party.

Moreover, the Committee recommended that the State party continue its efforts for training all personnel working in the field of criminal justice and law enforcement officials in the spirit of respect for human rights and non-discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds. It also recommended that Egypt resolve difficulties in registration of non-governmental organizations; and that steps be taken to accelerate the process of establishing national human rights commissions.


First Part of Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Viet Nam

Among positive aspects, the Committee welcomed the steps taken by the State party to disseminate information on its human rights obligations; commended its efforts to rebuild and renew the social and economic structure of Vietnamese society through its Strategy Plan for Social Economic Stabilization and Development; and the Committee considered that a growing economy should contribute to ease racial and ethnic tensions.

The Committee, considering that no country was immune from racial discrimination, encouraged the authorities of Viet Nam to draw closer attention to article 1 of the Convention and to consider how it might use that definition in constructing a meaning for the existence of unequal racial and ethnic relations within Vietnamese society.


Text on Report on Work of Human Rights Treaty Bodies

The Committee approved a text in which it expressed its strong disagreement with the statements made in a recent report prepared by a Canadian academician Anne Bayefsky, in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights entitled "The UN Human Rights Treaty System: Universality at the Crossroads". It said the report had been utilized by at least one Government to deliver a political critique of the Committee.

The Committee strongly rejected the report's allegations of bias in its concluding observations on State reports under the Convention, and equally resented the allegation that its early warning procedures were driven by political considerations; on the contrary, the Committee had solid grounds to invoke those procedures in relation to serious human rights situations. No evidence was offered by the author for the claims of bias which struck at the heart of the treaty body system, the text said.

The text said that the Committee had been concerned in the past about protecting the impartiality and independence of its members and recalled in that regard its General Recommendation 9, adopted in 1990, which included the observations that "respect for the independence of the experts was essential to secure full observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms".

Regrettably, the Committee said, any merits in the report as a whole were outweighed by its distorted account of the Committee's work, which did not reflected its particular and significant contribution to the improvement of human rights; the Committee made continuous efforts to improve its working methods and the quality of its dialogue with States parties, and remained open and receptive to objective and insightful critiques of its work.

During the discussion of the text, some Committee Experts were of the view that the report was superficial in its allegations of the Committee's political bias. An Expert was of the view that there was no useful idea in the report, while another Expert said that "the report as a whole provides some useful thoughts for all those genuinely concerned with improving the implementation of human rights".



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