COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REVIEWS REVISED DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR COMMITTEE-SPECIFIC REPORTS

Committee on Elimination
of Racial Discrimination

13 August 2007

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning began a first reading of revised draft guidelines for the submission of specific reports presented by States parties under article 9 of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Committee Expert Luis Valencia Rodriguez briefly introduced the revised draft guidelines for the submission of Committee-specific documents by States parties, recalling that during the Committee's last session a Working Group had been set up to draft such a document. That document was now before the Committee.

The Committee then undertook a paragraph-by-paragraph first reading of the revised draft guidelines for the specific reports presented by States parties under article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention, and Experts made a number of suggestions and comments. Among sections of the draft guidelines that were adopted were an introduction, highlighting the reporting requirements set out under article 9 (in particular, the duty of States parties to report to the Committee biennially after the initial report, and the right of the Committee to request further information); explaining that the guidelines aimed to advise States parties on the form and content of their reports, and to ensure that reports were comprehensive and uniform; and highlighting that States should consider the reporting process not only as a means to ensure compliance with their international obligations, but also as an opportunity to fully comprehend the state of human rights protection within their jurisdiction for the purpose of more efficient policy planning and implementation of the Convention. The introduction also took into account the revised reporting system and organization of information to be included in the common core document and the specific reports presented under article 9. Specifically, it said that specific documents presented under article 9 should not repeat information included in the core document, and should contain a response to concerns expressed by the Committee in its concluding observations and decisions.

The draft revised guidelines then set out, on an article-by-article basis, from article 1 through article 7 of the Convention, detailed suggestions for what sort of information was to be included in the report under those articles. Adopted were guidelines for issues touching on article 1 of the Convention, such as information relating to the extent to which domestic law provided for differential treatment based on citizenship or immigration; and on article 2, including specific and detailed information on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures taken to give effect to the undertaking to prohibit and bring to an end racial discrimination by any persons, groups or organizations.


When the Committee reconvenes at 4 p.m. this afternoon, it will hold a closed meeting, after which it will continue to discuss its working methods in public.
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