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MORNING
HR/CERD/00/2
6 March 2000



Hears Statement by Representative of Office of
High Commissioner for Human Rights


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) opened its fifty-sixth session this morning by hearing its newly elected members make a solemn declaration and by electing its bureau.

The Acting Chief of the Support Services Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Hamid Gaham, told the Committee's experts that the Office of the High Commissioner was preparing the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance from 1 to 5 May 2000. He noted that the Committee was expected to assist the Preparatory Committee of the World Conference and to undertake reviews and submit recommendations concerning the World Conference.

Michael Sherifis, the newly elected Chairperson of the Committee, said the preparations for the World Conference would be high on the agenda of the Committee.

The Committee heard its nine newly elected members make a solemn declaration to exercise their powers as members of the Committee "honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously." The Committee also approved as a member Brun-Otto Bryde who was appointed by Germany to fill a vacancy resulting from the resignation of another expert from the Committee.

The list of the Committee’s 18 experts reads as follows: Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr (Egypt); Michael Parker Banton (United Kingdom); Marc Bossuyt (Belgium); Ion Diaconu (Romania); Francois Lonsény Fall (Guinea); Régis de Gouttes (France); Carlos Lechuga Hevia (Cuba); Yuri A. Rechetov (Russian Federation); Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai (India); Agha Shahi (Pakistan); Michael E. Sherifis (Cyprus); Deci Zou (China); Luis Valencia Rodriguez (Ecuador); Mario Jorge Yutzis (Argentina); Peter Nobel (Sweden); Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill (South Africa); Gay McDougall (the United States); and Brun-Otto Bryde (Germany).

Mr. Sherifis was elected as Chairperson. The Vice Chairpersons elected were Mr. Rechetov, Mr. Valencia Rodriguez, and Mr. Fall. Mr. Banton was re-elected as Rapporteur of the Committee. The Committee also adopted its agenda and programme of work.

During its three-week session, the Committee will consider reports submitted to it by Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ghana, Lesotho, Malta, Rwanda, Spain, Tonga and Zimbabwe. The state of affairs in Greece and Qatar will be discussed by the Committee; they are all States parties that have previously submitted reports but from whom periodic reports are seriously overdue.

The Committee agreed to a request from Nepal to postpone consideration of its report to its August session. It also agreed to a request from Viet Nam to postpone a discussion on it in the absence of seriously overdue periodic reports after the Government said it would present a report to the Committee before its summer session. Slovenia, which the Committee had planned to consider in the absence of an overdue initial report, had presented a report today and the Committee agreed to postpone its consideration of it until the next session.

Experts said that the flood disaster in Mozambique and the political situations in Austria and Chechnya should be considered by the Committee. The Chairman suggested that a general debate under item 6, prevention of racial discrimination, including early warning measures and urgent action procedures, be held on Friday, 10 March, in the afternoon to discuss these issues.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the report of France (CERD/C/337/Add.5) on its efforts to implement the Convention.

(For further information, please refer to the background release HR/CERD/00/1 of 2 March 2000).

Statement

HAMID GAHAM, Acting Chief of the Support Services Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the number of States parties which had ratified or acceded to the Convention had remained constant at 155. He also noted that the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had recently made the declaration under article 14 - under which the Committee considers communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation by States parties of any of the rights set forth in the Convention - bringing to 29 the number of States parties which had made the declaration.

Mr. Gaham said that the Office of the High Commissioner was preparing the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance from 1 to 5 May 2000. He noted that the Committee was expected to assist the Preparatory Committee of the World Conference and to undertake reviews and submit recommendations concerning the World Conference. Mr. Gaham said other human rights treaty bodies were preparing contributions for the World Conference. He also noted that the International Day on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination would be commemorated on 21 March and said the Committee would be involved in marking the day.

Mr. Gaham said that with recent resurgence of old ethnic, racial and nationalistic antagonisms in various forms of intolerance, xenophobia and, in most extreme cases, ethnic conflict, ethnic cleansing and genocide, United Nations human rights mechanisms were compelled to reflect on situations where the occurrence of racist acts and racial discrimination could degenerate into open conflict, and recommend timely specific and adequate preventive measures. The Committee played an essential role in this regard with its early warning and urgent procedures mechanism.



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