International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 21 March 2019

Racism: UN experts condemn mosque attacks, urge action against nationalist populism and supremacist ideologies

GENEVA (21 March 2019) – States must take urgent, concerted action to achieve racial equality and stop using nationalist populist rhetoric to stoke discrimination, says a group of UN human rights experts*. The appeal comes on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:

“Less than a week ago, a white supremacist committed an Islamophobic terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 50 people and injuring many others. This tragic event reminds us that racism, xenophobia and religious hatred are deadly and that the result of ethno-nationalist populism and supremacist ideologies is racial violence, exclusion and discrimination.

States must act immediately to stem the tide of hate and discrimination, to protect vulnerable populations and to ensure racial equality.

Although we want to remain hopeful that all States will take seriously their obligations to eliminate racial discrimination, we are dismayed by the role that public authorities continue to play in stoking racial discrimination and intolerance by acts of commission and omission.

We have observed more than 50 International Days for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Each year, the UN calls upon States to act immediately to end racism, to ensure equality and dignity, and to realise the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Yet States’ politics and legislation seldom reflect the urgency of this obligation.

Instead, States and leaders have deployed political rhetoric that demonises racialised groups and emboldens supremacist ideologues. Some States even deny the existence of racial discrimination or minorities within their borders.

States must decide that they are willing to take their role seriously and must adopt the policies necessary to achieve racial equality, in line with international human rights standards and including through frameworks such as the International Decade for People of African Descent. Simply put, expedient politics of exclusion are incompatible with a just domestic order, and ultimately States must eliminate their reliance on discriminatory, supremacist rhetoric.

We urge the public to recall that the work of fighting intolerance and discrimination is not for States and public authorities alone. Every single person, especially those who enjoy racial privilege on a daily basis, must play their part to put an end to the racism, xenophobia and related intolerance that prevail today.”

ENDS

(*) The UN experts: Ms E. Tendayi Achiume (Zambia), Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Mr. Michal Balcerzak (Poland), Chair of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent

Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For more information and media requests, please contact: Ms Claire Mathellié (+41 22 917 4989 / cmathellie@ohchr.org ) or racism@ohchr.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org)

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