Address of Louise Arbour, High Commissioner for Human Rights, to the 66th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

24 February 2005

Mr. Chairperson,
Distinguished Members of the Committee,

Allow me to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with you briefly this morning. May I also express my gratitude to the delegation of Luxembourg for kindly accepting to delay the beginning of its dialogue with the Committee, so that I could address you today.

I was fully briefed on your extremely busy programme of work for this session. I noted in particular two important issues among the numerous points on your agenda. The first one is the discussion which you will have on the draft general recommendation on the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the system of justice prepared by Mr. de Gouttes, and the second one is the thematic discussion on the prevention of genocide which you will hold next week, with the participation of the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on this issue, Mr. Juan Mendez.

1. Racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the system of justice.

As acknowledged in the Durban Declaration, racial discrimination persists in the functioning of the penal system and in the application of the law in some States, as well as in the actions and attitudes of institutions and individuals responsible for law enforcement. These issues are addressed by your Committee on a regular basis. They include practices such as racial profiling the mistreatment of persons belonging to ethnic groups by the police, and the imposition of harsher sentences on these persons. Statistics demonstrate that certain groups, such as ethnic minorities and indigenous people, are over-represented among persons arrested or imprisoned, as well as in the total number of deaths in custody. Of particular concern is the lack of prompt action by the police, the prosecutors and the judiciary for investigating and punishing acts of racial discrimination, which often leads to total or partial impunity for the perpetrators of such acts.

Racial discrimination in the administration of justice subverts the rule of law, undermines faith in the legal system, and results in victimization of individuals and groups by the very institutions responsible for their protection. It must be acknowledged, denounced and eradicated. From my own experience, I know how important it is to ensure that the judicial system plays an adequate role in preventing racial discrimination and ensuring full protection and reparation for victims.

Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination requests that States parties guarantee the right of everyone, without discrimination, to equal treatment before tribunals and all other organs administering justice. This Committee is uniquely qualified to clarify governing principles and offer guidance to States on all measures necessary to ensure the elimination of racial discrimination in the administration of justice. A new general recommendation by your committee on this issue will undoubtedly be timely and useful.

2. Thematic discussion on the prevention of genocide

Mr. Chairperson, distinguished members of the Committee,

I am also interested in your forthcoming thematic discussion on the prevention of genocide. During the three years I spent as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, I was confronted with some of the worst excesses of intolerance and injustice and the grossest abuses of the most basic human rights. We must never forget the horrendous massacres in Rwanda in 1994 and the massive killings in Srebrenica one year later, both driven by racial and ethnic intolerance and hatred. These events remind us, in all their brutality, that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are not vanishing phenomena, and that the need for vigilance is never exaggerated.

As you know, within the framework of efforts to prevent genocide, the Secretary-General launched last year a Plan of Action including the nomination of a Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, Mr. Juan Mendez, who will attend your thematic discussion. I have no doubt that close cooperation between the Special Adviser and your Committee, as well as his interaction with other Treaty Bodies and the special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights, will assist him in elaborating a proper course of action.

I would also like to draw your attention to a report of the Commission on Human Rights which you will find in your files on the views of State parties to the Convention on Genocide on the Secretary-General’s proposal to consider establishing a Committee on the Prevention of Genocide which would meet periodically to review reports and make recommendations for action (E/CN.4/2005/46).

We have a lot of work to do to ensure that the root-causes of conflicts are addressed, in particular through combating racial discrimination and promoting the principle of equality. In this regard, your decision in 1993 to establish early warning measures and urgent action procedures as one of your regular and principal agenda items was a crucial one. Within the framework of efforts to prevent racial discrimination, you have declared your readiness to take early warning measures aimed at preventing existing problems from escalating into conflicts; or to initiate urgent action procedures aimed at responding to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention.

The challenge is to put in place preventive strategies which may be effective at the national level. Every State party should be able to show and to explain to the Committee the preventive strategies it has in place, and the institutions it has established to provide special protection to those at risk.

Mr. Chairperson, distinguished members of the Committee,

As already mentioned by Maria-Francisca Ize-Charrin on Monday, I presented last week to the Security Council the report of the Commission of Enquiry on the situation in Darfur. Although the Commission found that the Government of Sudan had not pursued a policy of genocide, its recommendations may contribute usefully to the forthcoming debate of the Committee, in particular regarding the protection of victims and the provision of reparation. After stating that large-scale war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed in Darfur, the Commission of Enquiry not only recommended referral to the International Criminal Court, but also proposed to establish an International Compensation Commission. The Commission’s analysis is a compelling one and I commend it to you in the strongest terms

I am sure that the debates which will be held during your thematic discussion will be of utmost interest to all those devoted to the prevention of genocide, and I will pay due attention to the conclusions reached by your Committee on this issue.

3. Concluding remarks

Mr. Chairperson, distinguished members of the Committee,

One of my main goals as High Commissioner is to contribute to strengthening the rule of law at both the national and international levels. I firmly believe in the role of law to guide us through difficult societal challenges, the combat against racial discrimination being one of those challenges. Human rights law, which includes as a corner stone the principle of equality and non-discrimination, is often said to face the obstacle of weak enforcement mechanisms. I think, however, that, through international instruments such as the Convention of which you are the guardians, human rights have turned from ideals into legal obligations. Their incorporation into domestic constitutional and legal systems has permitted individuals to assert and claim their rights. We have seen inspiring judgments from courts at all levels in all continents that turn human rights into a reality for ordinary people across the globe. In this regard, I draw your attention to the appeal judgment of the House of Lords last December in which extensive reference is made not only to your Convention, but also to the concluding observations which you adopted following consideration of the report of the United Kingdom in 2003. Your last general recommendation on non-citizens and racial discrimination was also extensively quoted ( House of Lords, 16 December 2004, A (FC) and others (FC) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department and X (FC) and another v. Secretary of State for the Home Department).

In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson and distinguished members of the Committee, I express my deep appreciation for the important work done by your Committee in promoting and protecting equality and the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination and I wish you a fruitful and successful session.