Intervention at the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance

9 July 2001

Madam Chairperson,

Concerns have repeatedly been expressed at this World Conference that political disagreements between states will impede the agreement of a programme of action that will actually deliver benefit to the victims worldwide of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Even more alarmingly, there is a real danger that in some areas the text agreed at the World Conference will fall below existing human rights standards for the prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities, and may even undermine them.

For these reasons, Minority Rights Group International believes it is imperative that we focus our attention now on concrete measures to be implemented, rather than on mere slogans. This is necessary not just for the success of the World Conference, but also for the reputation of individual states in their commitment to eliminate racism.

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racism is the cornerstone of international legal protection against racism and its importance has been underlined at this conference. However, to date only 34 states in the world have extended to their peoples the right of petition to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the UN monitoring body responsible for the Convention's implementation. That is a poor record.

Many states here this week have already confirmed that action on racism should start by listening to the experiences of the victims. For example, caste discrimination, or discrimination on the basis of work and descent, is a terrible denial of rights that has for too long been ignored. The willingness of many states here to recognise the reality of caste discrimination that damages the lives of over 250 million people in the world is heartening. It is only by understanding the phenomenon of racism, its devastating impact on individual lives, and recognising the rights of victims to reparation, that racism can be effectively combated.

The right of individual petition under article 14 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is the only global mechanism currently available for the victims of racial discrimination to ensure their voices are heard. That so many states deny them this recourse can only place a question mark on the commitment of many states at this Conference to fighting racism. That concern is heightened when we learn that some NGO participants have received threats in their home states just on account of their presence here at the World Conference this week.

Article 14 is not about providing a means to attack the record of individual states. We must acknowledge here that racism is present, to a greater or lesser degree, in all states and that no state is therefore exempt from the responsibility to provide an avenue of protection to those of its people who may potentially become victims of racism. Article 14 provides that avenue and those states that have recognised its value have in so doing made a substantial improvement to their record on countering racism.

Madam Chairperson,

The World Conference against Racism is not just about agreeing a document. Minority Rights Group International believes that the occasion of the World Conference presents an opportunity for states to display to their own people their commitment to eradicate racism and racial discrimination.

Central to this is the provision of structures and adequate resources for implementing action against racism. That specifically includes a commitment to resources for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and for broader normative and operational coordination between international mechanisms and between the international and domestic actors involved in the fight against racism.

The states that have not yet ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, or have not made an article 14 declaration recognising the competence of the monitoring committee to hear individual complaints, should use this opportunity to do so now. These would be concrete achievements, and provide clear evidence of each state's commitment to move beyond slogans to real action.