International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
فوکس
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on December 21, 1965.
The
Convention – which entered into force on January 4, 1969 – has three
signatories, and 182 countries have ratified or acceded to it, including India. (Signatories are
qualified to ratify, accept or approve a treaty. Ratification is an
'international act' whereby a State indicates its consent to be bound to a
treaty.)
Invoking
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention’s Preamble
notes that “… all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set out therein, without
distinction of any kind, in particular as to race, colour or national origin.”
The
25 Articles of the 4,739-word Covenant are arranged in three parts. Articles
1-7 (Part I) cover recommendations to State Parties on eliminating all forms of
racial discrimination. Articles 8-16 (Part II) propose establishing a Committee
on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination composed of nationals of the State
Parties to the Convention. They prescribe the manner in which State Parties
shall report the measures they have adopted to observe the rights recognised by
the Convention. Articles 17-25 (Part III) discuss the process by which the Convention
is to be ratified and amended. (In UN documents, a ‘State Party’ to a treaty is
a country that has ratified or acceded to that particular treaty, and is
therefore legally bound by the provisions in the instrument).
The
following are excerpts from Part I’s seven Articles, which remain especially
relevant to the present times:
Article 1: ‘Racial discrimination’
refers to “…any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on
race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or
effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an
equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political,
economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” The Convention
shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences – made
by State Parties – between citizens and non-citizens. Nothing in this
Convention may be interpreted as affecting the legal provisions of States
Parties which concern nationality, citizenship or naturalisation, unless such
provisions discriminate against any particular nationality. Racial
discrimination shall not include special measures undertaken to secure “adequate”
advancement for certain racial or ethnic groups, or individuals requiring such
protection – provided that such measures do not lead to the maintenance of
separate rights for different racial groups, and that the measures shall not be
continued after its objectives have been met.
Article 2: States Parties shall
condemn racial discrimination. They shall engage in no act or practice of racial
discrimination against persons, groups or institutions, and ensure that all
public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this
obligation. State Parties shall not sponsor, defend or support racial
discrimination by any persons or organisations. Each State Party shall take
effective measures to review its policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any
laws and regulations which may create or perpetuate racial discrimination. They
shall prohibit and bring to an end – by all appropriate means – racial
discrimination by any persons, group or organisation. State Parties shall undertake
to encourage “integrationist multiracial organisations and movements” and other
means of eliminating barriers between races, and discourage anything which might
strengthen racial division. Each State Party shall – when the circumstances so
warrant – take special and concrete measures to ensure the “adequate”
development and protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to
them, in order to guarantee to them the “…full and equal enjoyment of human
rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Article 3: States Parties condemn
racial segregation and apartheid, and shall undertake to prevent, prohibit and
eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 4: States Parties shall condemn
all propaganda and organisations which are based on ideas or theories of
superiority of one race or group of persons of one colour or ethnic origin, or
which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any
form. State Parties shall adopt immediate and positive measures designed to
eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination. Each State Party
shall declare as a punishable offence all dissemination of ideas based on
racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, and acts of
violence or incitement to such acts, against any race or group of persons of
another colour or ethnic origin, and the provision of any assistance to racist
activities. They shall declare illegal, and prohibit organisations and
propaganda activities, which promote and incite racial discrimination, and recognise
participation in such organisations or activities as an offence punishable by
law. No State Party shall permit public authorities or institutions to promote
or incite racial discrimination.
Article 5: States Parties shall
guarantee – to all persons, without any distinction – the right to equal
treatment before tribunals and all other organs administering justice; the
right to ‘security of person’ and protection against violence or bodily harm;
political rights, such as the right to participate in elections, take part in public
affairs and have equal access to public services; civil rights, including the
right to marriage and choice of spouse, freedom of movement and peaceful
assembly, inheritance and property ownership, and freedom of opinion and
expression; economic and social rights, such as the right to work, join and
form trade unions, housing, public health and education; and the right to
access any place or service intended for use by the general public.
Article 6: States Parties shall ensure
– to everyone within their jurisdiction – effective protection and remedies through
competent national tribunals and other State institutions, against any acts of
racial discrimination which violate the human rights and fundamental freedoms
contrary to this Convention, and the right to seek “just and adequate”
reparations for any damage suffered as a result of such discrimination.
Article 7: States Parties shall undertake
to adopt immediate and effective measures – particularly in the fields of teaching,
education, culture and information – in order to combat prejudices which lead
to racial discrimination; to promote understanding, tolerance and friendship
among nations and racial or ethnical groups; and to propagate the principles of
the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and this Convention.
Focus and Factoids by Rini D’Souza.
مصنف
United Nations
کاپی رائٹ
United Nations
تاریخ اشاعت
21 دسمبر, 1965