Treaty bodies | Celebrating civil society cooperation with the UN anti-racism Committee

The 100th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination provides an opportunity to celebrate the major achievements of the first UN treaty body, which started to operate 50 year ago.

On this occasion, ISHR responded to the invitation of the Committee and the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race & Equality), the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and Minority Rights Group International (MRG) to underline the importance for civil society of the treaty and the work of the Committee.

Speaking about the procedures and methods of work of the Committee, ISHR emphasized the uniqueness and crucial importance of the early warning and urgent action procedure, and we called for an enhancement of transparency, notably through a public disclosure by the Committee of States parties responses.

ISHR also called for more transparency in the individual communications, including through the provision of public information on cases pending review by the Committee, in line with the practices of other UN treaty bodies. Finally, ISHR encouraged the Committee and its OHCHR Secretariat to provide more and regular information on inter-state complaints, as well as follow up to concluding observations and views, to which NGO inputs are critical.

 

Read more in the ISHR submission to the Committee.

Contact: Vincent Ploton [email protected] 

 

Photo credit: Race & Equality

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