Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly

 

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

  The General Assembly, Recalling its resolutions 39/21 of 23 November 1984 on the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and 40/26 of 29 November 1985 on the status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as its other relevant resolutions on the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, Having considered the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the work of its thirty-first and thirty-second sessions, submitted under article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention, Emphasizing the need for Member States to intensify, at the national and international levels, the struggle against acts or practices of racial discrimination and the vestiges or manifestations of racist ideologies wherever they exist, Bearing in mind that the Convention is being implemented in different economic, social and cultural conditions prevailing in individual States parties, Mindful of the obligation of all States parties to comply fully with the provisions of the Convention, Aware of the importance of the contribution of the Committee to the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and to the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, Taking note of the decisions adopted and recommendations made by the Committee at its thirty-first and thirty-second sessions,

1. Takes note of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its thirty-first and thirty-second sessions;

2. Also takes note of the part of the report relating to Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories and other Territories to which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 applies;

3. Draws the attention of the relevant United Nations bodies to the opinion and recommendations of the Committee relating to the Territories mentioned in paragraph 2 above, calls upon those bodies to ensure that the Committee is supplied with all relevant information on the Territories and urges all administering Powers to co-operate with those bodies by providing all the necessary information in order to enable the Committee to discharge fully its responsibilities under article 15 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

4. Considers that the Committee should not take into consideration information on Territories to which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV)applies unless such information is communicated by the competent United Nations bodies in conformity with article 15 of the Convention;

5. Strongly condemns the policy of apartheid in South Africa and Namibia as a crime against humanity and urges all Member States to adopt effective political, economic and other measures in conformity with the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and other United Nations bodies, in order to support the legitimate struggle of the oppressed peoples of South Africa and Namibia for their national liberation and human dignity and to secure the elimination of the racist apartheid system;

6. Commends the Committee for its continuous endeavours towards the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, in particular the elimination of apartheid in South Africa and Namibia, and welcomes the decision on apartheid adopted by the Committee at its thirty-second session;

7. Notes with appreciation the Committee's continued participation in the activities within the framework of the Programme of Action for the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination;

8. Welcomes the efforts of the Committee aimed at the elimination of all forms of discrimination against national or ethnic minorities, persons belonging to such minorities and indigenous populations, wherever such discrimination exists, and the attainment of the full enjoyment of their human rights through the implementation of the principles and provisions of the Convention;

9. Welcomes further the efforts of the Committee aimed at the elimination of all forms of discrimination against migrant workers and their families, the promotion of their rights on a non-discriminatory basis and the achievement of their full equality, including the freedom to maintain their cultural characteristics;

10. Calls upon Member States to adopt effective legislative, socio-economic and other necessary measures in order to ensure the prevention or elimination of discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin;

11. Further calls upon the States parties to the Convention to protect fully, by the adoption of the relevant legislative and other measures, in conformity with the Convention, the rights of national or ethnic minorities and persons belonging to such minorities, as well as the rights of indigenous populations;

12. Commends the States parties to the Convention on measures taken to ensure, within their jurisdiction, the availability of appropriate recourse procedures for the victims of racial discrimination;

13. Reiterates its invitation to the States parties to the Convention to provide the Committee, in accordance with its general guidelines, with information on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention, including information on the demographic composition of their populations and on their relations with the racist regime of South Africa;

14. Appeals to the States parties to take fully into consideration their obligation under the Convention to submit their reports in due time;

15. Commends the Committee for its efforts towards a further universalization and a more consistent implementation of the Convention and welcomes its General Recommendation VII relating to the implementation of article 4 of the Convention;

16. Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to ensure wider publicity of the work of the Committee, which would facilitate its task to implement effectively its functions under the Convention, and to inform the General Assembly at its forty-first session of the action taken in that regard..