International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
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Adopted and opened for signature and ratification
by General Assembly resolution 2106 (XX)
of 21 December 1965
entry into force 4 January 1969, in accordance with
Article 19
The States Parties to this Convention,
Considering that the Charter of the United Nations is based on
the principles of the dignity and equality inherent in all human
beings, and that all Member States have pledged themselves to take
joint and separate action, in co-operation with the Organization,
for the achievement of one of the purposes of the United Nations
which is to promote and encourage universal respect for and
observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without
distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,
Considering that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
proclaims 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,
Considering that all human beings are equal before the law and
are entitled to equal protection of the law against any
discrimination and against any incitement to discrimination,
Considering that the United Nations has condemned colonialism and
all practices of segregation and discrimination associated
therewith, in whatever form and wherever they exist, and that the
Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples of 14 December 1960 (General Assembly resolution 1514
(XV)) has affirmed and solemnly proclaimed the necessity of bringing
them to a speedy and unconditional end,
Considering that the United Nations Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 20 November
1963 (General Assembly resolution 1904 (XVIII)) solemnly affirms the
necessity of speedily eliminating racial discrimination throughout
the world in all its forms and manifestations and of securing
understanding of and respect for the dignity of the human person,
Convinced that any doctrine of superiority based on racial
differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable,
socially unjust and dangerous, and that there is no justification
for racial discrimination, in theory or in practice, anywhere,
Reaffirming that discrimination between human beings on the
grounds of race, colour or ethnic origin is an obstacle to friendly
and peaceful relations among nations and is capable of disturbing
peace and security among peoples and the harmony of persons living
side by side even within one and the same State,
Convinced that the existence of racial barriers is repugnant to
the ideals of any human society,
Alarmed by manifestations of racial discrimination still in
evidence in some areas of the world and by governmental policies
based on racial superiority or hatred, such as policies of
apartheid, segregation or separation,
Resolved to adopt all necessary measures for speedily eliminating
racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations, and to
prevent and combat racist doctrines and practices in order to
promote understanding between races and to build an international
community free from all forms of racial segregation and racial
discrimination,
Bearing in mind the Convention concerning Discrimination in
respect of Employment and Occupation adopted by the International
Labour Organisation in 1958, and the Convention against
Discrimination in Education adopted by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1960,
Desiring to implement the principles embodied in the United
Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Al l Forms of Racial
Discrimination and to secure the earliest adoption of practical
measures to that end,
Have agreed as follows:
PART I
Article 1
1. In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination" shall
mean 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.
2. This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions,
restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention
between citizens and non-citizens.
3. Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as affecting in
any way the legal provisions of States Parties concerning
nationality, citizenship or naturalization, provided that such
provisions do not discriminate against any particular nationality.
4. Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing
adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or
individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order
to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of
human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial
discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a
consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for
different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after
the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.
Article 21. States Parties condemn racial
discrimination and undertake to pursue by all appropriate means and
without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all
its forms and promoting understanding among all races, and, to this
end: (a) Each State Party undertakes to engage in no act or practice
of racial discrimination against persons, groups of persons or
institutions and to en sure that all public authorities and public
institutions, national and local, shall act in conformity with this
obligation;
(b) Each State Party undertakes not to sponsor, defend or support
racial discrimination by any persons or organizations;
(c) Each State Party shall take effective measures to review
governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or
nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating
or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists;
(d) Each State Party shall prohibit and bring to an end, by all
appropriate means, including legislation as required by
circumstances, racial discrimination by any persons, group or
organization;
(e) Each State Party undertakes to encourage, where appropriate,
integrationist multiracial organizations and movements and other
means of eliminating barriers between races, and to discourage
anything which tends to strengthen racial division.
2. States Parties shall, when the circumstances so warrant,
take, in the social, economic, cultural and other fields, special
and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and
protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to
them, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal
enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. These measures
shall in no case en tail as a con sequence the maintenance of
unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the
objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.
Article 3
States Parties particularly condemn racial segregation and
apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all
practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 4
States Parties condemn all propaganda and all organizations 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, and
undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to
eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination and, to
this end, with due regard to the principles embodied in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights expressly set
forth in article 5 of this Convention, inter alia:
(a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination
of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial
discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to
such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour or
ethnic origin, and also the provision of any assistance to racist
activities, including the financing thereof;
(b) Shall declare illegal and prohibit organizations, and also
organized and all other propaganda activities, which promote and
incite racial discrimination, and shall recognize participation in
such organizations or activities as an offence punishable by law;
(c) Shall not permit public authorities or public institutions,
national or local, to promote or incite racial discrimination.
Article 5
In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in
article 2 of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit
and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to
guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race,
colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law,
notably in the enjoyment of the following rights:
(a) The right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all
other organs administering justice;
(b) The right to security of person and protection by the State
against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted by government
officials or by any individual group or institution;
(c) Political rights, in particular the right to participate in
elections-to vote and to stand for election-on the basis of
universal and equal suffrage, to take part in the Government as well
as in the conduct of public affairs at any level and to have equal
access to public service;
(d) Other civil rights, in particular:
(i) The right to freedom of movement and residence within the
border of the State;
(ii) The right to leave any country, including one's own, and to
return to one's country;
(iii) The right to nationality;
(iv) The right to marriage and choice of spouse;
(v) The right to own property alone as well as in association
with others;
(vi) The right to inherit;
(vii) The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion;
(viii) The right to freedom of opinion and expression;
(ix) The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
(e) Economic, social and cultural rights, in particular:
(i) The rights to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work, to protection against unemployment,
to equal pay for equal work, to just and favourable remuneration;
(ii) The right to form and join trade unions;
(iii) The right to housing;
(iv) The right to public health, medical care, social security
and social services;
(v) The right to education and training;
(vi) The right to equal participation in cultural activities;
(f) The right of access to any place or service intended for use
by the general public, such as transport hotels, restaurants, cafes,
theatres and parks.
Article 6
States Parties shall assure to everyone within their jurisdiction
effective protection and remedies, through the competent national
tribunals and other State institutions, against any acts of racial
discrimination which violate his human rights and fundamental
freedoms contrary to this Convention, as well as the right to seek
from such tribunals just and adequate reparation or satisfaction for
any damage suffered as a result of such discrimination.
Article 7
States Parties undertake to adopt immediate and effective
measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture
and information, with a view to combating prejudices which lead to
racial discrimination and to promoting understanding, tolerance and
friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups, as well as
to propagating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the
United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, and this Convention.
PART II
Article 81. There shall be established a Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter referred to as the
Committee) consisting of eighteen experts of high moral standing and
acknowledged impartiality elected by States Parties from among their
nationals, who shall serve in their personal capacity, consideration
being given to equitable geographical distribution and to the
representation of the different forms of civilization as well as of
the principal legal systems.
2. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot
from a list of persons nominated by the States Parties. Each State
Party may nominate one person from among its own nationals.
3. The initial election shall be held six months after the date
of the entry into force of this Convention. At least three months
before the date of each election the Secretary-General of the United
Nations shall address a letter to the States Parties inviting them
to submit their nominations within two months. The Secretary-General
shall prepare a list in alphabetical order of all persons thus
nominated, indicating the States Parties which have nominated them,
and shall submit it to the States Parties.
4. Elections of the members of the Committee shall be held at a
meeting of States Parties convened by the Secretary-General at
United Nations Headquarters. At that meeting, for which two thirds
of the States Parties shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected
to the Committee shall be nominees who obtain the largest number of
votes and an absolute majority of the votes of the representatives
of States Parties present and voting.
5.
(a) The members of the Committee shall be elected for a term of
four years. However, the terms of nine of the members elected at the
first election shall expire at the end of two years; immediately
after the first election the names of these nine members shall be
chosen by lot by the Chairman of the Committee;
(b) For the filling of casual vacancies, the State Party whose
expert has ceased to function as a member of the Committee shall
appoint another expert from among its nationals, subject to the
approval of the Committee. 6. States Parties shall be
responsible for the expenses of the members of the Committee while
they are in performance of Committee duties.
Article 9
1. States Parties undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of
the United Nations, for consideration by the Committee, a report on
the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which
they have adopted and which give effect to the provisions of this
Convention: (a) within one year after the entry into force of the
Convention for the State concerned; and
(b) thereafter every two years and whenever the Committee so
requests. The Committee may request further information from the
States Parties. 2. The Committee shall report annually, through
the Secretary General, to the General Assembly of the United Nations
on its activities and may make suggestions and general
recommendations based on the examination of the reports and
information received from the States Parties. Such suggestions and
general recommendations shall be reported to the General Assembly
together with comments, if any, from States Parties.
Article 101. The Committee shall adopt
its own rules of procedure.
2. The Committee shall elect its officers for a term of two
years.
3. The secretariat of the Committee shall be provided by the
Secretary General of the United Nations.
4. The meetings of the Committee shall normally be held at United
Nations Headquarters.
Article 111. If a State Party considers
that another State Party is not giving effect to the provisions of
this Convention, it may bring the matter to the attention of the
Committee. The Committee shall then transmit the communication to
the State Party concerned. Within three months, the receiving State
shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements
clarifying the matter and the remedy, if any, that may have been
taken by that State.
2. If the matter is not adjusted to the satisfaction of both
parties, either by bilateral negotiations or by any other procedure
open to them, within six months after the receipt by the receiving
State of the initial communication, either State shall have the
right to refer the matter again to the Committee by notifying the
Committee and also the other State.
3. The Committee shall deal with a matter referred to it in
accordance with paragraph 2 of this article after it has ascertained
that all available domestic remedies have been invoked and exhausted
in the case, in conformity with the generally recognized principles
of international law. This shall not be the rule where the
application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged.
4. In any matter referred to it, the Committee may call upon the
States Parties concerned to supply any other relevant information.
5. When any matter arising out of this article is being
considered by the Committee, the States Parties concerned shall be
entitled to send a representative to take part in the proceedings of
the Committee, without voting rights, while the matter is under
consideration.
Article 121. (a) After the Committee has
obtained and collated all the information it deems necessary, the
Chairman shall appoint an ad hoc Conciliation Commission
(hereinafter referred to as the Commission) comprising five persons
who may or may not be members of the Committee. The members of the
Commission shall be appointed with the unanimous consent of the
parties to the dispute, and its good offices shall be made available
to the States concerned with a view to an amicable solution of the
matter on the basis of respect for this Convention;
(b) If the States parties to the dispute fail to reach agreement
within three months on all or part of the composition of the
Commission, the members of the Commission not agreed upon by the
States parties to the dispute shall be elected by secret ballot by a
two-thirds majority vote of the Committee from among its own
members. 2. The members of the Commission shall serve in their
personal capacity. They shall not be nationals of the States parties
to the dispute or of a State not Party to this Convention.
3. The Commission shall elect its own Chairman and adopt its own
rules of procedure.
4. The meetings of the Commission shall normally be held at
United Nations Headquarters or at any other convenient place as
determined by the Commission.
5. The secretariat provided in accordance with article 10,
paragraph 3, of this Convention shall also service the Commission
whenever a dispute among States Parties brings the Commission into
being.
6. The States parties to the dispute shall share equally all the
expenses of the members of the Commission in accordance with
estimates to be provided by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
7. The Secretary-General shall be empowered to pay the expenses
of the members of the Commission, if necessary, before reimbursement
by the States parties to the dispute in accordance with paragraph 6
of this article.
8. The information obtained and collated by the Committee shall
be made available to the Commission, and the Commission may call
upon the States concerned to supply any other relevant information.
Article 131. When the Commission has
fully considered the matter, it shall prepare and submit to the
Chairman of the Committee a report embodying its findings on all
questions of fact relevant to the issue between the parties and
containing such recommendations as it may think proper for the
amicable solution of the dispute.
2. The Chairman of the Committee shall communicate the report of
the Commission to each of the States parties to the dispute. These
States shall, within three months, inform the Chairman of the
Committee whether or not they accept the recommendations contained
in the report of the Commission.
3. After the period provided for in paragraph 2 of this article,
the Chairman of the Committee shall communicate the report of the
Commission and the declarations of the States Parties concerned to
the other States Parties to this Convention.
Article 141. A State Party may at any
time declare that it recognizes the competence of the Committee to
receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of
individuals within its jurisdiction claiming to be victims of a
violation by that State Party of any of the rights set forth in this
Convention. No communication shall be received by the Committee if
it concerns a State Party which has not made such a declaration.
2. Any State Party which makes a declaration as provided for in
paragraph I of this article may establish or indicate a body within
its national legal order which shall be competent to receive and
consider petitions from individuals and groups of individuals within
its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation of any of
the rights set forth in this Convention and who have exhausted other
available local remedies.
3. A declaration made in accordance with paragraph 1 of this
article and the name of any body established or indicated in
accordance with paragraph 2 of this article shall be deposited by
the State Party concerned with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, who shall transmit copies thereof to the other States
Parties. A declaration may be withdrawn at any time by notification
to the Secretary-General, but such a withdrawal shall not affect
communications pending before the Committee.
4. A register of petitions shall be kept by the body established
or indicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, and
certified copies of the register shall be filed annually through
appropriate channels with the Secretary-General on the understanding
that the contents shall not be publicly disclosed.
5. In the event of failure to obtain satisfaction from the body
established or indicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this
article, the petitioner shall have the right to communicate the
matter to the Committee within six months.
6.
(a) The Committee shall confidentially bring any communication
referred to it to the attention of the State Party alleged to be
violating any provision of this Convention, but the identity of the
individual or groups of individuals concerned shall not be revealed
without his or their express consent. The Committee shall not
receive anonymous communications;
(b) Within three months, the receiving State shall submit to the
Committee written explanations or statements clarifying the matter
and the remedy, if any, that may have been taken by that State.
7.
(a) The Committee shall consider communications in the light of
all information made available to it by the State Party concerned
and by the petitioner. The Committee shall not consider any
communication from a petitioner unless it has ascertained that the
petitioner has exhausted all available domestic remedies. However,
this shall not be the rule where the application of the remedies is
unreasonably prolonged;
(b) The Committee shall forward its suggestions and
recommendations, if any, to the State Party concerned and to the
petitioner. 8. The Committee shall include in its annual report
a summary of such communications and, where appropriate, a summary
of the explanations and statements of the States Parties concerned
and of its own suggestions and recommendations.
9. The Committee shall be competent to exercise the functions
provided for in this article only when at least ten States Parties
to this Convention are bound by declarations in accordance with
paragraph I of this article.
Article 151 . Pending the achievement of
the objectives of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to
Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in General Assembly
resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, the provisions of this
Convention shall in no way limit the right of petition granted to
these peoples by other international instruments or by the United
Nations and its specialized agencies.
2.
(a) The Committee established under article 8, paragraph 1, of
this Convention shall receive copies of the petitions from, and
submit expressions of opinion and recommendations on these petitions
to, the bodies of the United Nations which deal with matters
directly related to the principles and objectives of this Convention
in their consideration of petitions from the inhabitants of Trust
and Non-Self-Governing Territories and all other territories to
which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) applies, relating to
matters covered by this Convention which are before these bodies;
(b) The Committee shall receive from the competent bodies of the
United Nations copies of the reports concerning the legislative,
judicial, administrative or other measures directly related to the
principles and objectives of this Convention applied by the
administering Powers within the Territories mentioned in
subparagraph (a) of this paragraph, and shall express opinions and
make recommendations to these bodies. 3. The Committee shall
include in its report to the General Assembly a summary of the
petitions and reports it has received from United Nations bodies,
and the expressions of opinion and recommendations of the Committee
relating to the said petitions and reports.
4. The Committee shall request from the Secretary-General of the
United Nations all information relevant to the objectives of this
Convention and available to him regarding the Territories mentioned
in paragraph 2 (a) of this article.
Article 16The provisions of this
Convention concerning the settlement of disputes or complaints shall
be applied without prejudice to other procedures for settling
disputes or complaints in the field of discrimination laid down in
the constituent instruments of, or conventions adopted by, the
United Nations and its specialized agencies, and shall not prevent
the States Parties from having recourse to other procedures for
settling a dispute in accordance with general or special
international agreements in force between them.
PART III
Article 171. This Convention is open for signature by any
State Member of the United Nations or member of any of its
specialized agencies, by any State Party to the Statute of the
International Court of Justice, and by any other State which has
been invited by the General Assembly of the United Nations to become
a Party to this Convention.
2. This Convention is subject to ratification. Instruments of
ratification shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations.
Article 181. This Convention shall be
open to accession by any State referred to in article 17, paragraph
1, of the Convention. 2. Accession shall be effected by the deposit
of an instrument of accession with the Secretary-General of the
United Nations.
Article 191. This Convention shall enter
into force on the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit with
the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the twenty-seventh
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
2. For each State ratifying this Convention or acceding to it
after the deposit of the twenty-seventh instrument of ratification
or instrument of accession, the Convention shall enter into force on
the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit of its own
instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
Article 201. The Secretary-General of the
United Nations shall receive and circulate to all States which are
or may become Parties to this Convention reservations made by States
at the time of ratification or accession. Any State which objects to
the reservation shall, within a period of ninety days from the date
of the said communication, notify the Secretary-General that it does
not accept it.
2. A reservation incompatible with the object and purpose of this
Convention shall not be permitted, nor shall a reservation the
effect of which would inhibit the operation of any of the bodies
established by this Convention be allowed. A reservation shall be
considered incompatible or inhibitive if at least two thirds of the
States Parties to this Convention object to it.
3. Reservations may be withdrawn at any time by notification to
this effect addressed to the Secretary-General. Such notification
shall take effect on the date on which it is received.
Article 21A State Party may denounce this
Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations. Denunciation shall take effect one year after the
date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary General.
Article 22Any dispute between two or more
States Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of
this Convention, which is not settled by negotiation or by the
procedures expressly provided for in this Convention, shall, at the
request of any of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the
International Court of Justice for decision, unless the disputants
agree to another mode of settlement.
Article 231. A request for the revision
of this Convention may be made at any time by any State Party by
means of a notification in writing addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
2. The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon
the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such a request.
Article 24
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all
States referred to in article 17, paragraph 1, of this Convention of
the following particulars:
(a) Signatures, ratifications and accessions under articles 17
and 18;
(b) The date of entry into force of this Convention under article
19;
(c) Communications and declarations received under articles 14,
20 and 23;
(d) Denunciations under article 21.
Article 251. This Convention, of which
the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally
authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations.
2. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit
certified copies of this Convention to all States belonging to any
of the categories mentioned in article 17, paragraph 1, of the
Convention.
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