Follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Progamme of Action : . 17/05/2002.

Convention Abbreviation: REPRESENTATIVES/EXPERTS AND CHAIRPERSONS OF WORKING GROUPS
OF THE SPECIAL PROCEDURES OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

FOLLOW-UP TO THE DURBAN DECLARATION AND
PROGAMME OF ACTION

Adopted at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance

Note by the Secretariat

Introduction


1. The chairpersons and special procedures mandate-holders held their third joint meeting on 21 June 2001. The participants agreed that their fourth joint meeting, to be held on 26 June 2002, should be devoted in part to a joint discussion on the role of the human rights mechanisms in the follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. The information provided in this note is a summary of information provided by the Anti-Discrimination Unit of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, created in follow-up to the Durban Conference, and by treaty body and special procedures secretariats on initiatives undertaken so as to give effect to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in carrying out their functions.

I. Activities by treaty bodies and special procedures
mandate-holders in the preparatory process leading
up to and during the Durban Conference

2. All the treaty bodies participated actively in the preparatory process and provided a significant number of written contributions and textual amendments, including by submitting general comments. Several special rapporteurs participated actively in the preparatory process and submitted reports on relevant topics, notably the Special Rapporteur on violence against women; the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief; the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living; and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants.

3. The large majority of committees were represented in Durban and participated in various side events. With regard to special procedures mandate-holders, four special rapporteurs were specifically invited by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights to contribute to and participate in the Conference: the Special Rapporteurs on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; on the human rights of migrants; on freedom of religion and belief; and on freedom of opinion and expression. Other special procedures mandate-holders who actively participated in the Conference and its parallel events were the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, the independent expert on human rights and extreme poverty, and the Special Rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people.

II. Follow-up

A. The OHCHR Anti-discrimination Unit

4. As part of the follow-up to the World Conference, an interim anti-discrimination unit has been set up in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Unit has been assigned responsibility for the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and of the Programme of Action for the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, and will provisionally focus on the following activities:

(a) Compilation and preparation of annual progress reports to the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly on the action taken by States, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, treaty bodies and human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to implement the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

(b) Production and dissemination of an annual publication on the progress achieved in implementing the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

(c) Compilation and production of other reports on follow-up to the Conference, of briefing notes, speeches, progress reports, other documents relating to coordination and administrative aspects, fund-raising and project documents as needed;

(d) Provision of support for the group of five independent eminent experts to be appointed to follow the implementation of the provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

(e) Exploration of the possibility of establishing and maintaining a database of good practices in addressing racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

(f) Maintenance and strengthening of the links developed around the world during 2000 and 2001 in the course of the preparations for the Conference with hundreds of non-governmental organizations, including youth groups, and promotion of their active involvement in the implementation of the outcome of the Conference;

(g) Continuing and strengthening regular liaison with parliamentarians, religious leaders, business and trade unions with a view to promoting their active involvement in the follow-up;

(h) Continuing active liaison with United Nations agencies and other intergovernmental bodies on Durban follow-up, organization of regular consultations with them and development and implementation of joint activities;

(i) Seeking to include the assessment of progress made in the implementation of the Durban Programme of Action at governmental and expert meetings to be convened by OHCHR at the regional or subregional levels;

(j) Support to about 10 selected awareness-building projects within the five regions in conjunction with national institutions, youth and women's groups and other interested entities on specific themes and topics relating to the Conference.

5. In order to facilitate exchange of information on the follow-up activities to the World Conference, the Internet homepage and links to related documentation that were created for the Conference have been transformed into a homepage highlighting meetings, plans and initiatives of all actors and partners involved in the follow-up to Durban. The homepage intends to be a major vehicle of communication for the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

B. Technical cooperation

6. An important feature of the follow-up to the World Conference is the provision of technical cooperation to States. Through its programme of advisory services and technical cooperation, OHCHR is engaged in assisting States in building and strengthening national capacities (structures, institutions, processes) which have a direct impact on the observance of human rights, including by combating racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination. The following components have been identified as having particular relevance to the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. For additional information see the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Commission resolution 2001/5 on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (E/CN.4/2002/21), paras. 23-35.

(a) National human rights action plans and/or national plans of action for human rights education;

(b) National institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights;

(c) Education and training;

(d) Ratification of international instruments and legislative reform; and

(e) Regional institutions and activities.

C. Follow-up by treaty bodies

7. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at its twenty-eighth session adopted a standard paragraph which will be systematically included in its concluding observations. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) at its sixtieth session which equally adopted a standard paragraph to be included systematically in its concluding observations, both with regard to States parties examined on the basis of reports as well as countries that are the subject of reviews. Furthermore, at its sixty-first session (5-23 August 2002) the Committee will consider the possibility of amending its working methods with a view, inter alia, to holding a general debate on the first day of each session on relevant topics, including the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. Information on issues relating to the compliance of States parties with the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action will also be included systematically in background files prepared by the CERD secretariat. Also at its sixty-first session, CERD will consider amending the Committee's reporting guidelines (CERD/C/70/Rev.5), to request States parties to take into account the relevant parts of the Declaration and Programme of Action when implementing the Convention in the domestic legal order. Finally, CERD adopted general recommendation XXVIII on the follow-up to Durban on 19 March 2002, during its sixtieth session.

8. Proposals for follow-up to the Conference were considered by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at its twenty-seventh session in June 2002. The Committee also considered draft reporting guidelines which would include a request to States parties to report on steps taken to implement the relevant parts of the Durban Declaration and Programmes of Action. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is equally considering the matter. The Human Rights Committee (HRC) has thus far not taken an active approach to considering follow-up measures to Durban.

D. Follow-up by special procedures mandate holders

9. The issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are relevant to the work of all special procedures mandate-holders: all mandates have to deal with cases of violations of the human rights of individuals and groups on the basis of racial or ethnic discrimination. A number of special procedures mandate-holders were involved in the World Conference preparatory process, in the World Conference itself and its parallel events, and in its follow-up.

10. The thematic mandate on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance is by nature closely linked to the follow-up to the Durban Conference, and the Special Rapporteur routinely addresses the issue of Durban and its follow-up in his country visits and reports to the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly. It is expected that the Special Rapporteur will be involved in the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the Intergovernmental Working Group on the follow-up to the World Conference.

11. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people included a section on the outcome of the World Conference with regard to indigenous people in his report to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/97).

12. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants considers the follow-up to the World Conference to be a priority of her mandate. She has raised the question of follow-up in all her statements in various conferences held since Durban, as well as while on mission and in her report to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/94), through concrete recommendations. The Special Rapporteur supports the organization of a migrant domestic workers summit which can be considered as part of the follow-up to Durban. The question of the follow-up to Durban will also be considered at two regional conferences on migration: in the African region (May 2002) and the Americas (November 2002).

13. The special rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression has also focused specifically on the Durban Conference, and in this context has analysed the question of the possible conflict between the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the principle of non-discrimination in the case of "hate speech", and the issue of the use of the Internet as an education tool, in the fight against racism and racial discrimination, while recognizing the legitimacy of concerns relating to the use of new communications technologies to disseminate racist and xenophobic materials.

14. Similarly, in his report to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living devoted a section on discrimination, segregation and the right to adequate housing, taking stock of the outcome of the World Conference and setting the research agenda and framework for follow-up from the perspectives of his mandate (see E/CN.4/2002/59, paras. 37-48). This framework will be used extensively in his other work, including country missions.

15. At the time of the establishment of her mandate in 1998, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education made discrimination based on race, colour, or national or ethnic origin one of her core focuses in the fulfilment of her tasks. Since the World Conference, the Special Rapporteur has undertaken two field missions – to the United States of America and Turkey. Issues intimately linked to the elimination of racial discrimination, such as racial exclusion and mother-tongue education, have a prominent place in her mission reports submitted to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission (E/CN.4/2002/60/Add.1 and Add.2). The resolution on the right to education (2002/23) adopted by the Commission at its fifty-eighth session has stronger wording, urging States to take "all necessary legislative measures to prohibit explicitly discrimination in education on the basis of race, colour, descent, national, ethnic or social origin [and] language ...".

16. The Special Rapporteur on toxic wastes made specific reference to the question of racism and the environment in her statement to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-eighth session.

17. At its fifty-eighth session, the Commission adopted resolution 2002/31 in which it decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, who is explicitly invited to take into account the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in fulfilling the mandate.

18. Finally, it should be noted that the issue of the follow-up to Durban has been scheduled for discussion during the thirty-third session of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (17-21 June 2002).

E. Joint follow-up activities

19. To facilitate an exchange of views on follow-up to the World Conference, OHCHR organized a parallel event on 10 April 2002 during the fifty-eighth session of the Commission to discuss "Combating racism and promoting women's rights", which brought together representatives of the special procedures - Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and Ms. Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions - and of the treaty bodies - Ms. Charlotte Abaka, Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Mr. Othman Jerandi, Chairperson of the Commission on the Status of Women - the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Bertrand G. Ramcharan, the Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, Ms. Carolyn Hannan, and an NGO representative, Ms. Diane Ala'i (Baha'i International Community).


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