Summary Records - CERD - Iran - CERD/C/SR.1355/Add.1 (1999)

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CERD/C/SR.1355/Add.1
23 August 1999

Original: ENGLISH

Summary record of the Second Part (public) of the 1355th Meeting : Iran (Islamic Republic of). 23/08/99.

CERD/C/SR.1355/Add.1. (Summary Record)

Convention Abbreviation: CERD

COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Fifty-fifth session

SUMMARY RECORD OF THE SECOND PART (PUBLIC)* OF THE 1355th MEETING

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,
on Tuesday, 17 August 1999, at 12.10 p.m.

Chairman: Mr. ABOUL-NASR

CONTENTS

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS, COMMENTS AND INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION (continued)

Draft concluding observations concerning the thirteenth to fifteenth periodic reports of the Islamic Republic of Iran

* The summary record of the first part (closed) of the meeting appears as document CERD/C/SR.1355.

This record is subject to correction.

Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official Records Editing Section, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.

Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

The public part of the meeting was called to order at 12.10 p.m.

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS, COMMENTS AND INFORMATION SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION (agenda item 4) (continued)

Draft concluding observations concerning the thirteenth to fifteenth periodic reports of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CERD/C/55/Misc.32/Rev.3, future CERD/C/...)

1. The CHAIRMAN invited the Committee to consider the draft concluding observations concerning the thirteenth to fifteenth periodic reports of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CERD/C/55/Misc.32/Rev.3).

2. Mr. van BOVEN (Country Rapporteur), introducing the revised draft concluding observations, said that he had tried as far as possible to reflect other members' comments and suggestions. Referring to paragraph 5, he had deleted the brackets that had been around the second sentence, since many members had proposed that the sentence should be retained; he was aware, however, that some would prefer to delete it. With regard to paragraph 21, some members would prefer a reference to an updated rather than a comprehensive report; he was prepared to accept the majority view in that regard.

3. The CHAIRMAN invited the Committee to consider the text paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraph 1

4. Paragraph 1 was adopted, subject to editorial completion.

Paragraph 2

5. Mr. GARVALOV proposed that, in the first sentence, the word "resume" should be replaced by "continue".

6. Paragraph 2, as amended, was adopted.

Paragraph 3

7. Mr. van BOVEN (Country Rapporteur), responding to observations by Mr. SHERIFIS and the CHAIRMAN, said that, in the revised draft, Arabic-speaking Iranians had been omitted from the ethnic groups mentioned, since they seemed not to belong, strictly speaking, to that category. In any case, the list was illustrative, not exhaustive. Since, however, the group in question were ethnic Arabs, perhaps the word "Arabs" could be included in the ethnic groups mentioned at the end of the paragraph.

8. Paragraph 3, as amended, was adopted.

Paragraphs 4, 5 and 6

9. Paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 were adopted.

Paragraph 7

10. Mr. RECHETOV proposed that the word "primarily" should be deleted from the first sentence.

11. Paragraph 7, as amended, was adopted.

Paragraph 8

12. Mr. van BOVEN (Country Rapporteur), responding to a suggestion by Mr. SHERIFIS, said he could agree to replace the words "with interest" by "with appreciation". He also agreed with Mr. RECHETOV that the word "enshrine" was perhaps inappropriate and should be replaced; he himself suggested "enumerated".

13. Paragraph 8, as amended, was adopted.

Paragraph 9

14. Paragraph 9 was adopted.

Paragraph 10

15. The CHAIRMAN said he foresaw some difficulty with the reference to the right to inherit, since equality with regard to that right did not necessarily mean equality with regard to the amount of inheritance.

16. Mr. RECHETOV, supported by Mr. SHAHI, proposed that paragraph 10 should be deleted.

17. Mr. DIACONU and Mr. de GOUTTES expressed the view that the paragraph should be retained, possibly with some amendments.

18. The CHAIRMAN, having taken the sense of the meeting, said he took it that the Committee agreed to delete paragraph 10 and have the subsequent paragraphs renumbered accordingly.

19. Paragraph 10 was deleted.

The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m.