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from PART B - Non-minorities-specific instruments, provisions and institutions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 July 2009
Introduction
The United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (‘ICERD’) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 21 December 1965, and entered into force on 4 January 1969. As of 21 April 2008, the ICERD has been ratified or acceded to by 173 states. The ICERD is the only international instrument specifically directed at racial discrimination. It is a comprehensive and legally binding instrument, and has procedures for implementation; indeed, the ICERD was the first United Nations human rights treaty which provided for a monitoring mechanism, namely, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (‘CERD/C’). The ICERD is based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination, which are set out clearly in the Charter of the United Nations.
In this chapter, the ICERD and the work of the CERD/C will be examined with a view to identifying their relevance to the protection of minorities, and to identifying any synergies, whether substantive or procedural, with other instruments and in the work of other relevant treaty bodies and international organisations.
Scope of application of ICERD: the concept of racial discrimination
The concept of ‘racial discrimination’ is central to the operation of the ICERD. ‘Racial discrimination’ is defined broadly in Article 1(1) as follows:
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.
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