International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on December 21, 1965.The Convention – which entered into force on January 4, 1969 – has three signatories, and 182 countries have ratified or acceded to it, including India. (Signatories are qualified to ratify, accept or approve a treaty. Ratification is an 'international act' whereby a State indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty.)Invoking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention’s Preamble notes 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.”The 25 Articles of the 4,739-word Covenant are arranged in three parts. Articles 1-7 (Part I) cover recommendations to State Parties on eliminating all forms of racial discrimination. Articles 8-16 (Part II) propose establishing a Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination composed of nationals of the State Parties to the Convention. They prescribe the manner in which State Parties shall report the measures they have adopted to observe the rights recognised by the Convention. Articles 17-25 (Part III) discuss the process by which the Convention is to be ratified and amended. (In UN documents, a ‘State Party’ to a treaty is a country that has ratified or acceded to that particular treaty, and is therefore legally bound by the provisions in the instrument).The following are excerpts from Part I’s seven Articles, which remain especially relevant to the present times:Article 1: ‘Racial discrimination’ refers to “…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.” The Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences – made by State Parties – between citizens and non-citizens...