Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Closes One Hundred and Fifteenth Session, Issues Concluding Observations on Reports of Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea and Ukraine
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon closed its one hundred and fifteenth session, during which it reviewed the reports of Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea and Ukraine.
Chinsung Chung, Committee Rapporteur, said that the Committee’s concluding observations for the five country reviews conducted during the session were available on the session’s webpage. The Committee thanked the State party delegations that participated in dialogues; the national human rights institutions of Ukraine and the Republic of Korea for submitting written reports and providing updates during the session; and the various civil society representatives who contributed essential information to the reviews.
Ms. Chung said that this year was the sixtieth anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. During the yearlong campaign, the Committee would highlight the achievements made in the last 60 years and identify effective and concrete ways to overcome structural and emerging challenges in making the Convention’s goal - a world free of racial discrimination - a reality. Information on the anniversary was available on the webpage for the campaign.
At the opening meeting of the session, Ms. Chung reported, Antti Korkeakivi, Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave a speech highlighting the Committee’s important work and its contributions to promoting and protecting the human rights of all people without discrimination. He underlined that the sixtieth anniversary of the Convention was an opportunity to explore avenues to generate greater political will and concrete action to fight against racial discrimination.
Mr. Korkeakivi recognised the negative impact of the United Nations’ liquidity crisis on the planning and implementation of the work of all Committees, as the holding of the next sessions for this year was still uncertain. He confirmed that the Office of the High Commissioner was doing its utmost to ensure that the treaty bodies could implement their mandates. Nevertheless, all indications pointed to a continuation of the difficult liquidity situation for the foreseeable future.
During the one hundred and fifteenth session, Ms. Chung said, the Committee reviewed follow-up reports for Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Uruguay and Tajikistan. The Committee thanked these States parties for their reports and invited them to duly consider its recommendations and include the steps taken to implement them in their next periodic reports.
The Committee pursued its work toward the elaboration of its joint general recommendations 38 and 39 with the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families on eradicating xenophobia towards migrants and others perceived as such.
Ms. Chung said the Committee also discussed the development of a general recommendation on reparations for the injustices of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, their treatment as chattel, and the ongoing harms to people of African descent, holding a half-day of general discussion on 25 April 2025 as part of this process. Two expert panels examined legal frameworks for reparations and the lasting effects of slavery, including systemic racism and institutional responsibility. Drawing on these discussions and over 60 written submissions, the Committee would now begin drafting the general recommendation, which would be shared for public input before adoption. Further information was available on the Committee’s webpage.
Further, Ms. Chung reported, the Committee considered 16 submissions under its early warning and urgent action procedure and endorsed 13 letters to States parties assessed in this procedure. It also considered four cases under the individual complaints procedure. It declared admissible one case against Germany and discontinued three other cases.
Ms. Chung also provided an update on the follow-up procedure to the Ad-Hoc Conciliation Commission report published in August 2024 on the inter-State communication submitted by the State of Palestine against Israel under article 11 of the Convention. Today, 9 May, the Committee issued a statement on the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, acting under its follow-up and early warning and urgent action procedure.
On 24 April, Ms. Chung said, the Committee held a meeting with States parties. The Committee thanked all States parties’ representatives who contributed to this event and appreciated that it was well attended. Earlier today, the Committee also held a meeting with civil society organizations. In addition, during the session, the Committee heard a report on follow-up to article 13 of the Convention and adopted an updated version of its Rules of Procedure, which would be made available shortly.
In closing remarks, Michal Balcerzak, Committee Chairperson, said this had been a very productive session. He thanked the Committee Experts, who had all contributed significantly to the Committee’s work throughout the session, and to working towards the Committee’s mandate of the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination wherever it occurred. He also thanked all other persons who had contributed to the smooth execution of the Committee’s work.
Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, while webcasts of the public meetings can be found here. Other documents related to the session can be found here.
Due to the current financial situation, the dates of the second sessions of some treaty bodies are not yet confirmed. The next session of the Committee is scheduled take place between 11 and 29 August 2025, with the reports of Burundi, Guatemala, Maldives, New Zealand, Sweden and Tunisia scheduled for review. All information, including the proposed programme of work, will be available on the session webpage.
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