A/HRC/25/69
manifestations of racism had been observed worldwide and there were limitations to the
International Convention, especially as those incidents became more frequent. As existing
international norms such as Convention had gaps, it was essential to confront such racism
with complementary standards. The questionnaire had gathered some information that
could assist with defining the content of these standards and Senegal supported the earlier
statements made by Gabon, on behalf of the African Group, and Pakistan, on behalf of OIC,
in that regard.
36.
At the 4th meeting, Daniela Gomes, a civil society activist and journalist from
Brazil, gave a presentation on the issues of racial discrimination and xenophobia in the
region of Latin America. She highlighted the perspective of victims of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Owing to the word limit for the present
report, the summary of her presentation and the discussion which followed it are reflected
in annex I to the present report. Following her presentation, the Chairperson-Rapporteur
reiterated that the response rate of the questionnaire being fairly low, it gave only an
impression of the situation. He asked the Committee to consider how to garner more
information and responses.
IV.
Discussion on the topic of “Xenophobia”
37.
From 24 to 25 July, the Ad Hoc heard presentations from several experts on the
topic of “Xenophobia”. The 5th meeting on 24 July considered issues of xenophobia related
to the media. Milicia Pesic, Executive Director of the Media Diversity Institute, gave a
presentation entitled “Xenophobia and (Racial) Discrimination: The Role of Media”. Also
at that meeting, Edmundo Bracho, journalist and consultant also with the Media Diversity
Institute, gave a presentation on “Diversity and discrimination in news media practice:
views from Latin America”. Piara Powar, Executive Director of Football Against Racism in
Europe, delivered a presentation on “Racism in Sport” at the 7th meeting of the Ad Hoc
Committee.
38.
For the second part of the 7th meeting, the Chairperson-Rapporteur invited the
participants to commence a general discussion on xenophobia.
39.
Japan, speaking on behalf of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Switzerland and
Uruguay, expressed its appreciation for the inputs from the experts on issues related to
xenophobia, and acknowledged the view that it was a multi-faceted, worldwide issue that
required attention and action. There was no general normative definition of xenophobia in
the principal international human rights instruments, which was also the case for other
terms such as “minority”, “indigenous people” and “racism”. It was therefore appropriate to
first examine whether the lack of such a definition had in fact hindered international human
rights mechanisms in adequately addressing issues related to xenophobia. Japan also
recalled contributions made by members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination in previous sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee. It was not possible to
conclude that there was an explicit need for complementary standards at the international
level in the field of xenophobia. States might consider including the concept of xenophobia
in their domestic legislation to combat violence and discrimination in their national
contexts. Japan reiterated its suggestion made during the fourth session of the Committee
that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issue a possible official
opinion aiming to clarify how provisions in the relevant Convention could be applied to
issues related to xenophobia and how they had been addressed in practice, and that it report
back to the Committee at its future sessions.
40.
The European Union outlined its policies to combat xenophobia as part of its general
policy to fight against different forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia,
including by monitoring the implementation of relevant European Union law, providing
financial support to stakeholders’ activities and through various activities related to
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