A/HRC/11/L.10
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193. The Arab Commission for Human Rights expressed concern at Germany’s refusal to
accept the recommendation to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, noting that its argument remained
unchanged since, at the time when the Convention was negotiated in 1990, regarding the Durban
Review Conference, it noted Germany’s commitments to continue its fight against racism, and
underlined the statements that democratic countries had enormous responsibility for the universal
acceptance of the outcome document, particularly paragraph 66, which stated that the Holocaust
should never be forgotten.
194. Amnesty International welcomed Germany’s acceptance of the majority of
recommendations, including the upcoming ratification of the International Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It saw Germany’s contribution to the
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a
strong commitment to consider its ratification in due course as announced in the national human
rights plan. It welcomed the acceptance of the recommendation to fully respect provisions of
international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights and the Convention against Torture. Despite Germany’s assertion that it had
always acted in accordance with these, Amnesty International expressed concern about the
continued reliance on inherently unenforceable diplomatic assurances and the failure to introduce
measures to prevent future renditions through its territory, including air space. It regretted that
Germany had declined recommendations to strengthen efforts to prevent ill-treatment by law
enforcement officials and to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights
of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
195. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network commended Germany for accepting
recommendations to take further initiatives to combat hate crimes based on sexual orientation,
strengthen measures to counter discriminatory attitudes, and include sexual orientation and
gender identity in public education and equality programmes. It commended Germany for
accepting recommendation 22 on the proposal to change the law governing gender registration of
transgender people, granting them the right to maintain their existing marriages. However,
concerns remained that the proposed law still contained intrusive and unnecessary restrictions,
for example, requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization and hormone treatment to be
able to change their official documentation. It recommended that the new law should conform to
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