A/HRC/28/81
achieving a positive impact in victims’ lives should have the utmost priority, and said she
looked forward to the discussion on procedural gaps.
64.
The representative of the African Union underlined that it was the established
mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee to elaborate complementary standards. It was not the
responsibility of the Committee to consider whether those standards were necessary or
whether there were any gaps, as that had already been decided in the Durban Declaration
and Programme of Action and by the Human Rights Council. A variety of views had been
expressed over the course of the sixth and previous sessions and it was time to move
forward and draft a number of provisions. The Committee should not continue to discuss
endlessly, but should draw on existing conclusions and be true to its mandate. He pointed to
the issue of immigration mentioned by the representative of the United States and said that
achieving progress in that area would be important. He pointed to racism and sport as an
important area where the Committee could potentially make a contribution.
65.
The representative of South Africa, on behalf of the African Group, reiterated that,
through decision 3/103, the Human Rights Council had established the Ad Hoc Committee
and provided the clear mandate to elaborate “as a matter of priority” conventions or
additional protocols to the Convention. That decision did not speak about considerations or
discussions concerning possible gaps or the need for standards. Neither did paragraph 199
of the Durban Programme of Action leave any room for such considerations. There was a
clear mandate to elaborate complementary standards. That focus was clear, without any
doubt. The African Group regarded the ongoing discussion, and the insistence on the
implementation of the Convention, as flawed, since additional standards had, in numerous
other examples, been elaborated by the international community. Victims of racial profiling
required better support; it was time for the total elimination of impunity for perpetrators of
racism. Only with political will could the complementary standards be completed; such will
must be found, as there was a need to move forward.
66.
The representative of Algeria noted that there were gaps in the legal framework, in
particular concerning victims’ rights. Consequently, work needed to be done in order to
implement a victim-centred approach to combating racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance. He called on all delegations to focus on the plight of
victims. The presentations during the past sessions had provided enough material, a number
of questionnaires had been circulated, discussions had taken place, also in the framework of
the Human Rights Council, and it could not be argued that there were insufficient
contributions upon which to move forward. Issues such as migration needed the
Committee’s attention and the representative referred to the recurrent issue of working
methods of the Committee and of other Committees of the Council. Mandates were being
challenged regularly. That was, however, not the role of the Ad Hoc Committee, since there
was a clear mandate, and it was time to make progress on the very mandate that was
negotiated in Durban.
67.
The representative of Pakistan, on behalf of OIC, noted that important contributions
had been made by experts during the session, and stated that it was impossible to question
the mandate of the Committee. Throughout the presentations it was difficult to understand
why the Committee had discussed the necessity of complementary standards, as the
mandate already reflected an assumption that such necessity existed. OIC was of the
opinion that there was a need for complementary standards. During the twenty-fifth session
of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 9, a representative of OIC had
recommended that there should be an optional protocol that dealt with all forms of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance. Therefore, OIC
recommended that an additional protocol to the Convention be drafted which dealt with
racism in a comprehensive manner, and that the next session of the Ad Hoc Committee
13
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents