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High Commissioner opens 74th CERD session |
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The 74th session ofthe Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was opened on 16 February bythe UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navanethem Pillay. The HighCommissioner focused her statement on the outcomes of the 8th InterCommittee Meeting of treaty bodies (ICM) of December 2008, expressing thecommitment of her Office to providing quality service to the treaty bodies, andurging that each provide an enhanced decision making role to its representativeson the ICM. She committed to making technical cooperation more sustainable through regular OHCHR training workshops on treaty bodies atthe national level. She also committed herself to strengthening the linkbetween the treaty bodies and UPR, and urged CERD and others to reference pledges and commitments undertaken by States through the UPR.
The Committee is due to examine the reports of Tunisia, Finland, Pakistan, Montenegro (all previously reviewed under the UPR), Bulgaria, Congo, Turkey, Suriname, and Croatia, and to examine the Gambia and Panama in the absence of a State report. It is also to consider a high-profile individual communication on indigenous land-rights in Australia. It will hold a thematic discussion on ‘special measures’ as part of the drafting of a general recommendation on the subject, as well as discussions on the UPR and the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference. See ISHR's reports on CERD and other treaty bodies here . See summary of the Australian communication to CERD here .
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Last Updated on Monday, 23 February 2009 08:23 |
