The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: From Entry into Force to Monitoring

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination emerged in connection with post-war decolonization and the struggle against apartheid. In a 2021 study, jurist Gay McDougall noted that newly independent African countries joining the United Nations placed decolonization, Namibian independence and the end of apartheid in South Africa on the agenda. They also promoted the incorporation of anti-racial-discrimination norms into an international treaty.

The preamble builds on the equality principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, citing the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples and the 1963 Declaration on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It also connects with the International Labour Organization's convention against discrimination in employment and UNESCO's convention against discrimination in education, seeking a common framework for requirements previously dispersed across different fields.

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The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention annexed to Resolution 2106 A (XX) on 21 December 1965. It opened for signature in New York on 7 March 1966 and entered into force on 4 January 1969, becoming a source of treaty obligations for States Parties.

Under Articles 17–19, signature still required ratification, and countries could also become parties by accession, depositing the relevant instruments with the UN Secretary-General. General entry into force required thirty days after deposit of the twenty-seventh instrument of ratification or accession. Later ratifying or acceding countries became bound on the thirtieth day after depositing their own instruments. Adoption in 1965, opening for signature in 1966 and entry into force in 1969 therefore correspond to separate legal stages.

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Article 1 defines racial discrimination as distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin whose purpose or effect is to impair equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in public life. Assessment therefore concerns both intent and actual effects, not merely whether a policy explicitly names a race.

Article 5 lists fields including treatment before the courts, personal security, political participation, employment, housing, healthcare, education and public services, requiring states to eliminate racial discrimination in enjoyment of these rights. Article 1 also permits special measures to improve the position of disadvantaged groups, but these must not entrench separate rights for different groups and should not continue after their objectives are achieved.

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Article 2 requires national and local public authorities to refrain from discrimination, neither finance nor support discrimination by others, and review, amend or repeal laws and policies that create or perpetuate it. Article 3 specifically addresses racial segregation. Article 4 requires action against propaganda based on racial superiority, incitement to discrimination and related violence, with due regard for the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights specified in the Convention.

Implementation is not confined to punishment. Article 6 requires effective protection, remedies and appropriate reparation, while Article 7 identifies teaching, education, culture and information as means of combating prejudice. Together, these provisions connect national legislation, administrative practice, judicial remedies and public education.

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Article 8 establishes the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, consisting of eighteen experts elected by States Parties and serving in their personal capacities, with attention to geographical representation and different legal systems. Under Article 9, states must report implementation measures within one year of the Convention's entry into force for them, then every two years and whenever requested by the Committee. The Committee may request additional information and submit reports and general recommendations to the General Assembly.

Interstate disputes may be referred to the Committee under Articles 11–13 and proceed to an ad hoc conciliation commission. Article 14 separately provides a route for communications from individuals or groups, but the state concerned must declare acceptance of the Committee's competence, and domestic remedies must normally first be exhausted. The treaty also specifies that at least ten states must make such declarations before the Committee can begin exercising this function.

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States Parties elected the first Committee members in 1969. It first met at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 19 January 1970, electing Rajeshwar Dayal as Chair. Initial state reports were too brief, so the Committee formed a working group to develop information requirements. After a preliminary examination of eleven reports at its second session that year, it still found much required information missing and continued requesting supplements.

Later monitoring also incorporated material from UN bodies, national human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations into country reviews alongside government submissions. McDougall's study notes that the Committee developed country-specific recommendations and interpreted the Convention through general recommendations. Reports, questions and subsequent additions constitute continuing work; entry into force alone cannot demonstrate that discrimination has been eliminated.

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