The Convention established the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), a body of 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention by the State Parties. With respect to the selection of the experts, consideration is given to equitable geographical distribution and to the representation of the different forms of civilization as well as of the principal legal systems. Members are elected for a term of four years by the States Parties. Elections for nine of the eighteen members are held every two years, ensuring a balance between continuity and change in the composition of the Committee.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights codified in CERD are being implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Convention and then every two years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of concluding observations.
In addition to the reporting procedure, the Convention establishes three other mechanisms through which the Committee performs its monitoring functions:
- The early-warning and urgent procedures – aimed at preventing existing situations escalating into conflicts and responding to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention;
- The examination of inter-state complaints – when a State Party considers that another State Party is not giving effect to the provisions of this Convention; and
- The examination of individual complaints – this procedure makes it possible for an individual or a group of persons who claim to be victims of racial discrimination to lodge a complaint with the Committee against their State.
The Committee meets in Geneva and normally holds two sessions per year consisting of three weeks each. The Committee’s additional functions include publishing its interpretation of the content of human rights provisions, known as general recommendations, publishing on thematic issues and organizing thematic discussions on topics such as non-citizens and racial discrimination and discrimination against Roma.
The Committee may receive reports and other information from the International Labour Organization, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as well as from various divisions within the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and from regional human rights organizations such as European Union Agency for Fundamental Human Rights.
With respect to Canada, the Committee’s most recent report (CERD/C/CAN/CO/19-20) was released 4 April 2012. The Committee noted with appreciation several legislative and policy developments to combat racial discrimination and made a number of recommendations for improvements to Canadian implementation of its obligations under the Convention. Many of the Committee’s concerns and recommendations focused on Canada’s aboriginal people and African Canadians.
The Committee was concerned at the disproportionately high rates of incarceration of aboriginal people including aboriginal women, in federal and provincial prisons across Canada. It recommended that Canada reinforce measures to prevent excessive use of incarceration of indigenous peoples and for Canada to give preference, wherever possible, to alternatives to imprisonment concerning aboriginal peoples. The Committee also urged Canada to adopt and implement proposed legislation without further delay to allow the enjoyment by First Nations women of their rights in the areas of property, marriage and inheritance. In addition, the Committee recommended that Canada implement in good faith the right to consultation and to free, prior and informed consent of aboriginal peoples whenever their rights may be affected by projects carried out on their lands, as set forth in international standards and Canadian legislation.
The Committee reminded Canada that racial profiling should be prevented at all stages of criminal procedure and recommended that Canada take the necessary steps to prevent arrests, stops, searches and investigations and over-incarceration targeting different groups, particularly African Canadians, on the basis of their ethnicity, investigate and punish the practice of racial profiling and conduct a study on the root causes of the over-representation of African Canadians in the system of criminal justice.
The Committee remained concerned at the refusal by Canada to introduce in its legislation a specific offence criminalizing and punishing acts of racist violence and at Canada’s approach to prohibit racist activities of racist organizations rather than prohibiting and declaring illegal such organizations. The Committee reiterated its previous recommendation that Canada amend or adopt relevant legislation in order to ensure full compliance with the Convention.