Written Answers. - Elimination of Racial Discrimination Convention.
Seán Barrett
Question:
88
Mr. S. Barrett
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
if he will outline the main provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination; and the reason Ireland is the only member State which has not signed this convention.
The International Convention on the elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was adopted and opened for signature and ratification by the UN General Assembly in December 1965. It entered into force in January 1969. Ireland signed the convention on 21 March 1968. A copy of the convention is available in the Dáil Library.
Under the Convention, each State party undertakes to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right to everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of those rights and freedoms specified in the instrument. The convention lists several rights not mentioned specifically in the Universal Declaration of Human rights, such as the right of access to any place or service intended for use by the general public, including transport, hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks. The convention specifies among the rights in regard to which discrimination is prohibited, the right to work, the right to join trade unions and the right to housing.
Measures for the implementation of the convention include the establishment of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, consisting of 18 independent experts, which reviews reports submitted by States parties on the measures they have adopted which give effect to the convention's provisions. In addition the committee make proposals and general recommendations, as well as seeking to settle disputes among States parties on the application of the convention.
In 1989 as part of the process of recession by Ireland to a number of international human rights instruments the Oireachtas enacted the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act which provides for protection from any form of incitement to hatred against groups of persons in the State on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins. Subsequently Ireland ratified the international Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic and Social Rights. Additional measures may be required to enable Ireland to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and the question of what measures may be necessary is now under consideration.
