3 December 1982

Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 36/12 of 28 October 1981 on the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and 37/45 of 3 December 1982 on the status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as its other relevant resolutions on the implementation of the Programme for the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination,

Having considered the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sessions, submitted under article 9, paragraph 2, of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,

Emphasizing the importance for the success of the struggle against all practices of racial discrimination, including vestiges and manifestations of racist ideologies wherever they exist, that all Member States be guided in their internal and foreign policy by the basic provisions of the Convention,

Mindful of the obligation of all States parties to comply fully with the provisions of the Convention,

Welcoming the continued co-operation of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination with the competent specialized agencies, especially with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Labour Organisation, and other United Nations bodies,

Noting the decisions adopted and recommendations made by the Committee at its twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sessions,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth sessions;

2. Commends the Committee for its contribution to the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, wherever it exists;

3. Strongly condemns the policy of apartheid in South Africa and Namibia as the most abhorrent form of racial discrimination and urges all Member States to adopt effective political, economic and other measures in order to secure the elimination of that policy and to achieve full implementation of the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the Security Council and other United Nations bodies;

4. Calls upon the United Nations bodies concerned to ensure that the Committee is supplied with all relevant information on all the Territories to which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 applies and urges the administering Powers to co-operate with these bodies by providing all necessary information in order to enable the Committee to discharge fully its responsibilities under article 15 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

5. Commends the Committee for its continuous endeavours towards the elimination of apartheid, racism and racial discrimination in southern Africa and the implementation of United Nations resolutions relating to the liberation and independence of Namibia;

6. Takes note with satisfaction of the efforts of the Committee aimed at securing the prosperity of national or ethnic minorities and indigenous populations through the implementation of the principles and provisions of the Convention;

7. Expresses grave concern at the Israeli policy of defiance of the basic principles and objectives of the Convention, as reflected in the report of the Committee, and calls for the respect and preservation of the national and cultural identity of the Palestinian people;

8. Welcomes the efforts of the Committee aimed at the elimination of all forms of discrimination against migrant workers and their families, the promotion of their rights on a non-discriminatory basis and the achievement of their full equality and the possibility to preserve their cultural characteristics;

9. Commends the States parties to the Convention for measures taken to ensure within their jurisdiction the availability of appropriate recourse procedures for the victims of racial discrimination;

10. Calls upon all Member States to adopt effective legislative, socio-economic and other necessary measures in order to ensure the elimination or prevention of discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin;

11. Calls upon the States parties to the Convention to protect fully, by the adoption of relevant legislative and other measures, the rights of national or ethnic minorities, as well as the rights of indigenous populations;

12. Reiterates its invitation to the States parties to the Convention to furnish the Committee, in accordance with its general guidelines, with information on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention, including information on the demographic composition of their population and on their relations with the racist regime of South Africa;

13. Takes note with appreciation of the Committee's contribution to the work of the Preparatory Sub-Committee for the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and to the regional seminars held in implementation of the Programme for the Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination;

14. Welcomes the decision of the Committee to contribute to the Second World Conference by preparing a study on the implementation of articles 4 and 7 of the Convention and reiterates its request to the Committee to explore the possibility of preparing also for the Conference a study on the implementation of subparagraph (e) of article 5;

15. Takes note of decision 1 (XXVI) of 19 August 1982 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in which the Committee requested the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Government of the Philippines, to explore the possibility of arranging for the twenty-eighth session of the Committee to be held at Manila immediately prior to the holding of the Second World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination.