Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
115th session
Summary record ( p artial )* of the 3165th meeting**
Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Friday, 9 May 2025, at 3 p.m.
Chair:Mr. Balcerzak
Contents
Closure of the session
The discussion covered in the summary record began at 4.20 p.m.
Closure of the session
Ms. Chung (Rapporteur) said that the Committee’s 115th session had been the first to be held during the sixtieth anniversary year of the Convention. At the public opening, a statement had been delivered by Mr. Antti Korkeakivi, Chief of the Human Rights Treaties Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Mr.Korkeakivi had underlined that the sixtieth anniversary of the Convention presented an opportunity to generate greater political will for the fight against racial discrimination; had described recent developments related to the Committee’s mandate; and had acknowledged the negative impact of the ongoing United Nations liquidity crisis.
During the session, the Committee had reviewed and had adopted concluding observations on the reports of five States Parties – Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea and Ukraine. The Committee appreciated the information contributed by all delegations, civil society organizations and human rights defenders and by the national human rights institutions of the Republic of Korea and Ukraine.
The Committee had also considered follow-up reports submitted by Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Tajikistan and Uruguay. Acting under its early warning and urgent action procedure, the Committee had considered 16 submissions and endorsed13 letters that would be sent to States Parties.
The Committee and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families had continued to work together on the development of two joint general recommendations on eradicating xenophobia towards migrants and others perceived as such. Under the guidance of the rapporteur for the general recommendations, Mr. Guissé, the Committee had conducted a second reading of the revised drafts.
On 25 April 2025, the Committee had held a half-day of general discussion to inform the development of a general recommendation on reparations for the injustices of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, their treatment as chattel and the enduring harms to people of African descent. During the discussion, two expert panels had examined the lasting effects of slavery and legal frameworks for reparations. Drawing on the discussion and over 60 written submissions, the Committee would prepare the first draft of the general recommendation, which would subsequently be shared for public input.
The Committee had also considered four cases under its individual communications procedure. It had declared one communication, submitted against Germany, to be admissible and had discontinued its consideration of the other three cases.
On 9 May, acting under its early warning and urgent action procedure and its follow‑up procedure on the implementation of the recommendations of the ad hoc Conciliation Commission for the inter-State communication State of Palestine v. Israel, the Committee had issued a statement on the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Committee had also received an update on other developments in relation to the implementation of the recommendations made by the Conciliation Commission in its report of August 2024.
The Committee had also held meetings with States Parties and civil society organizations and had adopted amended rules of procedure.
The dates of the Committee’s 116th session had not yet been confirmed owing to the liquidity crisis. All stakeholders were invited to regularly consult the Committee’s web page for the latest information.
After the customary exchange of courtesies, the Chair declared the 115th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination closed.
The meeting rose at 4.35 p.m.