Racial Discrimination: UN Committee to Review Greece, UK, Paraguay, South Africa, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Pakistan

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is meeting in Geneva from 2 to 26 August to review the following countries on these dates: Greece (3-4 Aug); UK (4-5 Aug); Paraguay (8-9 Aug); South Africa (9-10 Aug); Lebanon (10-11 Aug); Ukraine (11-12 Aug); Sri Lanka (15-16 Aug); Pakistan (16-17 Aug).

The above are among the 177 States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. They are required to submit regular reports to the Committee, which is composed of 18 international independent experts. CERD will also hear from NGOs and national human rights institutions.

The public review of each State runs from 15:00 to 18:00 and then from 10:00 to 13:00 the following day. Live webcasts of the public sessions can be viewed at http://webtv.un.org/

More information including the States’ submitted reports, lists of issues, and information from civil society can be found here: http://APO.af/8fOpcP

The Committee has tentatively scheduled a press conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva at 13:30 on Friday 26 August to discuss its findings, officially known as concluding observations. These will be published on 26 August here: http://APO.af/8fOpcP