UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to review Belgium

GENEVA (15 April 2021) - The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will hold its upcoming session from 19 to 30 April, during which it will review Belgium.

In a public dialogue held online and webcast on 20 and 21 April, CERD, which has received the country report from Belgium, will discuss a range of issues with the delegation of the State party. 

Among the issues likely to be discussed are hate speech, incitement to racial hatred and offences motivated by such hate; the situation of minorities; the situation of migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and other non-nationals; human trafficking; as well as education for human rights and against intolerance.

In addition, the Committee will pursue its work under its early warning and urgent action procedure aiming to prevent existing situations escalating into conflicts and to respond to problems requiring immediate attention to prevent or limit the scale or number of serious violations of the Convention.

It will also adopt Lists of Issues Prior to Reporting on Gabon, Lesotho, Maldives and Tunisia to prepare country reports for future sessions.

More information about the 103rd session, including in relation to the review of Belgium and the schedule of the public dialogue, is now available on the session webpage.

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For more information and media requests in Geneva, please contact:
Vivian Kwok at +41 (0) 22 917 9362 / [email protected] or the UN Human Rights Office Media Section at +41 (0) 22 928 9855 / [email protected] 

Background 

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination monitors States parties’ adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which, to date has 182 States parties. The Committee is made up of 18 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties.

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