Some Members of the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) commended Githu Muigai, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance for his decision to use the Dubran Review Conference’s Outcome Document as a "blueprint for action" by Member States, as the Committee met on 2 November to hear briefings from Special Procedure mandate holders.

Presenting a note by the Secretary-General transmitting the interim report of the Special Rapporteur (document A/64/271), Mr. Muigai called on all stakeholders to determine measures at the domestic level and to establish realistic benchmarks to implement the goals of the Durban Review Conference, which aimed to eliminate all forms of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

The Special Rapporteur recommended that States refrain from adopting vague or overly broad restrictions on freedom of expression which have often led to abuse by the authorities and to the silencing of dissenting voices, particularly vulnerable individuals and minority groups.

To further clarify the nexus between race and poverty, ethnically disaggregated data should be collected, the Special Rapporteur said. He was aware of some States’ resistance to such data collection, including the risk of its abuse, but believed the lack of such data in the past prevented effective policymaking to redress ethnic imbalances. Rather than prolong the debate on the need for such data, the debate should shift to a discussion on how to best collect them in compliance with international standards, the Special Rapporteur said.

He also recommended that governments take concrete measures to foster inter-ethnic cooperation in order to avoid the recurrence of ethnic conflicts. The establishment of an effective system of early warning was also absolutely essential against the crime of genocide, he said, since it would allow for the identification of situations that might become genocidal and provide a sense of the measures needed to counter the problems. He highlighted the importance of early-warning indicators, which had been discussed most recently at a round table on early warning and emerging issues. Several Special Rapporteurs had participated at that round table; he had been unable to attend, he said, but would add his voice to what had been said by his colleagues. The early-warning function of Special Procedures was essential, and he intended to focus more on it in coming months.

Also briefing the Committee were Kyung-wha Kang, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Shaista Shameen, of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights.

The Deputy High Commissioner briefed the Committee on the Report of the Secretary-General on global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (A/64/309), which provides a summary of various developments in the DDPA, activities of UN human rights mechanisms and treaty bodies, and the roles of special mechanisms including the Ad Hoc Committee on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards. She hoped all Member States will join the consensus achieved in Geneva “and wholly endorse the report”.