A/59/377
right to freedom of opinion and expression; Special Rapporteur on torture; Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and
related intolerance; Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences; Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Special Representative of the
Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders; Special Rapporteur on
the independence of judges and lawyers; and Special Rapporteur on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Special Rapporteur would
like to point out that although the communications sent to the governments
concerned refer to individual cases or specific situations of alleged violations of
human rights, that does not mean that they are not representative of the situations
faced by this group on a daily basis.
20. The Special Rapporteur is now preparing her next report to the Commission on
Human Rights. In it she will examine the progress observed in the protection of
human rights of migrants since the establishment of the office of Special Rapporteur
in 1999 and the challenges posed by the phenomenon.
IV. Human rights of migrants
A.
Developments during the period 2003-2004
21. The Special Rapporteur would like to draw attention to a number of
developments that occurred between 2003 and 2004 which attest to the significant
progress that has been made in protecting the human rights of migrants.
22. After the entry into force on 1 July 2003 of the International Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,
and pursuant to article 72 thereof, the members of the body responsible for
monitoring the application of the Convention were elected at a meeting of States
parties convened by the Secretary-General in December 2003 at United Nations
Headquarters. The Special Rapporteur welcomes with satisfaction the establishment
of the Committee and is pleased to inform the General Assembly that she met the
members of the Committee at its first session, held in Geneva from 1 to 5 March
2004. At that meeting, the members of the Committee and the Special Rapporteur
agreed on the importance of strengthening cooperation between the United Nations
mechanisms responsible for protecting human rights during the migration process
and decided to meet on a regular basis from then on to exchange views on certain
matters and coordinate their activities.
23. In the framework of the mechanisms set up under United Nations human rights
conventions, the Special Rapporteur wishes also to draw attention to general
recommendation XXX, on discrimination against non-citizens, which was adopted
by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at its sixty-fifth
session in August 2004 to replace general recommendation XI (1993). She shares
the view of the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights, Mr. David Weissbrodt, to the effect that “since
problems relating to the treatment of non-citizens arise under each of the seven
principal human rights treaties, it would be desirable for the treaty bodies
jointly to … establish a consistent, structured approach to the protection of the
rights of non-citizens” (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/23, para. 33). The adoption of general
recommendation XXX will make it possible to move in that direction.
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