PART III – CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION themes, civil society actors start preparing and submit it to the Secretariat as soon as possible. When submitted, it must also be clearly indicated that the input is for the list of themes so that it is processed in a timely manner. c) Preparing and submitting an alternative report Regarding the relevant State report, civil society can submit their own “alternative” report. Such reports should serve to primarily help CERD members gain a more comprehensive picture of the human rights situation in a given country, particularly concerning the implementation of ICERD. While State reports often tend to present legislative framework, but may not always thoroughly reflect the reality on the ground, civil society actors have the opportunity to conduct their own research, present alternative evidence, views, findings etc. and/or raise issues that are not covered by the State reports. Various alternative reports submitted to CERD can be found at the CERD website,77 which can also be used as examples.
When and how to submit: Civil society actors can basically submit reports at any time, however it may not be effective to submit a report when no consideration of a relevant State report is scheduled. Generally it is suggested to submit alternative reports after the submission of relevant state report and before its consideration by CERD. While there is no official deadline for submission, information provided in the very last minutes might not be reflected thoroughly during the consideration. Therefore the CERD secretariat advises that alternative reports be sent to the secretariat at the latest two weeks before the relevant session. CERD usually considers more than 10 state reports at one session and the earlier such a report is submitted, the more time CERD members have to examine it. At the same time, more updated, precise and rather brief information may be submitted to the secretariat shortly before the relevant consideration so that any new developments and current changes in the field can also be addressed by the Committee. When submitting an alternative report an electronic version (by email) and 24 hard copies (by post or given personally) should be submitted to the secretariat. Alternative reports that have been submitted in a timely manner are published on the CERD website in relation to the State report concerned, unless it has been requested to keep it confidential.
Working languages of CERD: Information should be submitted in one of the working languages of CERD members, in most cases English, French or Spanish, while English is the preferred working language of many members.
Length and layout of the report: There is no page or words limit for alternative reports. However, submission of voluminous documents should be avoided considering the amount of information that CERD members receive and process for each session. Generally it is suggested that civil society actors make their alternative reports as concise as possible and preferably submit it with a summary page. A title page with the name of the organisation(s) and a table of contents should also be included. A short description of the mandate or nature of the organisation, network or coalition of organisation is also helpful.
Content and structure of the report: When providing information to CERD, in the interest of both the Committee and the civil society actor, it is important that the information is submitted in the most constructive and non-adversarial manner. Practice has shown that a simple submission of random cases or media report articles to the Committee does not normally 77 For example, alternative reports submitted to the 77th session for respective state reports can be found in the column “Information from other sources” at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/cerds77.htm 26 ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS