PART III – CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION 2. Submitting an Individual Communication under ICERD Article 1491 If any right of individuals set forth in ICERD is violated, a communication can be submitted to CERD under the Individual Communications procedure. However, before considering the submission of individual communications, civil society actors have to check whether the State concerned has made a declaration recognising the competence of CERD to receive such communications (Article 14 of ICERD). Out of 173 States parties, 54 have recognised that competence (as of 5 July 2011, the list of 54 states is available in Annex II, 4). According to rule 91 (a) of CERD’s rules of procedure, an individual or a group of individuals subject to the jurisdiction of these 54 States can invoke this procedure. If the State concerned has not made the declaration, civil society actors should organise activities to persuade their respective governments to recognize CERD’s competence under Article 14. 2.1 Before the submission: Admissibility of the communication Provided that the State concerned has made the necessary declaration, there are still some conditions that must be met in order for the communication to be admissible.92 The main condition, although not the sole condition, is that the individual or group wishing to submit a communication must have exhausted all local remedies. However, there is an exception to this rule when the application of local remedies is unreasonably prolonged. In addition, the Committee has established that this rule applies only to the extent that those remedies: i) are considered an adequate avenue of redress, and ii) have any prospect of success.93 In other words, where domestic remedies are ineffective and a priori of no avail, the rule of exhaustion of these remedies does not apply. Normally, only the individual concerned, their relatives or designated representatives can submit a communication claiming violation of a right (or rights) set forth in the ICERD can be submitted to the Committee. However, in exceptional cases, the Committee may accept a communication submitted by others on behalf of an alleged victim, when it appears that the victim is unable to submit the communication by themselves and the author of the communication justifies their acting on the victim’s behalf. Furthermore, the communication should be submitted within six months after all available domestic remedies have been exhausted, except in the case of duly verified exceptional circumstances. Under no circumstances can the Committee consider a violation of human rights beyond the scope of ICERD. Generally, individuals or groups of individuals who want to file a communication are advised to get legal advice or seek the assistance of an experienced NGO or institution so as to provide a systematic account of alleged facts and relevant national law(s). The whole process of consideration of a communication normally takes around two years. 2.2 Submitting a communication First of all, the communication must not be anonymous or contain abusive language. According to rule 84.1 of the rules of procedure of CERD, the following information should be also included: • • • • • The name, address, age and occupation of the author and verification of their identity; The name(s) of the State party or States parties against which the communication is directed; The object of the communication; The provision or provisions of the Convention alleged to have been violated; The facts of the claim; 91 Please also refer to PART II 2.2 of this guide. Please also refer to PART II 2.2 a) of this guide and rule 91 of the Rules of Procedure of the CERD.. 93 Communication no. 8/1996 (B.M.S. v. Australia), paras. 6.1 and 6.2. 92 34 ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS