PART II – CERD AND ITS WORK Achuar indigenous people in Peru, Hmong people in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Touareg people in Niger (concerning alleged negative impact of uranium extraction by a French state company), Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa people and their traditional lands in Paraguay, Aboriginal legal aid in Australia, and Romani and Irish Traveller communities in the United Kingdom. Moreover, CERD took a noteworthy action at its 77th session. Concerning the situation of Roma communities in several, primarily European, countries66 and recognising the importance of a regional approach in addition to efforts of individual governments, CERD sent letters to the Council of Europe and European Union. This was the first time, in which regional bodies were addressed by CERD through its early warning and urgent action procedure. Illustration 13: CERD’s decision on the New Zealand Foreshore and Seabed Act 20046768 A political and legal debate concerning the ownership of foreshore and seabed of New Zealand has emerged in 2003 when New Zealand’s Court of Appeal decided on the Ngati Apa case. The decision provided the backdrop to drafting and enactment of the New Zealand Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004. At its 66th session in February and March 2005, CERD reviewed, under the early warning and urgent action procedure, the compatibility of this Act with ICERD in the light of information submitted from the Government of New Zealand as well as a number of Maori NGOs. The Committee had a dialogue with the State party on 25 February 2005 and adopted its decision 1 (66) (CERD/C/DEC/NZL/1) on 11 March 2005. In this decision, CERD expressed its concern over the process of the legislation and stated that “the legislation appears to the Committee, on balance, to contain discriminatory aspects against the Maori, in particular in its extinguishment of the possibility of establishing Maori customary titles over the foreshore and seabed and its failure to provide a guaranteed right of redress, notwithstanding the State party’s obligations under article 5 and 6 of the Convention.” (paragraph 6). Furthermore, the Committee urged the State party to resume dialogue with the Maori community regarding the legislation and requested that the State party: closely monitors the implementation of the legislation and its impact on Maori; takes steps to minimise any negative effects; and includes full information on the state of its implementation in the next periodic report. CERD considered the combined 15th through 17th periodic report of New Zealand (CERD/C/NZL/17) at its 71st session in July/August 2007 in which the State party provided information on the follow-up to the Committee’s decision 1(66). In the concluding observations on New Zealand (CERD/C/NZL/CO/17) CERD expressed its concern over the discrepancy between the assessment of the government and the one of NGOs on the issue, reiterated recommendations made in the decision 1 (66) and requested the State party to submit information on the implementation of these recommendations within a year. New Zealand submitted the information in its follow-up report (CERD/C/NZL/CO/17/Add.1) which was considered by CERD during its 74th session in February/March 2009. Under its follow-up procedure, then, CERD issued a letter to New Zealand68 and requested it to include in its next periodic report (combined 18th to 20th) information on: recent progress made in ongoing negotiations with the Maori; new negotiations with groups which have decided to collaborate with the Government; the status of the dialogue held with tribes who oppose the act; and the realisation of the right to access justice through a fair and equitable process, e.g. in the case of Te Whanau a Apanui. The 18th to 20th periodic report of New Zealand is due on 22 December 2011. 66 The issue of Roma people were also addressed in the consideration of state reports of: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, th Estonia, France, Romania, Slovenia and Uzbekistan at 77 session. 67 CERD/C/DEC/NZL/1 (2005) 68 Can be found at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/followup-procedure.htm 22 ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS