A/HRC/32/50 On 26 November 2015, he took part in the official commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, in Geneva. III. Xenophobia A. International and regional legal and policy frameworks 1. Overview of the applicable international legal framework 6. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights define discrimination as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference or other differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on, inter alia, race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. These provisions apply equally to racial and ethnic minorities and to foreign nationals such as migrants. 7. The provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights apply to all, irrespective of nationality or statelessness. 1 Article 2 stipulates that each State party to the Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind, including on the grounds of national or social origin, birth or other status. The Human Rights Committee, in its general comment No. 15 (1986) on the position of aliens under the Covenant, has stated that “the general rule is that each one of the rights of the Covenant must be guaranteed without discrimination between citizens and aliens”.2 8. In its general comment No. 20 (2009) on non-discrimination in economic, social and cultural rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted that nonnationals “may face systemic discrimination in both the public and private sphere in the exercise of their Covenant rights”.3 It emphasized that nationality or immigration status “should not bar access to Covenant rights”, pointing out, for example, that all children within a State, including those that are undocumented, are entitled to receive education and access to adequate food and affordable health care”.4 The Committee highlighted the fact that the rights under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights extend to refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, migrant workers and victims of international trafficking, regardless of legal status. 5 9. In the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, racial discrimination is defined as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. The Convention prohibits national legislation that discriminates against any particular nationality. Although States parties may restrict a limited number of rights to citizens, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial 1 2 3 4 5 4 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 15 (1986) on the position of aliens under the Covenant, para. 1. Ibid, para. 2. See para. 24. See para. 30. See para. 30.