A/HRC/45/44 observation and study, even after her death, until the late 1970s. Baartman learned multiple European languages, famously refused to allow scientists to study her genitalia, but was never seen as having agency or humanity. 55. In the United States, doctors used free and enslaved persons for dissection and experimentation. One doctor measured the susceptibility of people of African descent to heatstroke, to determine the outside limits for enslaved Africans’ work in the summer sun. 43 Another, Dr. Marion Sims, famously conducted experiments on women of African descent with vaginal fistulas without the benefit of anaesthesia or painkillers, and documented his brutality, and the women’s agony at having to endure up to 30 invasive interventions. 56. People of African descent were also exploited openly in the name of scientific progress. Henrietta Lacks, the source of the immortalized “HeLa” cell line, was poor and African American. Researchers nonetheless made millions of dollars from her cells, cultured without her knowledge or consent. Medical experimentation, including human clinical trials for medications, protocols and treatments, have long been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti and other countries. Routinely, however, people of African descent in the countries where medications have been tested and perfected struggle to gain access to life-saving treatments. 2. International human rights framework and systemic racism 57. The exploitation of people of African descent as “scientific innovation” or “necessary” and systemic racial discrimination have existed in parallel to a robust human rights framework. Equality, including the right to freedom from discrimination, is at the core of the human rights framework, and included in all human rights instruments. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides for equal enjoyment of rights and freedoms “without distinction of any kind, such as race …”. Article 20 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence. 58. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination acknowledges systemic racism and obliges States parties to actively combat it. In its general comment No. 34 (2011) on discrimination against people of African descent, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reiterated that people of African descent should enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international standards, in conditions of equality and without any discrimination. 59. Adopted in 2001, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action reasserts the principles of equality and non-discrimination, and assigns primary responsibility for combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to States, as duty bearers, while also calling for active involvement by international and non-governmental organizations, political parties, national human rights institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society.44 The Durban Declaration recognized that social biases and discrimination prevailing in public and private institutions continued to create barriers for people of African descent, including in the realization of human rights. As the twentieth anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action approaches in 2021, States have the opportunity to recommit to addressing the legacy of the past, and to truth and reconciliation reparatory justice for crimes against humanity. 43 44 See V. N. Gamble, “Under the shadow of Tuskegee: African Americans and health care”, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 87, No. 11 (1997), p. 1773. The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action calls upon States to adopt and develop comprehensive national action plans. An increasing number of States have established equality bodies and policies to combat racial discrimination, although the implementation of the law also requires vigilance and activism from civil society. As at 2017, however, only 14 States members of the European Union had adopted action plans against racism, racial/ethnic discrimination and related intolerance. 13