A/HRC/44/57/Add.2 B. International human rights law commitments 18. The Netherlands is a State party to many international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Netherlands is also a State party to most European human rights instruments of the Council of Europe. Through its ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other international instruments, the Government of the Netherlands has committed itself to respecting, protecting and ensuring the enjoyment of racial equality and the right of all persons to be free from racial discrimination. 19. The most comprehensive prohibition of racial discrimination can be found in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, article 1 of which defines racial discrimination 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. 20. Although specific protected bases are listed in that definition, the Government cannot narrowly construe its obligations under the Convention, nor can it specify to whom those obligations are owed; rather, the Government must guarantee equality to all individuals within its territories, regardless of ancestry or descent, including non-citizens, dual nationals and persons belonging to racial, ethnic and religious minority groups. In addition, the definition’s inclusion of the words “purpose or effect” helps to affirm that the Government’s obligations under the Convention include both combating discrimination and ensuring racial equality in the enjoyment of all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. 21. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that it is impossible for the Government of the Netherlands to fulfil its obligations under the Convention to ensure substantive racial equality and eradicate racial discrimination if it does not adopt a comprehensive and intersectional approach. States parties to the Convention commit themselves not only to ensuring formal equality but also to eliminating purposive or intentional discrimination, discrimination in effect4 and structural forms of discrimination.5 An intersectional approach takes seriously the different experiences of racial discrimination that individuals endure because of their race, ethnicity, national origin or culture, in combination with their gender, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, age and any other social category. A comprehensive and intersectional approach is often critical to revealing how neutrally worded laws nevertheless result in racial and other forms of discrimination. 22. In accordance with article 2 of the Convention, the Government must pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms. In article 1 (4), it anticipates the necessity of special measures or affirmative actions to ensure equality in the enjoyment of human rights. Also in accordance with article 2, the Government is required to ensure that all public authorities and national and local public institutions do not engage in acts of racial discrimination. Having ratified the Convention, the Government is further obligated to take effective measures to review governmental, national and local policies, and to amend, rescind or nullify any laws and regulations which have the effect of creating or perpetuating racial discrimination wherever it exists (art. 2 (c)). 4 5 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation No. 32 (2009) on the meaning and scope of special measures in the Convention, paras. 6–7. Ibid., general recommendation No. 34 (2011) on racial discrimination against people of African descent, paras. 5–7. 5