Minority rights focus in the United Nations 51 Early warning measures may be utilized if one or more of the following indicators is present: (a) A significant and persistent pattern of racial discrimination, as evidenced in social and economic indicators; (b) A pattern of escalating racial hatred and violence, or racist propaganda or appeals to racial intolerance by persons, groups or organizations, notably by elected or other State officials; (c) Adoption of new discriminatory legislation; (d) Segregation policies or de facto exclusion of members of a group from political, economic, social and cultural life; (e) Lack of an adequate legislative framework defining and criminalizing all forms of racial discrimination or lack of effective mechanisms, including lack of recourse procedures; (f) Policies or practice of impunity regarding: (i) violence targeting members of a group identified on the basis of race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin by State officials or private actors; (ii) grave statements by political leaders/prominent people that condone or justify violence against a group identified on the ground of race, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin; (iii) development and organization of militia groups and/or extreme political groups based on a racist platform; (g) Significant flows of refugees or displaced persons, especially when those concerned belong to specific ethnic groups; (h) Encroachment on the traditional lands of indigenous peoples or forced removal of these peoples from their lands, in particular for the purpose of exploitation of natural resources; (i) Polluting or hazardous activities that reflect a pattern of racial discrimination with substantial harm to specific groups.57 The Convention specifically allows States to adopt “special measures” to ensure that certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals can enjoy equal rights in practice, provided that such measures do not lead to the permanent maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups. These measures are often known as “affirmative action” or “positive discrimination”, and they may be adopted to correct historical injustices and to ensure that minorities are treated fairly. This issue is the subject of the Committee’s general recommendation No. 32 (2009). A State’s obligation under the Convention extends not only to its own actions and those of other public authorities. It must also prohibit and bring to an end racial discrimination by any persons, group or organization (art. 2 (1)(d)). States must punish, by law, the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, and must prohibit organizations from promoting and inciting racial discrimination (art. 4 (a)). States must also adopt “immediate and effective measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture and information, with a view to combating prejudices which lead to racial discrimination and to promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups” (art. 7). The rights that must be guaranteed without racial discrimination are specified in article 5 and parallel those in other international human rights treaties. They include equal treatment before judicial bodies, the right to participate in public affairs and have equal access to public service, freedom of movement and residence, freedom of opinion and expression, and the right of access to any place or service intended for use by the general public. Among the issues which For further information about the early warning procedure, see www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/earlywarning.htm (accessed 2 December 2012). 57