THE CONTRIBUTION OF NGOS TO CERD’S WORK ....cont 29 Sept.: Meeting between three members of the HRC and NGO representatives. The two members from abroad were invited by the Japan Federation of the Bar Association. 12 Oct.: The Japan–NGO Caucus – which consisted of the NGOs that had arrived in Geneva for lobbying – was established. 13 Oct.: Ten Japan-based NGOs participated in the presessional working group of the HRC which met with NGOs to receive information orally with regard to the six countries, including Japan, which were scheduled to be considered during the session immediately following the five-day pre-sessional working group. (NB: CERD has no corresponding procedure.) 23 Oct.: Twelve NGOs organized a lunch-time briefing for HRC members. On the previous day, the same NGOs held a planning meeting for the briefing. 23 Oct.: Press conference in Japan. 26 Oct.: Amnesty International–International Secretariat organized a NGO meeting in Geneva. 28–9 Oct.: (Four meetings): HRC considered Japan’s 4th periodic report. 6 Nov.: HRC adopted the Concluding Observations on Japan. Nov.: Translation of the Concluding Observations into Japanese. 3 Dec.: Follow-up meeting among NGOs, members of the Diet and representatives of different ministries and agencies. In order to share information and to disseminate it as widely as possible, including among the mass media, a newsletter: Watch! HRC (vols 1—3) was published, giving information about the HRC and activities carried out by Japanese NGOs before, during and after the session of the HRC. 1999: Dec.: Publication of a review on the consideration of the Japanese report and the Concluding Observations adopted by the HRC (in Japanese). (Source: prepared by the IMADR Japan Committee specially for this manual.) 2. Individual communication procedure under Article 14 of ICERD A. Persuading those states parties which have not done so to accept Article 14 T he states parties which have made the declarations pursuant to Article 14 are listed in Annex II.C. Out of 156 states parties, just 32 have accepted the provisions under Article 14 (as of 11 October 2000). However, the stance of the UN General Assembly in its annual resolu- 18 tions on the work of CERD is without ambiguity, and: Requests the States Parties to the Convention that have not yet done so to consider the possibility of making the declaration provided for in Article 14 of the Convention. Similar requests have been made in resolutions of the UN Commission on Human Rights. CERD members also request that states make this declaration. NGOs may try to persuade their respective governments to recognize CERD s competence under Article 14 by referring to the recommendations of the GA and the Commission on Human Rights. B. Submit an individual communication (provided that your country has accepted Article 14) The case law of the communication procedure of ICERD, shows that few communications have been submitted, and that not all communications were successful. The explanation can be found in the following facts: ● the number of states that have made the declaration under Article 14 is limited; ● few people, even among lawyers, are informed about the existence of ICERD; ● some communications are rejected at the first stage of the procedure on the grounds that not all available national remedies were resorted to (exhaustion of national remedies is one of the conditions under Article 14.2); ● the collection of facts is time-consuming; and, ● discrimination on the ground of race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin, is often difficult to prove in individual cases. Thus, individuals or groups of individuals who want to file a communication are advised to get legal advice or seek the assistance of an experienced NGO or institution so as to provide a systematic account of alleged facts and of the relevant national law. Note that the whole process of consideration of a communication normally takes around two years, which might be long but still less time-consuming than similar complaints procedures under other UN human rights instruments. Before writing a communication, however, there are several points to take into consideration; among others, it ICERD: A GUIDE FOR NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS