PART II – CERD AND ITS WORK 2.3 Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure In 1993, CERD adopted a working paper on the prevention of racial discrimination, including early warning and urgent procedures.63 CERD works under this procedure to prevent and respond to serious violations of ICERD. Since then, CERD has examined a number of situations and adopted decisions, e.g. regarding conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and in the Great Lakes Region in Africa, and Australia’s amendment of its Native Title Act that was considered to be racially discriminatory against indigenous peoples in Australia. At the Committee’s 71st session in 2007, the 1993 working paper was replaced by the new guidelines64 in light of contemporary practices of CERD as well as current needs and recent developments. Since its 65th session a fivemember working group has been facilitating the Committee’s work under this procedure. CERD and the Working Group meetings for the examination of situations under the early warning and urgent action procedure are mostly closed, although CERD may decide to have a public meeting to consider general issues under this procedure. The working group meets during regular sessions of CERD, or at any other time as the Committee decides, to preliminarily analyse and assess information received. It makes recommendations to the Committee and may draft decisions of the Committee as well as letters to be sent to the State party concerned. Members of the working group are elected for a renewable term of two years with equitable geographical representation. a) Purpose and indicators for the procedure According to the revised guidelines of 2007, CERD shall act under early warning and urgent action procedure to address serious violations of ICERD in an urgent manner. The new guidelines have set out the following indicators replacing the criteria of 1993 working paper: (a) Presence of a significant and persistent pattern of racial discrimination, as evidenced in social and economic indicators; (b) Presence of 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: (a) 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; (b) 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; (c) 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. 63 64 Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/48/18), para. 18 and annex III. Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-second Session, Supplement No. 18 (A/62/18), annex III 20 ICERD & CERD: A GUIDE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS