A/HRC/17/40/Add.2 injured during these riots, which were by far the worst and most prolonged in Singapore’s post-colonial history. Singapore eventually separated from Malaysia and became a fully independent and sovereign State in 1965. B. Demographic and ethnic composition 9. In 2009, the total population (comprising Singapore residents and non-residents) was just below 5 million and the resident population (comprising Singapore citizens and permanent residents) was about 3.75 million.1 10. According to the Government of Singapore, the ethnic composition of the population is as follows: ethnic Chinese constitute the majority of the population with 74.2 per cent; ethnic Malays represent 13.4 per cent; ethnic Indians represent 9.2 per cent; and other ethnic groups, including Eurasians, represent 3.2 per cent.2 According to the 2000 Singapore census of the population, 85 per cent of Singapore residents professed to have some religious faith or spiritual belief: 43 per cent were Buddhists, 15 per cent were Muslims, 15 per cent were Christians, 9 per cent were Taoists and 4 per cent were Hindus.3 During his mission, the Special Rapporteur was told that there is a significant conflation of ethnic origin and religion in Singapore. Indeed, almost all Buddhists and Taoists are Chinese, about 80 per cent of Muslims are Malays and almost all Hindus are Indians. III. Legal and institutional human rights framework A. International human rights instruments 11. At the international level, Singapore is a State party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Singapore is however not a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 12. The Special Rapporteur would like to reaffirm that a solid and robust legal framework is crucial to counter racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the most effective manner. While he understands that the Government of Singapore wishes to ensure that it is in a position to fully implement the obligations contained in an international treaty before ratifying it, he nonetheless takes the view that Singapore should accede to international human rights instruments which enshrine the fundamental principles of non-discrimination and equality and which would help to ensure the domestic legislation’s conformity with international human rights law. These include the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the 1 2 3 Singapore, Department of Statistics, Time Series on Population. Available from www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/themes/people/hist/popn.html. Singapore, Department of Statistics, Yearbook of Statistics Singapore (2010). Available from www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/yos10/yos2010.pdf. See the fourth periodic report of Singapore submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/SGP/4), para. B.9. 5