Joint NGO submission on Treaty Body Strengthening to UN Secretary-General (2019)

A list of issues prior to reporting (LOIPR) for Japan, containing 59 items, was adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) during its 116th session. IMADR and the Japan NGO Network for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ERD-Net) contributed to this process by submitting joint NGO reports. ＊You can find LOIPR issued by CERD here. ▼ Download our report: Part A (highlighting legal framework in Japan; hate speech and hate crime; racial profiling) Part B (highlighting minorities, including Buraku people, Ainu Indigenous Peoples, people in the Ryukyus and other residents in Okinawa Prefecture, women belonging to minority groups, and returnees from China and their families) Part […]

From 17 November to 5 December 2025, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) held its 116th session. During the session, CERD reviewed and adopted concluding observations on the reports of Burundi, Guatemala, Maldives, New Zealand, Sweden and Tunisia. Highlights of the session included: The lists of issues prior to reporting for Japan and Panama were adopted, and follow-up reports from Bolivia, Mexico, Moldova, San Marino and Vietnam were reviewed. Joint general recommendations 38 and 39 were adopted on eradicating xenophobia towards migrants and other perceived as such. (Its advanced unedited version can be found here; EN, FR, and ES) A high-level commemorative event was held to […]

Public Statement by Civil Society Organisations on the Occasion of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Chairpersons of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies 12 June 2025 The undersigned civil society organisations issue this statement at a time of profound crisis of the UN, and the human rights mechanisms in particular. The international human rights treaties are an essential part of the UN’s human rights ecosystem and form the legal backbone of the international human rights system. The work of the Treaty Bodies is crucial in monitoring States parties’ implementation of international human rights treaties and in providing authoritative guidance on the fulfilment of obligations. Treaty Bodies deliver justice to individual victims, […]

From 22 April to 9 May 2025, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) held its 115th session. During the session, CERD reviewed and adopted concluding observations on the reports of Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, the Republic of Korea and Ukraine. Highlights of the session included: Follow-up reports for Croatia, Germany, Morocco, Uruguay and Tajikistan were reviewed. Work was done to develop a joint general comment/recommendation on addressing and eradicating xenophobia and its impact on the rights of migrants, their families and other non-citizens affected by racial discrimination. A half-day general discussion to develop its general recommendation on reparations for the injustices of the transatlantic trade in enslaved […]