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21 March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Regrettably, the phenomenon of racial discrimination is widespread in the world which can be seen from increasing hate speech and hate crimes to new discriminatory measures adopted by government. To express your commitment to fight racism and solidarity with victims, we encourage you to tweet the phrase below and tell people about this important day.  It’s international day against #racialdiscrimination today. I stand in solidarity with victims of #racism.  We also prepared some templates for twitter. You can use them to ask your country’s leader how he or she tackles racial discrimination.  It’s int’ day against #racialdiscrimination today. […]

IMADR delivered its oral statement on “Racial profiling and incitement to hatred in migration” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  ——— IMADR Oral Statement: 34th session of the Human Rights Council Debate on racial profiling and incitement to hatred, including in the context of migration 17 March 2017 Speaker: Ayumi AKIYAMA Thank you Mr. President, IMADR welcomes this timely discussion to address today’s challenges in combatting racial discrimination. In this dialogue, we would like to point out the lack of measures against racist hate speech in the political discourse. Across the world, we have been witnessing the rise of populism which […]

IMADR statement on “Minorities in Sri Lanka’s transitional justice” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  *The statement could not be delivered due to the time limit. ——— IMADR Oral Statement: 34th session of the Human Rights Council Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on minority issues 15 March 2017 Speaker: Taisuke KOMATSU Thank you Mr. President, We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s in-depth report on Sri Lanka. We commend the Government’s engagement in facilitating her access to key stakeholders. We fully endorse her recommendations. We reiterate that immediate and substantial measures must be taken to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to […]

Together with Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Human Rights Watch, Franciscans International and Minority Rights Group International, IMADR is holding a side event on “Report of Consultation Task Force and Human Rights Challenges in Sri Lanka” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council from 3 pm, Monday 20th March at Room XXIV in Palais des Nations. For further information, click on the flyer below.  

IMADR delivered the joint oral statement with the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and Franciscans International on “Arbitrary arrests and detention of human rights defender of Ryukyu/ Okinawa, Japan” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here.  *Some parts were not read out due to the reduced speaking time. ——— Joint Oral Statement: 34th session of the Human Rights Council Item 4: General Debate 15 March 2017 Speaker: Taisuke KOMATSU (IMADR) Thank you Mr. President, Together with the All Okinawa Council for Human Rights, we would like to draw this Council’s attention to the arbitrary arrests and detention of […]

Together with Franciscans International and Minority Rights Group International, IMADR is holding a side event on “Women’s and Minority Rights in Sri Lanka’s Transitional Justice Process” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council from 4:30 pm, Friday 17th March at Room XXIII in Palais des Nations. For further information, click on the flyer below.

IMADR submitted a written statement on “Sri Lanka’s slow progress in transitional justice” at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. Whole text can be read below or downloaded here. ——— Sri Lanka’s slow progress in transitional justice Until May 2009, Sri Lanka went through a 27-year internal conflict that was between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The conflict was ended with a grave number of casualties including 40,000 civilians estimated to have been killed. Since the end of the conflict, the country went through a difficult time and civilians, even till this day, continue to face various challenges including […]

At its 92nd session from 24th April to 12th May 2017, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will consider the situation of racial discrimination in following 6 countries. Civil society organisations (CSOs) are encouraged to submit information on Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Kenya and Republic of Moldova.  During the session, the Committee will hold an informal meeting with States parties on 28th April from 3 pm. If you are a CSO participating in the forthcoming session and wishes to receive practical advice on advocacy at the CERD, contact us at: geneva[@]imadr.org (remove “[]” when you send e-mail)  Practical Information Deadline for submission of NGO reports: 3rd April 2017 Information Note for NGOs  for the submission of reports, accreditation […]

Together with All Okinawa Council for Human Rights, IMADR released a report “Silencing the voices of Okinawans”, which illustrates the systematic violation of freedom of expressions in Okinawa. The report addresses the following issues: The accelerating oppression on the protest activity; Riot police officer’s “Dojin” remark incident; Mainland media’s biased coverage of Okinawa; Issues related to human rights remedy system; The legal basis for a Yellow Line at the gates of U.S. military bases and its arbitrary application; and List of violence, detention and arrests in Henoko and Takae, Okinawa (2014-2017). Download the full report here Japanese version 

On 24th January, national and international human rights organisations urged the Government of Japan to immediately release the prominent peace activist in Okinawa, Mr. YAMASHIRO Hiroji. Mr. Yamashiro has been detained for over 3 months since October 2016. Read the joint statement below or download here.  Statement in Japanese  is also available. ——— January 24th, 2017 To: Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Japan Prosecutor – General Statement to Request the Release of Mr. Yamashiro Hiroji Mr. Yamashiro Hiroji, one of the leaders of nonviolent peace movement in Okinawa, was arrested for a quasi-flagrant offence on October 17th, 2016 and has been in detention for more than two months. While the repulsion among Okinawan people grew […]

On 13 January, civil society of Sri Lanka, including the IMADR Asia Committee, sent a joint letter to the Members States of the UN Human Rights Council which demands the extension of  the duration of the resolution ‘Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka (A/HRC/30/1). Read the letter below or download here. . ——— 13th January 2017 To: Members States of the United Nations Human Rights Council CONTINUED SUPPORT ON SRI LANKA We, the undersigned activists, academics and organisations from Sri Lanka, write this letter in the lead up to the 34th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) at which Sri Lanka is to be taken up for discussion […]

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has recently urged the Government of Japan to take further actions to address the issues of violence against foreign and minority women, “comfort women” and the situation of Burakumin. In the letter to the Government of Japan , the CERD expressed the lack of satisfaction and pointed out shortcomings of the Government’s measures. During its 91st session, the CERD considered the follow-up report of the Government of Japan . The Government was requested to take immediate measures to implement the three recommendations on the abovementioned issues within one year of the adoption of the 2014 concluding observations (CERD/C/JPN/CO/7-9) . Japan NGO Network for the Elimination of Racial […]

The International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, or IMADR, welcomes the enactment of the Act on the Promotion of the Elimination of Buraku Discrimination on December 9, 2016. It is important to note that the Act recognizes the still existing Buraku discrimination in today’s Japan and declares the unacceptableness of Buraku discrimination that impedes the enjoyment of fundamental human rights.  It is also important that the Act clarifies responsibilities of the state as well as local public corporations in eliminating Buraku discrimination through the provision of advice and support in regard to Buraku discrimination in the consolidated mechanism and the promotion of appropriate education and awareness-raising. While congratulating […]

On 15 December, we have issued our new issue of E-CONNECT. If you have not subscribed to our newsletter, you ca do it from here! Back number is also available. Feature story Global civil society joins hands with UN to end racial discrimination On 23rd November, civil society from all over the world, including indigenous and minority groups, met with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). Civil society representatives shared their challenges in own country and region, and put ideas in order to improve the work of the CERD to achieve the goal of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. IMADR […]

On 9th December, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) concluded its 91st session. At the session, the CERD adopted concluding observations of Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Togo, Turkmenistan and Uruguay. *Recommendations with asterisks [*] are one-year follow-up recommendations Concluding observations, reports of the State parties and other stakeholders are available at the OHCHR website . You can also watch the video archives of the public meetings with the State parties at UN Web TV . _ Argentina Poverty among the indigenous and Afro-decent communities drew attention of the Committee. Concerning the situation of indigenous peoples, the issues of land rights, right to water , access to justice, free and prior informed consent and the situation of human rights […]