Apartheid Convention - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid) United Nations convention and human rights instrument

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ICSPCA
International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
Location	New York
Effective	30 November 1973
Condition	Effective
Signatories	26
Parties	110

The 1973 United Nations International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was the first binding international treaty which declared the crime of apartheid and racial segregation under international law. It was adopted by the General Assembly on 30 November 1973 and came into force on 18 July 1976. It passed by 91 votes in favor, four against (Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) and 26 abstentions. 110 countries are currently parties to the convention, with 26 signatories.

History

As the crime of apartheid grew more visible, a need to address South Africa's apartheid issues rose in the 1950s-60's. Following the election of South Africa's National Party in 1948 came a swell of prejudicial and racially charged policies. In 1967, as resistance to aggressive apartheid policies grew, and the South African government doubled down on aims of segregated living and racially discriminatory policies, the international campaign against apartheid grew stronger, and the United Nations stepped in.

United Nations' involvement

Backed openly from 1967 onwards by the United Nations, government and grassroots movements attempted to form a united front with the oppressed peoples of South Africa against its tyrannical government. The United Nations called for boycotting of public events, as well as economic embargoes, something it had never done previously.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights drew even greater attention to the apartheid issue when the Special Committee Against Apartheid raised awareness to the inhumane treatment of some political captives in South Africa. This attention, coupled with the accumulating negative history, caused The Commission on Human Rights to focus increasingly on apartheid, making it a primary concern. The Apartheid Convention of 1973 is a reaction to these items, building on arguments and agreements made in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination or ICERD which took place four years prior. The new Convention was the first to explicitly define apartheid, and then attempt to effectively criminalize what the ICERD had previously only prohibited. It was drafted by the Commission on Human Rights, and then officially implemented in 1973. This convention was the first to name apartheid a crime under international law, while also being the first to name apartheid a crime against humanity. While many countries and signatories continued to oppose this terminology, the convention was the first to have signatures to this effect.

Draft Convention

First resolution on the draft convention

The first meeting on the suppression and punishment of the crime of apartheid took place in the 26th session of the General Assembly, 2001st plenary meeting on 6 December 1971. The General Assembly established the conviction that the apartheid is a crime against humanity, and recognized further measures from the UN to suppress and punish the apartheid. This plenary meeting requested the secretary general to transmit the draft convention to the Commission on Human Rights. It was also recommended during this meeting that the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic Social Council consider this draft and submit the text of the draft convention to the General Assembly at its 27th session. Thus, reaffirming that apartheid constitutes a total negation of the principles of the UN, and recognizes the continual need for efforts to suppress and punish the apartheid.

This meeting further requested that the Secretary General transmit the revised draft Convention to the Special Committee on the Apartheid, and invited the Economic and Social Council to request the Commission on Human Rights to consider as a priority item the revised draft Convention and submit the results of its consideration to the 28th session of the General Assembly.

Second resolution on the draft convention

The second resolution on the draft convention on the suppression and punishment of the crime of apartheid took place in the 27th session of the General Assembly, 2085th plenary meeting, 15 November 1972.

This resolution concluded with a request to the Commission on Human Rights at its 29th session to consider the draft convention a priority item and submit the results of its consideration at the 28th session of the General Assembly.

About the Signed Treaty

International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid

The treaty became effective during the 28th session of the General Assembly in 1974. The apartheid Convention was adopted by the General Assembly on 30 November 1973. There were 91 votes in favor, four against (Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States), and 26 abstentions. It came into force on 18 July 1976, and as of August 2008, it has been ratified by 107 states.

When the Apartheid Convention was being drafted in the Third Committee of the General Assembly there was a division of opinion over the scope of the convention. Most delegates saw the convention as an instrument to be employed only against South Africa. Others, however, warned that the convention was wide enough to cover other States that practiced racial discrimination.

Articles

Article I declares apartheid a violation of the charter of the UN and a crime against humanity in its racial segregation and discrimination.
Article II defines the crimes of apartheid
- Denial of the right of life and liberty to members of racial group by
  - murders of members of a racial group or groups
  - Inflicting physical and mental harm
  - Arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment
- Deliberate imposition on a racial group or groups of living conditions calculated to cause its or their physical destruction in whole or in part
- Any legislature measures that deny a group of political, social, economic, and cultural life of the country
- Any measures designed to divide the population by racial lines
- Exploitation of labor of members of a racial group
- Persecution of organizations and persons because they oppose the apartheid
Article III declares that international criminal responsibility shall apply, regardless of motive and location.
Article IV asks states parties to adopt legislative, judicial and administrative measures to suppress, prevent, and persecute the crimes of apartheid.
Article V declares that Persons charged with the acts enumerated in article II may be tried by a tribunal of any State Party to the Convention
Article VI requires states parties to accept and carry out the decisions of competent organs of the united nations in effort to achieve the purpose of the Convention
Article VII requires states parties to submit periodic reports on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures that they have adopted
Article VIII declares that any State Party to the present Convention may call upon any competent organ of the United Nations to take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as it considers appropriate for the prevention and suppression of the crime of apartheid.
Article IX defines that The Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights shall appoint a group consisting of three members of the Commission on Human Rights, who are also representatives of States Parties to the present Convention, to consider reports submitted by States Parties in accordance with article VII
Article X declares that states parties to this Convention empower the Commission on Human Rights to coordinate with other competent organs of the UN
Article XI defines acts enumerated in article II not political crimes for the purpose of extradition
Article XII declares that the International Court of Justice shall settle differences in the interpretation, application or implementation of the present Convention
Article XIII: The present Convention is open for signature by all States. Any State which does not sign the convention before its entry into force may accede to it
Article XIV is about the ramifications and further accessions of this Convention
Article XV declares that this convention, and any future accessions, enters into force on the thirtieth day after the date of the deposit of the instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the UN
Article XVI: a state may denounce the Convention through written notification to the secretary general
Article XVII: any states parties can request a revision of the convention by notifying the secretary general, and the general assembly shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in respect of such request
Article XVIII: the secretary general shall inform all states parties of any signatures, ratifications, accessions, the date of entry into force, denunciations, and notifications relating to this convention.
Article XIX declares that the present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the United Nations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit certified copies of the present Convention to all States

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Legacy

The Apartheid Convention may not presently serve its original intended purpose in dealing with apartheid in South Africa, as the legislation supporting it was withdrawn in 1990's; however, it has influenced the way we view crimes against humanity. It has impacted international law, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, among others.

Aftermath

In 1980, due to the 1973 Apartheid Convention, a special International Criminal Court was proposed in order to try persons of apartheid. However, no such court was ever established. Instead, the United States authorized a legislation that would allow them to prosecute criminals of apartheid through a universal jurisdiction.

The Apartheid Convention was abandoned in 1990 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was originally adopted for the purpose of being able to prosecute criminals who were not citizens of the state but still committed acts which violated the laws of that territory of jurisdiction.

Moreover, in 1973, the General Assembly concluded that the South African regime had no justification in representing the South African people after contemplating the report of the International Conference of Experts for the Support of Victims of Colonialism and Apartheid in Southern Africa. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) recognized various liberation movements that were, “the authentic representatives of the overwhelming majority of the South African people.”

Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 recognized apartheid as a “grave breach” of the Protocol in 1977 regardless of geographic location. The Draft Code of Crimes against the Peace and Security of Mankind recognizes apartheid as a crime on the basis of institutionalized racial discrimination as a species of crimes against humanity. The first reading was in 1991 by the International Law Commission and was read without the mention being specifically on South Africa. It was not until the second reading in 1996 where the racial denotations were brought to light as crimes against humanity. Article 18 stated, “is in fact the crime of apartheid under a more general denomination.”

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 1994 by a democratic South Africa after a peaceful negotiation settlement between the apartheid regime and parties which opposed apartheid. The Commission served the purpose of granting amnesty to those who had violated human rights regulations during the time of apartheid as well as aim to achieve reconciliation. South Africa, post-apartheid, has not become a party of the apartheid Convention.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court decided to define the crime of apartheid as another form of a crime against humanity in 1998.

References

^ "International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (ICSPCA)" (PDF). United Nations Treaties Collection. UN. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
^ "Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid". legal.un.org. United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
"International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid," United Nations, New York, as accessed at https://treaties.un.org/Pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=0800000280035e63
^ "International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid". treaties.un.org. United Nations Treaty Collection. Depositary: Status of Treaties, Chapter IV, 7. Archived from the original on 2020-08-13. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
^ Jackson, M. (2022). "The Definition of Apartheid in Customary International Law and the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination." International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 71(4), 831-855. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
^ "The United Nations and Apartheid, 1948–1994." United Nations Department of Public Information (1994). New York: Author. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
General Assembly, 26th session: 2001st plenary meeting, Monday, 6 December 1971, New York (A/PV.2001 Retrieved 2023-03-16. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
General Assembly resolution 2786, Draft Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, 2001st Plenary Meeting, (6 December 1971), available from undocs.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
^ General Assembly resolution 2922, Draft Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, 2085th Plenary Meeting, (15 November 1972), available from undocs.org. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
^ "Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid." Dugard, J. (2008). In United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law. United Nations. Retrieved 2023-03-16. https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/cspca/cspca.html
Twenty-eighth session of the General Assembly, Summary record of the 2004th meeting of the Third Committee, held on 23 October 1973, (A/C.3/SR.2004), paragraph 4. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
UN General Assembly, Policies of apartheid of the Government of South Africa, 14 December 1973, A/RES/3151. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
International law, codification, legal affairs, commission, ILC, instruments and reports, Yearbook. (1996). Retrieved 2023-03-10.

v t e Racism
Types of racism	Aversive Colorism Covert Cultural Cyber Environmental Formal Gendered Institutional Internalized Patent Laissez-faire Linguistic Neocolonial Romantic Scientific Societal Substantive Symbolic
Manifestations of racism	Anti-miscegenation laws Apartheid Biological determinism Discrimination based on nationality Ethnic conflict Ethnic hatred Ethnic jokes Ethnic slurs Ethnic stereotype Hate crime Hate speech Hate group Racialization Racial hierarchy Racial nationalism Racial profiling Racial segregation
Racism by region	Global apartheid Africa South Africa Zimbabwe Asia China Japan North Korea South Korea Thailand Vietnam Arab world Libya Saudi Arabia Sudan Australia Europe Denmark France Germany Italy Poland Portugal Russia Soviet Union Spain Ukraine United Kingdom Middle East Iran Israel Palestine Turkey North America Canada United States Mexico South America Argentina Brazil Chile
Racism by target	Arab Asians Chinese Chinese Americans Zainichi Chinese Japanese Japanese Americans Japanese Koreans Korean Zainichi Koreans Vietnamese Black African Americans Women Mexican Native Americans Jewish Jewish Americans In Jewish communities LGBT Middle Eastern Muslim Romani Slavic Wine industry Racial supremacy White supremacy
Related topics	Ableism Alt-right Anti-racism Casteism Ethnic plastic surgery Go back to where you came from Herrenvolk democracy Interminority racism in the United States Hispanics/Latinos Lynching Passing Perpetual foreigner Psychometrics of racism Race and sexuality Racial bias in criminal news in the United States Race card Racial figleaf Racial integration Racial quota Racism in sport in Australia Reverse racism Sociology of race and ethnic relations Xenophobia
Category Commons Index

v t e Discrimination
Forms	Institutional Structural Statistical Taste-based
Attributes	Age Caste Class Dialect Disability Genetic Hair texture Height Language Looks Mental disorder Race / Ethnicity Skin color Scientific racism Rank Sex Sexual orientation Species Size Viewpoint
Social	Arophobia Acephobia Adultism Anti-albinism Anti-autism Anti-homelessness Anti-drug addicts Anti-intellectualism Anti-intersex Anti-left handedness Anti-Masonry Aporophobia Audism Biphobia Clannism Elitism Ephebiphobia Social determinants of health Social determinants of health in poverty Social determinants of mental health Fatphobia Gayphobia Gerontophobia Heterosexism HIV/AIDS stigma Homophobia Leprosy stigma Lesbophobia Discrimination against men Misandry Misogyny Nepotism Pedophobia Perpetual foreigner Pregnancy Sectarianism Supremacism Aryanism Autistic Black Chauvinism Female Illusory Jewish Male Nordicism Tigraynization Ultranationalism White Transphobia 21st-century anti-trans movement in the United Kingdom Non-binary Transmisogyny Trans men Vegaphobia Xenophobia
Religious	Atheism Exclusivism Baháʼí Faith Buddhism Christianity Persecution Catholicism Eastern Orthodoxy Jehovah's Witnesses LDS or Mormon Protestantism Tewahedo Orthodoxy post–Cold War era Falun Gong Hinduism Persecution Untouchability Islam Persecution Ahmadiyya Shi'ism Sufism Sunnism minority Muslim Judaism Persecution Neopaganism Rastafari Sikhism Yazidism Zoroastrianism
Ethnic/National	Afghan African Albanian Arab Armenian Asian France South Africa United States Assyrian Australian Austrian Azerbaijani Black people African Americans China South Africa Bengali Bulgarian Catalan Chechen Chinese Colombian Croat Dutch English Estonian Filipino French Fulani Finnish Georgian German Greek Haitian Hazara Hungarian Igbo Indian Indigenous people Australia Canada United States Iranian Irish Italian Japanese Jewish Antisemitism New Korean Kurdish Lithuanian Malay Māori Mexican Middle Eastern Mongolian Montenegrin Nigerian Pakistani Palestinians Pashtun Polish Portuguese Quebec Romani Romanian Russian Scottish Serb Slavic Somali Spanish Tatar Thai Turkish Ukrainian Uyghur Venezuelan Vietnamese Welsh
Manifestations	Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric SPLC-designated list of anti-LGBTQ hate groups Anti-LGBTQ movement in the US Anti-trans movement in the UK Anti-Zionism Blood libel Bullying Cancel culture Capital punishment for homosexuality Compulsory sterilization Corrective rape Counter-jihad Cultural genocide Defamation Democide Disability hate crime Dog whistle Domicide Economic Education Employment Eliminationism Enemy of the people Ethnic cleansing Ethnic conflict Ethnic hatred Ethnic joke Ethnocide Excellence Gender-based dress codes Cosmetics policy High heel policy Forced conversion Freak show Gay bashing Gendercide Genital modification and mutilation Genocide examples Glass ceiling Hate crime Violence against LGBTQ people Hate group Hate speech Homeless dumping Housing Indian rolling Kill Haole Day Lavender scare LGBTQ+ grooming conspiracy theory List of people killed for being transgender Lynching Mortgage Murder music Native American mascots Occupational segregation Opposition to immigration Paper genocide Persecution Pogrom Political repression Purge Racialization Religious persecution Religious terrorism Religious violence Religious war Scapegoating Segregation academy Sentencing disparity Sexual harassment Sex-selective abortion Slut-shaming Trans bashing Victimisation Violence against women White flight White genocide conspiracy theory Wife selling Witch hunt
Discriminatory policies	Age of candidacy Blood purity Blood quantum Crime of apartheid Disabilities Catholic Jewish Gender pay gap Gender roles Transphobia in the US House of Representatives Gerontocracy Gerrymandering Ghetto benches Internment Jewish quota Law for Protection of the Nation LGBTQ rights opposition MSM blood donation restrictions No kid zone Numerus clausus (as religious or racial quota) One-drop rule Racial quota Racial segregation Jim Crow laws Nuremberg Laws Racial steering Redlining Same-sex marriage (laws and issues prohibiting) Segregation age racial religious sexual Social exclusion Sodomy law State atheism State religion Ugly law Voter suppression
Countermeasures	Affirmative action Anti-discrimination law Anti-racism Constitutional colorblindness Cultural assimilation Cultural pluralism Diversity, equity, and inclusion Diversity training Empowerment Fat acceptance movement Feminism Fighting Discrimination Hate speech laws by country Human rights Intersex human rights LGBT rights Nonviolence Racial integration Reappropriation Self-determination Social integration Toleration
Related topics	Allophilia Amatonormativity Bias Cisnormativity Civil liberties Criminalization of homosexuality Dehumanization Diversity Multiculturalism Neurodiversity Ethnic penalty Figleaf Gender-blind Heteronormativity Historical eugenics Internalized oppression Intersectionality Masculism Medical model of disability autism Net bias Oikophobia Oppression Police brutality Political correctness Polyculturalism Power distance Prejudice Prisoner abuse Racial bias in criminal news in the United States Racism by country Racial color blindness Religious intolerance Reverse discrimination Reverse racism Second-generation gender bias Snobbery Social equity Social exclusion Social identity threat Social model of disability Social privilege Christian male white Social stigma Speciesism Stereotype threat The talk
Category Commons

v t e International criminal law
Sources	Customary international law Peremptory norm Hague Conventions Geneva Conventions Nuremberg Charter Nuremberg principles United Nations Charter Genocide Convention Convention Against Torture Rome Statute
Crimes against international law	Crimes against humanity Crime of aggression Crime of apartheid Genocide Genocidal intent Incitement to genocide Piracy Slave trading Starvation War crime
International courts (in order of foundation)	International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg Trials) International Military Tribunal for the Far East International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda Special Court for Sierra Leone International Criminal Court Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia Special Panels of the Dili District Court Special Tribunal for Lebanon International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
Related concepts	Command responsibility Superior orders Joint criminal enterprise International humanitarian law International speech crimes Universal jurisdiction

International human rights instruments

Declarations, manifestos, and resolutions

International law

Regional law

International humanitarian law
Genocide Convention Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness Geneva Conventions Hague Conventions Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

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