Protection of non-citizens under the international convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination

Abstract

Pursuant to Article 1.2 of the CERD, the Convention does not apply to differentiations made between citizens and non-citizens. At the same time, the CERD protects the victims of racial discrimination regardless of whether they are citizens or non-citizens in the territory of the state that engages in such discrimination. Further, non-citizens are entitled to all human rights and basic freedoms except for the small category of political rights. The ICJ’s interpretation of the CERD in Qatar v. UAE has been criticized for having ignored the overlap between the concepts of “nationality” and “national origin” and disregarded the CERD Committee’s General Recommendation 30. However, it may be argued that the ICJ decision and the CERD Committee’s General Recommendation 30 address different issues, and the interpretations from each body are not in conflict. To the contrary, they could complement one another in elucidating the rights of non-citizens under the CERD.