Global Classrooms International Model United Nations High School Conference

Human Rights Council (HRC) Institutionalized Racism in Design & Practice

“GLOBAL SOLUTIONS”

MAY 11-13

Introduction to the Committee The Human Rights Council (HRC) is a body in the United Nations that is responsible for promoting and backing human rights all around the globe. Thus, it is within its responsibilities to tackle issues and violations regarding human rights, and set recommendations in order to solve these issues. The HRC is entitled to discussing all issues human rights related, and meets at the UN office in Geneva. The HRC itself consists of 47 UN Member States, all of which are elected by the General Assembly. The HRC was created by the GA in March of 2006, and its first session took place that June. A year after its creation, the HRC received its "institutionbuilding package" to guide its work and set up its procedures and mechanisms. It was also decided that it would be put under review, regarding its functionalities, 5 years later. On a more specific level, the HRC was ordered a certain mandate, which is outlined in GA Resolution 60/251. The HRC was mandated to give subjects universal respect for human rights, along with fundamental freedoms, most possible significance and attention. The HRC was designated as an area for debate and conversation on all issues regarding human rights, including but not limited to addressing human rights violations, responding to emergencies, and preventing further human rights abuse from occurring. The HRC is guided by the underlying principles of “universality, impartiality, objectivity and nonselectivity, constructive international dialogue and cooperation.”

Function and Power Including its institution-building package that was set in 2007, the HRC was given its format for the Special Procedures, the Universal Periodic Review, and the Complaint Procedure. These three phenomena define the main power and function of the HRC.

Special Procedures Special Procedures are mechanisms that enable independent parties to report, monitor, and advice on country specific or thematic situations for the HRC. Each investigation has a mandate, namely the topic under advisement, and a mandate holder, who is typically a Special Rapporteur, an independent expert, or a working group, to carry out the investigation. Special Procedures are empowered to undertake country or field visits, with the support of OHCHR, and to bring specific cases and concerns to the attention of Member States. They can send communications detailing accusations of violations or abuses of human rights, carry out thematic studies, consult with experts, promote and raise awareness of human rights standards, organize and engage in advocacy efforts, and offer technical assistance. In June 2007, HRC resolution 5/2 defined a code of conduct for Special Procedures mandate-holders to strengthen their capacity, credibility, and visibility. Universal Periodic Review The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is also one of the most important functions of the HRC, as it reminds all UN Member States of their responsibility to the human rights agenda and other fundamental freedoms. Through the HRC, each Member State of the UN submits to a periodic review to assess its fulfilment of its human rights obligations. As of 2011, all 193 Member States had undergone the UPR process. As a collaborative process, the UPR mechanism involves an interactive dialogue with the Member States being reviewed.

Introduction to the Topic Institutionalized or institutional racism refers to the form of racism occurring in social or political institutions, unlike traditional social racism, which occurs in everyday life. At the same time, they are still quite similar. Racism itself refers to the case in which one sees certain characteristics, abilities, or qualities exclusive to a certain race, usually with an intention to harm or classify a race to be “inferior”. Institutionalized racism, therefore, follows the same basic meaning as racism, yet refers to occurrences being embedded within social or political institutions. While, in principle, institutional racism is as damaging and worrying an issue as social racism, it is given much less importance, and receives less effort to be dealt with. Institutionalized racism can actually be more damaging to a social

group than can social racism. This is because institutional racism is sometimes backed by an entire institution, not just one person or small group. By nature, humans, when in a large group, can and usually are more influential. This influence, whether harmful or beneficial, is much stronger than that of a single individual who would wield an opposing opinion. “What does it mean, then, for an institution to be racist, and what effects does it have on its victims?” one may ask. Institutions usually provide citizens with certain services, punishments, goods, or sometimes benefits, based on the nature of the institution (penitentiary, government, etc.). But when an institution is a racially discriminating one, it will heap upon a certain portion of society benefits that are of lower standards or of a negligible state, compared to what is given to the rest of the beneficiaries. The same goes for the case of punishment. A racially discriminating penitentiary may give inmates of a certain race treatment that may be viewed as unfair when compared to the treatment that inmates of different racial origins receive. To further understand the topic itself, consider the following example: Country ‘x’ consists of several different racial groups, and x has a strong issue regarding healthcare. It claims to provide free healthcare to all of its citizens, but for the longest time, this country has been known to discriminate among its own people. Therefore, x provides free healthcare to its people of racial origin ‘a’, but decides to charge those who come from racial background ‘b’ a yearly fee in order to obtain the aforementioned health benefits. While this could be blatantly seen as institutional racism, the government itself may even claim that the fact that people from background b pay for healthcare is merely a coincidence, as has been the case throughout history. Racism in society is in many cases a product of institutional racism. When a significant institution racially abuses a certain group, chances are that all those who follow this institution will imitate its racially harmful behavior. Changing an institution from its racial state to a more objective one could actually prove to be much more difficult than, for example, convincing a racist individual to let go of his/her racial beliefs. Institutions are far more complex than individuals.

History of the Topic In order to draw an outline on the history of institutional racism, it is beneficial to understand the history and roots of racism itself. In its explicit form, racism was first recognized in the West during the modern period.

Origins of Racism Racism began with the start of modern slave trade. Modern slave-owning classes were influenced by slaveholders of ancient Greece and Rome’s creation of an ideology that stated their barbaric slave system was considered “natural.” Yet, slavery was “natural” due to race. For example, Africans were not treated as human beings, and consequently, they were born as slaves. Historian Eric Williams is well known for claiming that “Slavery was not born of racism; rather, racism was the consequence of slavery.” Furthermore, history sheds light on the fact that if racism had been former of slave trade, then Africans would have been the first group of people in line to be captured and enslaved. The matter of racism was tackled differently from one area to another. For instance, in the 17th century, blacks weren’t discriminated by their color and were given equal rights, such as the ability to file lawsuits, attest in court against whites, and even own property. To be more specific, blacks in Virginia during the 17th century possessed more rights than Jim Crow South blacks of the 20th century. Records retained by the colony from 17th century Virginia reveal many incidents which prove that institutional racism was not present in the early period of slavery, but was formed later on. The ideology created by Ancient Roman and Greek slaveholders was eventually passed down to the extreme in Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler and his followers made the attempt to massacre a complete ethnic group on the root of the racist ideology. Of all we know, Hitler gave racism a depraved name. The moral repulsion of people throughout the world against what the Nazis did, strengthened by scientific studies undermining racist genetics (or eugenics), served to disrepute the scientific racism that had been respectable and influential in the United States and Europe before the Second World War. After the decolonization of Africa and Asia and their representatives in the UN, the formation of new nations occurred. Explicit racism came under devastating attack from these new nations. The Civil Rights movement in the US, which

succeeded in banning racial segregation and discrimination in the 1960s, depicted essential support from the growing sense that national interests were threatened when blacks in the US were abused and harmed. Due to the struggle with the Soviet Union for “the hearts and minds” of autonomous Africans and Asians, the creed or ideology that sustained it became a nationwide embarrassment and humiliation with possible tactical penalties. As a result, historians from Brazil have recently come across the fact that discrimination by institutions and even individuals against those perceived as ethnically and racially different can persevere and even flourish under the deception of non-racism. The use of ostensibly entrenched cultural differences as a justification for enmity and discrimination against newcomers from the Third World in numerous European countries has led to assertions of a new "cultural racism."

Institutional Racism As a continuation to slave trade, institutional racism became decisively established as both means of legitimizing slavery and of splitting poor individuals from one another. The reason institutional racism didn’t and hasn’t ended is because it has further usages for entrepreneurship or capitalism. Analogous to the slave societies of ancient times and of the early US, under capitalism today, a small, prosperous minority dominates the massive mainstream of people. The main division amid workers today is racism, and it offers easy solutions for problems generated by the system. Yet, ordinary people of societies regardless of their race do not subsidy from racism. Institutions found in America, Africa, Asia, and beyond have never been free of racism, and blacks have never received equal treatment or rights. An important example of institutional racism is the selection of black conscripts. It is of great notice that the pattern of racism changed from World War I to World War II and changed in the Vietnam War once again.

International Actions Resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993 National human rights institutions in orthodoxy with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (GA Resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993) can play an important role in preventing racism. It is noted by The Special Rapporteur that the US is capable of planning institutions that can discourse the problem of racism. Institutions with a general human rights mandate and those with a particular mandate in order to fight racism and racial discernment can meritoriously discharge a role capable of preventing and protecting. In this way, knowledge and best practices can be shared in conniving approaches and tactics to thwart, combat, and eliminate racism. December 21, 1965 The GA solidly implemented the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination on December 21st 1965. It was commended as a milestone due to its extensiveness and scope. Declarations Vienna Declaration and Program of Action was embraced in June 1993 by the World Conference on Human Rights (A/CONF.157/23), and the Durban Declaration and Program of Action, was adopted in September 2001 by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Xenophobia. CERD The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is a treaty figure made of eighteen autonomous specialists and established by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD). Their task is to oversee and monitor the enactment of the Convention by the States Parties. The Committee accomplishes its superintendent role primarily on the basis of a close examination of periodic reports succumbed by the States Parties to the Convention, also taking into account information received from other sources, containing non-governmental organisations. The GA embraced ICERD on 21 December 1965 and the Convention entered into force on 4 January 1969. This Convention is well known for contending racism and racially discriminatory rehearses.

June 2012 The NIHRC issued notification to agencies and sought after their support in the organization of data. It showed the need to inspect the causes and consequences of racist hate crimes. In specific, it began to focus on actions that seek to both avert wrongdoings and criminalities and to deal with them after their occurrence.

Recommendations The first, and most critical part of your research is its abundance. Institutional racism is quite a broad topic, since it is highly involved with racism as a whole. Institutional racism is still practiced as of today, and needs to be dealt with. For this reason, it is crucial that you acquire a strong stance on the topic, whilst being synchronous with that of your respective country. Also, it would greatly aid you to get to know your neighboring countries, and their current stance regarding institutional racism in order to further cement your presence in the debate itself. Furthermore, be sure to research where and how institutional racism is mostly present; going into details of the matter at hand is of essence. By doing so, you will be capable of reaching several different subtopics, which will, in turn, pave the way for many appearances of informal debate. As the conference reaches an end, you will develop working papers, and eventually a draft resolution. For this reason, it is essential that you are capable of developing several calls to action, which as the representative of a country, you may propose, and which, in turn, may play a huge role in the outcome of the conference.

Questions to Consider While conducting your research on institutional racism, some questions you may consider answering would be the following: 1) Does your country have any record of battling racism? 2) What actions has your country taken part in in order to diminish the plague which is racism? 3) Has your country launched any equality campaigns recently?

References 1) "HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL - PROMOTION AND PROTECTION

OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT." UN.ORG. 12 Oct. 2013. Web. . 2) "Racismnoway." International Law Relating to Racism and Discrimination. 9 Aug. 2012. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. .

3) Crockett-Chaves, Sophie, Camille Le Baron, Tassilo Oxenius,, and Jade Palmer. "HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL BACKGROUND GUIDE 2015 NMUN." 9 Feb. 2015. Web. . 4) Dias, Robette Ann. "HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL RACISM." May 2006. Web. 5) Fredrickson, George M. "The Historical Origins and Development of 2003. Web. Racism." Pbs.org. .

6) Randall, Vernellia. "What Is Institutional Racism?" Academic.udayton.edu/. 07 Apr. 2009. Web. . 7) Taylor, Alex. "The Roots of Racism." Socialistworker.org. 22 Nov. 2002. Web. .