Adopted and opened for signature, ratification by General
Assembly resolution 3068 (XXVIII) of 30 November 1973, entry into
force 18 July 1976, in accordance with article XV
The States Parties to the present Convention,
Recalling the provisions of the Charter of the United
Nations, in which all Members pledged themselves to take joint and separate
action in co-operation with the Organization for the achievement of universal
respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion,
Considering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
which states that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights
and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour or national
origin,
Considering the Declaration on the Granting of Independence
to Colonial Countries and Peoples, in which the General Assembly stated that
the process of liberation is irresistible and irreversible and that, in the
interests of human dignity, progress and justice, an end must be put to colonialism
and all practices of segregation and discrimination associated therewith,
Observing that, in accordance with the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States
particularly condemn racial segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent,
prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their
jurisdiction,
Observing that, in the Convention on the Prevention
and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, certain acts which may also be qualified
as acts of apartheid constitute a crime under international law,
Observing that, in the Convention on the Non-Applicability
of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, "inhuman
acts resulting from the policy of apartheid" are qualified as crimes against
humanity,
Observing that the General Assembly of the United Nations
has adopted a number of resolutions in which the policies and practices of apartheid
are condemned as a crime against humanity,
Observing that the Security Council has emphasized
that apartheid and its continued intensification and expansion seriously disturb
and threaten international peace and security,
Convinced that an International Convention on the Suppression
and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid would make it possible to take more
effective measures at the international and national levels with a view to the
suppression and punishment of the crime of apartheid,
Have agreed as follows:
Article I
- The States Parties to the present Convention declare that apartheid is
a crime against humanity and that inhuman acts resulting from the policies
and practices of apartheid and similar policies and practices of racial segregation
and discrimination, as defined in article II of the Convention, are crimes
violating the principles of international law, in particular the purposes
and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and constituting a serious
threat to international peace and security.
- The States Parties to the present Convention declare criminal those organizations,
institutions and individuals committing the crime of apartheid.
Article II
For the purpose of the present Convention, the term "the crime
of apartheid", which shall include similar policies and practices of racial
segregation and discrimination as practised in southern Africa, shall apply
to the following inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and
maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial
group of persons and systematically oppressing them:
- Denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the
right to life and liberty of person:
- By murder of members of a racial group or groups;
- By the infliction upon the members of a racial group or groups of serious
bodily or mental harm, by the infringement of their freedom or dignity,
or by subjecting them to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment;
- By arbitrary arrest and illegal imprisonment of the members of a racial
group or groups;
- 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 legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent a racial
group or groups from participation in the political, social, economic and
cultural life of the country and the deliberate creation of conditions preventing
the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to
members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including
the right to work, the right to form recognized trade unions, the right to
education, the right to leave and to return to their country, the right to
a nationality, the right to freedom of movement and residence, the right to
freedom of opinion and expression, and the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association;
- Any measures, including legislative measures, designed to divide the population
along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the
members of a racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed marriages among
members of various racial groups, the expropriation of landed property belonging
to a racial group or groups or to members thereof;
- Exploitation of the labour of the members of a racial group or groups,
in particular by submitting them to forced labour;
- Persecution of organizations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental
rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid.
Article III
International criminal responsibility shall apply, irrespective
of the motive involved, to individuals, members of organizations and institutions
and representatives of the State, whether residing in the territory of the State
in which the acts are perpetrated or in some other State, whenever they:
- Commit, participate in, directly incite or conspire in the commission
of the acts mentioned in article II of the present Convention;
- Directly abet, encourage or co-operate in the commission of the crime of
apartheid.
Article IV
The States Parties to the present Convention undertake:
- To adopt any legislative or other measures necessary to suppress
as well as to prevent any encouragement of the crime of apartheid and similar
segregationist policies or their manifestations and to punish persons guilty
of that crime;
- To adopt legislative, judicial and administrative measures to prosecute,
bring to trial and punish in accordance with their jurisdiction persons responsible
for, or accused of, the acts defined in article II of the present Convention,
whether or not such persons reside in the territory of the State in which
the acts are committed or are nationals of that State or of some other State
or are stateless persons.
Article V
Persons charged with the acts enumerated in article II of
the present Convention may be tried by a competent tribunal of any State Party
to the Convention which may acquire jurisdiction over the person of the accused
or by an international penal tribunal having jurisdiction with respect to those
States Parties which shall have accepted its jurisdiction.
Article VI
The States Parties to the present Convention undertake to
accept and carry out in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations the
decisions taken by the Security Council aimed at the prevention, suppression
and punishment of the crime of apartheid, and to co-operate in the implementation
of decisions adopted by other competent organs of the United Nations with a
view to achieving the purposes of the Convention.
Article VII
- The States Parties to the present Convention undertake to submit periodic
reports to the group established under article IX on the legislative, judicial,
administrative or other measures that they have adopted and that give effect
to the provisions of the Convention.
- Copies of the reports shall be transmitted through the Secretary-General
of the United Nations to the Special Committee on Apartheid.
Article VIII
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
- 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.
- If, among the members of the Commission on Human Rights, there are no representatives
of States Parties to the present Convention or if there are fewer than three
such representatives, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall, after
consulting all States Parties to the Convention, designate a representative
of the State Party or representatives of the States Parties which are not
members of the Commission on Human Rights to take part in the work of the
group established in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article, until such
time as representatives of the States Parties to the Convention are elected
to the Commission on Human Rights.
- The group may meet for a period of not more than five days, either before
the opening or after the closing of the session of the Commission on Human
Rights, to consider the reports submitted in accordance with article VII.
Article X
1 . The States Parties to the present Convention empower the
Commission on Human Rights:
- To request United Nations organs, when transmitting copies of
petitions under article 15 of the International Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to draw its attention to complaints
concerning acts which are enumerated in article II of the present Convention;
- To prepare, on the basis of reports from competent organs of the United
Nations and periodic reports from States Parties to the present Convention,
a list of individuals, organizations, institutions and representatives of
States which are alleged to be responsible for the crimes enumerated in article
II of the Convention, as well as those against whom legal proceedings have
been undertaken by States Parties to the Convention;
- To request information from the competent United Nations organs concerning
measures taken by the authorities responsible for the administration of Trust
and Non-Self-Governing Territories, and all other Territories to which General
Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960 applies,
with regard to such individuals alleged to be responsible for crimes under article
II of the Convention who are believed to be under their territorial and administrative
jurisdiction.
- Pending the achievement of the objectives of the Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained
in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), the provisions of the present Convention
shall in no way limit the right of petition granted to those peoples by other
international instruments or by the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
Article XI
- Acts enumerated in article II of the present Convention shall not be considered
political crimes for the purpose of extradition.
- The States Parties to the present Convention undertake in such cases to
grant extradition in accordance with their legislation and with the treaties
in force.
Article XII
Disputes between States Parties arising out of the interpretation,
application or implementation of the present Convention which have not been
settled by negotiation shall, at the request of the States parties to the dispute,
be brought before the International Court of Justice, save where the parties
to the dispute have agreed on some other form of settlement.
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
- The present Convention is subject to ratification. Instruments of ratification
shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
- Accession shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of accession
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Article XV
- The present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after
the date of the deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of
the twentieth instrument of ratification or accession.
- For each State ratifying the present Convention or acceding to it after
the deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or instrument of accession,
the Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the date
of the deposit of its own instrument of ratification or instrument of accession.
Article XVI
A State Party may denounce the present Convention by written
notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Denunciation shall
take effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification by the Secretary-General.
Article XVII
- A request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any
time by any State Party by means of a notification in writing addressed to
the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
- The General Assembly of the United Nations shall decide upon the steps,
if any, to be taken in respect of such request.
Article XVIII
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall inform all
States of the following particulars:
- Signatures, ratifications and accessions under articles XIII and XIV;
- The date of entry into force of the present Convention under article XV;
- Denunciations under article XVI;
- Notifications under article XVII.
Article XIX
- 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.