Several national civil liberties and human rights groups welcomed a fact-finding mission to the U.S. by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. In 2002, the Commission on Human Rights appointed Doudou Diéne as Special Rapporteur, a mandate that was later extended by the Human Rights Council. The American Civil Liberties Union, Global Rights, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, the U.S. Human Rights Network, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty call on the U.S. to fullly cooporate with the Special Rapporteur.

Mr. Diéne is scheduled to meet with federal and local government officials as well as members of diverse communities across the United States and representatives of several non-governmental organizations. Several civil liberties and human rights organizations urged the Special Rapporteur to examine the continuation of racism and racial discrimination in the U.S. in the areas of criminal justice, education, housing, juvenile justice, immigration policy, police brutality, hate crimes and racial profiling.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Racism was established in 1993 by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. The Special Rapporteur will submit a final report on the visit to the U.N. Human Rights Council in the spring of 2009.

Special Rapporteur Briefing Materials & Resources

Chicago Human Rights Coalition Report on Racial Discrimination & xenophobia

Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of Racism

Blog Post on SR Visit

Nat'l Law Center on homelessness & poverty
PowerPoint Homelessness & Race
Housing/Homelessness Nat'l Perspective
PowerPoint Housing Discrimination & segregation

WBAI 99.5 on SR Visit to the US. May 19, 2008 USHRN Director Ajamu Baraka Reports

Listen to Doudou Diéne on NPR

FAQs

What are U.N. Special Rapporteurs?

Special Rapporteurs (“SRs”) are independent experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council (formerly the U.N. Commission on Human Rights) with the mandate to monitor, advise and publicly report on human rights situations in specific countries (country mandates) and on human rights violations worldwide (thematic mandates). The thematic mandates cover a wide range of issues relating to civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, including the human rights of migrants, violence against women, the rights of internally displaced persons, freedom of religion and arbitrary detention, among many others.

What do Special Rapporteurs do?

The functions of Special Rapporteurs include responding to individual complaints, conducting studies, providing advice on technical cooperation and undertaking country visits to assess specific human rights situations. Most Special Rapporteurs also receive information on specific allegations of human rights violations and send urgent appeals or letters of allegation to governments asking for clarification and concrete measures to end rights violations.

In what sense are Special Rapporteurs ‘independent’? What is their relationship to the United Nations?

While the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations provides the Special Rapporteurs with the personnel and logistical assistance necessary for them to carry out their mandates, Special Rapporteurs nonetheless serve in their personal capacity, and do not receive salaries or any other financial retribution for their work. The SRs are expected to fulfill tasks that are outlined in specific UN resolutions, but their independent status is crucial for them to be able to fulfill their functions in all impartiality. Special Rapporteurs are prominent human rights experts from various walks of life. They include academics, lawyers, economists, and former and current members of NGOs and come from all regions of the world.

What can be achieved through country visits by Special Rapporteurs?

Amongst their activities, SRs carry out country visits at their request and at the invitation of the country concerned. Country visits are considered a particularly important means by which to highlight human rights violations in a particular country and in placing pressure on the government to remedy the situation. They enable the SR to familiarize him or herself with all aspects of the situation on the ground, and are an excellent way of analyzing and understanding a situation in the light of every possible circumstance. A country visit usually lasts about 2-3 weeks, during which SRs interact with both governmental and non-governmental actors, including human rights and civil liberties organizations, victims of human rights violations, affected communities, the concerned government officials and agencies at both the national and local level. These visits usually require freedom of inquiry, including access to relevant facilities, such as prisons and detention centers. The SRs then submit a report of their visit to the Human Rights Council, presenting their findings, conclusions and recommendations.