- receive and consider the communications submitted by a State Party under Art. 11, if it considers that another State Party is not giving effect to the provisions of the Convention.
- receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set forth in the Convention. According to Art. 14, these communications may be directed against a State Party that has declared to recognise this competence of the Committee.
As for the individual communication, before submitting a communication to the Committee, individuals may lodge a complaint to the national body that a State party may establish for receiving individual petitions in case of violation of the rights enshrined in the Convention. In such a case, if they fail to obtain satisfaction from the national body, they can submit their communication to the international Committee.
Several requirements have to be satisfied for sending a communication to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:
- the State concerned must have accepted the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual complaints by individuals or groups of individuals under its jurisdiction;
- the communication must not be anonymous;
- all the domestic remedies must have been exhausted, unless they proved to be ineffective;
- the communication must not be under the examination or have been examined by another international body.
In relation to the information to be contained in a communication, we may recall:
- name, address and other identity evidences of the author(s);
- the name of the State against which the communication is directed;
- the provision(s) alleged to have been violated;
- the facts of the claim;
- remedies that were exhausted at the domestic level.
Once the communication has been registered, the Secretary-General may ask additional information that were not provided by the author(s). As soon as possible, the Committee transmits it to the State party in question and the latter may forward its observations in a reasonable time. At this point, the Committee ascertains the admissibility of the communication taken into account the above mentioned criteria and, only if admissible, it undertakes the exam on the merits. However, even if a decision on admissibility is adopted by the Committee, the petitioner may have this decision reviewed when the reasons for inadmissibility are no longer applicable.
When the Committee decides that the communication is admissible, it forwards its decision to the State party in order to allow national authorities to send explanations of the case and information on the steps already taken to face the issue within a three months period. All statements transmitted by the State party are forwarded to the petitioner(s) for additional comments. The Committee may also ask the State in question to adopt interim measures for avoiding irreparable damages to the person(s) who claims to be victim(s).
When the Committee reaches a final decision on the merits, it may also make suggestions and recommendations which are transmitted both to the petitioner(s) and to the State concerned. The latter is requested to inform the Committee about the steps adopted to follow such recommendations. The opinion is included in the Committee’s annual report to the General Assembly.