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- 5. International Covenant on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1976)
- A. Grounding itself in the Charter of the United Nations, to which member-nations committed themselves to following in its basic principles to take action in enforcement of its basic principle that all humans should enjoy equal rights (preamble), the signees to this Covenant first declare that apartheid is a crime against humanity and in violation of international law, and constitute a serious threat to international peace and security, and they declare them criminal any organization, institutions or individuals who practice or promote apartheid, irrespective of whatever motive they may profess to have (articles I & III).
Furthermore, the signee state-parties commit to pass legislation to prosecute any individuals who promote or practice apartheid whether they are nationals or residents of their or any country, or are stateless (articles IV & V).
The signee state-parties also agree to fulfill their commitments as per the UN Charter to do whatever the UN Security Council or other organs of the UN decide or do in fulfilment of the principles of this Covenant (article VI).
The signee state-parties also agree to submit reports on their efforts to suppress and punish practitioners and proponents of apartheid to a special sub-committee of the Commission on Human Rights (articles VII & IX), and this Covenant empowers the Human Rights Commission to draw attention to the appropriate UN organ or agency issues that may be described in these reports concerning the practice or promotion of apartheid, and to demand back from those organs and agencies reports on their progress in following up on those reports (article X).
The Covenant also empowers the Commission on Human Rights to draw up a list of persons and organizations accused of practicing or promoting apartheid (article X), but it does not describe or limit what is to be done with this list.
The Covenant also empowers individual state-parties to call upon appropriate UN Organs or Agencies to handle complaints of apartheid (article VIII).
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| 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,
- Article I.
- 1. 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.
- 2. The States Parties to the present Convention declare criminal those organizations, institutions and individuals committing the crime of 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:
- a. Commit, participate in, directly incite or conspire in the commission of the acts mentioned in article II of the present Convention;
- b. Directly abet, encourage or co-operate in the commission of the crime of apartheid.
- Article IV. The States Parties to the present Convention undertake:
- a. 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;
- b. 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.
- 1. 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.
- 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.
- 1. 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.
- Article X.
- 1 . The States Parties to the present Convention empower the Commission on Human Rights:
- a. 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;
- b. 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;
- c. 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.
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