CHAPTER IV

HUMAN RIGHTS7International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of ApartheidNew York, 30 November 1973Entry into force18 July 1976, in accordance with article XV(1).Registration18 July 1976, No. 14861StatusSignatories31Parties110TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 1015, p. 243.The Convention was opened for signature at New York on 30 November 1973.

Participant<superscript>1</superscript>SignatureRatification, Accession(a), Succession(d)Afghanistan 6 Jul 1983 aAlgeria23 Jan 1974 26 May 1982 Antigua and Barbuda 7 Oct 1982 aArgentina 6 Jun 1975 7 Nov 1985 Armenia23 Jun 1993 aAzerbaijan16 Aug 1996 aBahamas31 Mar 1981 aBahrain27 Mar 1990 aBangladesh 5 Feb 1985 aBarbados 7 Feb 1979 aBelarus 4 Mar 1974 2 Dec 1975 Benin 7 Oct 1974 30 Dec 1974 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 6 Oct 1983 aBosnia and Herzegovina<superscript>2</superscript> 1 Sep 1993 dBulgaria27 Jun 1974 18 Jul 1974 Burkina Faso 3 Feb 1976 24 Oct 1978 Burundi12 Jul 1978 aCabo Verde12 Jun 1979 aCambodia<superscript>3</superscript>28 Jul 1981 aCameroon 1 Nov 1976 aCentral African Republic 8 May 1981 aChad23 Oct 1974 23 Oct 1974 China18 Apr 1983 aColombia23 May 1988 aCongo 5 Oct 1983 aCosta Rica15 Oct 1986 aCroatia<superscript>2</superscript>12 Oct 1992 dCuba 1 Feb 1977 aCzech Republic<superscript>4</superscript>22 Feb 1993 dDemocratic Republic of the Congo11 Jul 1978 aEcuador12 Mar 1975 12 May 1975 Egypt13 Jun 1977 aEl Salvador30 Nov 1979 aEstonia21 Oct 1991 aEthiopia19 Sep 1978 aGabon29 Feb 1980 aGambia29 Dec 1978 aGeorgia21 Mar 2005 aGhana 1 Aug 1978 aGuatemala15 Jun 2005 aGuinea 1 Mar 1974 3 Mar 1975 Guyana30 Sep 1977 aHaiti19 Dec 1977 aHonduras29 Apr 2005 aHungary26 Apr 1974 20 Jun 1974 India22 Sep 1977 aIran (Islamic Republic of)17 Apr 1985 aIraq 1 Jul 1975 9 Jul 1975 Jamaica30 Mar 1976 18 Feb 1977 Jordan 5 Jun 1974 1 Jul 1992 Kenya 2 Oct 1974 Kuwait23 Feb 1977 aKyrgyzstan 5 Sep 1997 aLao People's Democratic Republic 5 Oct 1981 aLatvia14 Apr 1992 aLesotho 4 Nov 1983 aLiberia 5 Nov 1976 aLibya 8 Jul 1976 aMadagascar26 May 1977 aMaldives24 Apr 1984 aMali19 Aug 1977 aMauritania13 Dec 1988 aMexico 4 Mar 1980 aMongolia17 May 1974 8 Aug 1975 Montenegro<superscript>5</superscript>23 Oct 2006 dMozambique18 Apr 1983 aNamibia<superscript>6</superscript>11 Nov 1982 aNepal12 Jul 1977 aNicaragua28 Mar 1980 aNiger28 Jun 1978 aNigeria26 Jun 1974 31 Mar 1977 North Macedonia<superscript>2</superscript>18 Jan 1994 dOman 3 Apr 1974 22 Aug 1991 Pakistan27 Feb 1986 aPanama 7 May 1976 16 Mar 1977 Paraguay 2 Dec 2005 aPeru 1 Nov 1978 aPhilippines 2 May 1974 26 Jan 1978 Poland 7 Jun 1974 15 Mar 1976 Qatar18 Mar 1975 19 Mar 1975 Republic of Moldova28 Oct 2005 aRomania 6 Sep 1974 15 Aug 1978 Russian Federation12 Feb 1974 26 Nov 1975 Rwanda15 Oct 1974 23 Jan 1981 Sao Tome and Principe 5 Oct 1979 aSenegal18 Feb 1977 aSerbia<superscript>2</superscript>12 Mar 2001 dSeychelles13 Feb 1978 aSlovakia<superscript>4</superscript>28 May 1993 dSlovenia<superscript>2</superscript> 6 Jul 1992 dSomalia 2 Aug 1974 28 Jan 1975 South Africa14 May 2024 aSri Lanka18 Feb 1982 aSt. Vincent and the Grenadines 9 Nov 1981 aState of Palestine 2 Apr 2014 aSudan10 Oct 1974 21 Mar 1977 Suriname 3 Jun 1980 aSyrian Arab Republic17 Jan 1974 18 Jun 1976 Togo24 May 1984 aTrinidad and Tobago 7 Apr 1975 26 Oct 1979 Tunisia21 Jan 1977 aUganda11 Mar 1975 10 Jun 1986 Ukraine20 Feb 1974 10 Nov 1975 United Arab Emirates 9 Sep 1975 15 Oct 1975 United Republic of Tanzania11 Jun 1976 aUruguay19 Apr 2012 aVenezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)28 Jan 1983 aViet Nam 9 Jun 1981 aYemen<superscript>7</superscript>17 Aug 1987 aZambia14 Feb 1983 aZimbabwe13 May 1991 aArgentinaDeclaration:It is the understanding of the Argentine Republic that article XII of the Convention should be interpreted to mean that its express consent shall be required in order for any dispute to which it is a party and which has not been settled by negotiation to be brought before the International Court of Justice.Bahrain<superscript>8</superscript>Egypt<superscript>9</superscript>India"The Government of the Republic of India accede to the said Convention with effect from 17 August 1977."IraqRatification by the Republic of Iraq of the above Convention shall in no way imply recognition of Israel, or be conducive to the establishment of such relations therewith as may be provided for in the Convention.Kuwait<superscript>10</superscript>"It is understood that the Accession of the State of Kuwait [. . .] does not mean in any way recognition of Israel by the State of Kuwait."MozambiqueThe People's Republic of Mozambique interprets article 12 of the Convention as to mean that the submission of any dispute concerning the interpretation and application of the Convention to the International Court of Justice shall be at the previous consent and request of all the parties to the dispute.Nepal"The Constitution of Nepal contains provisions for the protection of individual rights, including the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to form unions and associations not motivated by party politics and the right to freedom of professing his/her own religion; and nothing in the Convention shall be deemed to require or to authorize legislation or other action by Nepal incompatible with the provisions of the Constitution of Nepal."His Majesty's Government interprets article 4 of the said Convention as requiring a Party to the Convention to adopt further legislative measures in the fields covered by sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of that article only insofar as His Majesty's Government may consider, with due regard to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that some legislative addition to, or variation of, existing law and practice in those fields is necessary for the attainment of the end specified in the earlier part of article 4."His Majesty's Government does not consider itself bound by the provision of article 12 of the Convention under which any dispute between two or more States Parties with respect to the interpretation or application of the Convention is, at the request of any of the parties to the dispute, to be referred to the International Court of Justice for decision."Republic of MoldovaReservation:Until the full establishment of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova, the provisions of the Convention will be applied only on the territory effectively controlled by the authorities of the Republic of Moldova.United Arab Emirates"The ratification of the United Arab Emirates to this Convention shall in no way amount to recognition of nor the establishment of any treaty relations with Israel."Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)With a reservation excluding the provisions of article XII of the Convention.Yemen<superscript>7,10</superscript>The accession of the Government of the Yemen Arab Republic to this Convention shall in no way imply recognition of Israel or the establishment of such relations therewith as may be provided for in the Convention.1The German Democratic Republic had signed and ratified the Convention on 2 May 1974 and 12 August 1974 (See <a href="/doc/Publication/CN/1974/CN.216.1974-Eng.pdf" target="_blank">C.N.216.1974.TREATIES-9)</a>, respectively. See also note 2 under “Germany” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.2The former Yugoslavia had signed and ratified the Convention on 17 December 1974 and 1 July 1975, respectively. See also note 1 under "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "Croatia", "former Yugoslavia", "Slovenia", "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and "Yugoslavia" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.3The Secretary-General received, on 10 September 1981 from the Government of Viet Nam, the following objection with regard to the accession of Democratic Kampuchea:"The accession to the above-mentioned international Convention on behalf of the so-called `Government of Kampuchea' by the genocidal clique of Pol Pot-Ieng Sary-Khieu Samphan, which was overthrown on 7 January 1979 by the Kampuchean people, is completely illegal and has no legal value. Only the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, which is actually in power in Kampuchea, is empowered to represent the Kampuchea people and to sign and accede to international agreements and conventions.As a party to that Convention, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is of the opinion that the accession of the so-called `Government of Democratic Kampuchea' constitutes not only a gross violation of the standards of law and international morality, but also one of the most cynical affronts to the three million Kampucheans who are the victims of the most despicable crime of contemporary history, committed by the Pol Pot régime which is spurned by the whole of mankind."Thereafter, similar communications objecting to the signature by Democratic Kampuchea were received by the Secretary-General on 14 September 1981 from the Government of the German Democratic Republic, on 12 November 1981 from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on 19 November 1981 from the Government of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, on 3 December 1981 from the Government of Hungary, on 5 January 1982 from the Government of Bulgaria, on 13 January 1982 from the Government of Mongolia, and on 17 May 1982 from the Government of Czechoslovakia.4Czechoslovakia had signed and ratified the Convention on 29 August 1975 and 25 March 1976, respectively. See also note 1 under “Czech Republic” and note 1 under “Slovakia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.5See note 1 under "Montenegro" in the "Historical Information" section in the front matter of this volume.6See note 1 under “Namibia” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.7Democratic Yemen had signed the Convention on 31 July 1974 (See, <a href='http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/1974/CN.203.1974-Eng.pdf' target='_blank'>C.N.203.1974</a>.TREATIES-8 of 19 August 1974). See also note 1 under “Yemen” in the “Historical Information” section in the front matter of this volume.8On 8 July 2021, the Government of Bahrain notified the Secretary-General of its withdrawal of the following reservation made upon accession: “The accession by the State of Bahrain to the said Convention shall in no way constitute recognition of Israel or be a cause for the establishment of any relations of any kind therewith.”9Upon accession, the Government of Egypt had formulated a declaration concerning Israel. For the text of the declaration, see United Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 1045, p. 397. In this regard, the Secretary-General received, on 30 August 1977, a declaration from the Government of Israel identical in essence, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, as the one made with regard to the accession by Kuwait (see note 9 ).Subsequently, in a notification received on 18 January 1980, the Government of Egypt informed the Secretary-General that it had decided to withdraw the declaration. The notification indicates 25 January 1980 as the effective date of the withdrawal.10The Secretary-General received, on 12 May 1977 from the Government of Israel, the following communication:"The instrument deposited by the Government of Kuwait contains a statement of a political character in respect to Israel. In the view of the Government of Israel, this is not the proper place for making such political pronouncements, which are, moreover, in flagrant contradiction to the principles, objects and purposes of the Organization. That pronouncement by the Government of Kuwait cannot in any way affect whatever obligations are binding upon Kuwait under general international law or under particular treaties. The Government of Israel will, insofar as concerns the substance of the matter, adopt towards the Government of Kuwait an attitude of complete reciprocity."A communication identical in essence, <i>mutatis mutandis </i>, was received by the Secretary-General from the Government of Israel, on 15 December 1987, in respect of the declaration made upon accession by Yemen.