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 that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
proclaims 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, particularly
in regard to race, colour or national origin,
Observing that, in accordance with the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
States Parties to that Convention particularly condemn racial
segregation and apartheid and undertake to prevent, prohibit and
eradicate all practices of this nature in all fields,
Observing that the General Assembly of the United Nations
has adopted a number of resolutions condemning the practice of apartheid
in sports and has affirmed its unqualified support for the Olympic
principle that no discrimination be allowed on the grounds of race,
religion or political affiliation and that merit should be the sole
criterion for participation in sports activities,
Considering that the International Declaration against
Apartheid in Sports, which was adopted by the General Assembly on 14
December 1977, solemnly affirms the necessity for the speedy elimination
of apartheid in sports,
Recalling the provisions of the International Convention
on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid and
recognizing, in particular, that participation in sports exchanges with
teams selected on the basis of apartheid directly abets and encourages
the commission of the crime of apartheid, as defined in that
Convention,
Resolved to adopt all necessary measures to eradicate the
practice of apartheid in sports and to promote international sports
contacts based on the Olympic principle,
Recognizing that sports contact with any country
practising apartheid in sports condones and strengthens apartheid in
violation of the Olympic principle and thereby becomes the legitimate
concern of all Governments,
Desiring to implement the principles embodied in the
International Declaration against Apartheid in Sports and to secure the
earliest adoption of practical measures to that end,
Convinced that the adoption of an International Convention
against Apartheid in Sports would result in more effective measures at
the international and national levels, with a view to eliminating
apartheid in sports,
Have
agreed as follows:
Article
1
For the
purposes of the present Convention:
(a) The
expression "apartheid" shall mean a system of institutionalized racial
segregation and discrimination for the purpose of establishing and
maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over another
racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them, such as that
pursued by South Africa, and "apartheid in sports" shall mean the
application of the policies and practices of such a system in sports
activities, whether organized on a professional or an amateur
basis;
(b) The
expression "national sports facilities" shall mean any sports facility
operated within the framework of a sports programme conducted under the
auspices of a national government;
(c) The
expression "Olympic principle" shall mean the principle that no
discrimination be allowed on the grounds of race, religion or political
affiliation;
(d) The
expression "sports contracts" shall mean any contract concluded for the
organization, promotion, performance or derivative rights, including
servicing, of any sports activity;
(e) The
expression "sports bodies" shall mean any organization constituted to
organize sports activities at the national level, including national
Olympic committees, national sports federations or national governing
sports committees;
(f) The
expression "team" shall mean a group of sportsmen organized for the
purpose of participating in sports activities in competition with other
such organized groups;
(g) The
expression "sportsmen" shall mean men and women who participate in
sports activities on an individual or team basis, as well as managers,
coaches, trainers and other officials whose functions are essential for
the operation of a team.
Article
2
States
Parties strongly condemn apartheid and undertake to pursue immediately
by all appropriate means the policy of eliminating the practice of
apartheid in all its forms from sports.
Article 3
States
Parties shall not permit sports contact with a country practising
apartheid and shall take appropriate action to ensure that their sports
bodies, teams, and individual sportsmen do not have such contact.
Article 4
States
Parties shall take all possible measures to prevent sports contact with
a country practising apartheid and shall ensure that effective means
exist for bringing about compliance with such measures.
Article 5
States
Parties shall refuse to provide financial or other assistance to enable
their sports bodies, teams and individual sportsmen to participate in
sports activities in a country practising apartheid or with teams or
individual sportsmen selected on the basis of apartheid.
Article 6
Each State
Party shall take appropriate action against its sports bodies, teams and
individual sportsmen that participate in sports activities in a country
practising apartheid or with teams representing a country practising
apartheid, which in particular shall include:
(a) Refusal
to provide financial or other assistance for any purpose to such sports
bodies, teams and individual sportsmen;
(b)
Restriction of access to national sports facilities by such sports
bodies, teams and individual sportsmen;
(c)
Non-enforceability of all sports contracts which involve sports
activities in a country practising apartheid or with teams or individual
sportsmen selected on the basis of apartheid;
(d) Denial
and withdrawal of national honours or awards in sports to such teams and
individual sportsmen;
(e) Denial
of official receptions in honour of such teams or sportsmen.
Article 7
States
Parties shall deny visas and/or entry to representatives of sports
bodies, teams and individual sportsmen representing a country practising
apartheid.
Article 8
States
Parties shall take all appropriate action to secure the expulsion of a
country practising apartheid from international and regional sports
bodies.
Article 9
States
Parties shall take all appropriate measures to prevent international
sports bodies from imposing financial or other penalties on affiliated
bodies which, in accordance with United Nations resolutions, the
provisions of the present Convention and the spirit of the Olympic
principle, refuse to participate in sports with a country practising
apartheid.
Article 10
1. States
Parties shall use their best endeavours to ensure universal compliance
with the Olympic principles of non-discrimination and the provisions of
the present Convention.
2. Towards
this end, States Parties shall prohibit entry into their countries of
members of teams and individual sportsmen participating or who have
participated in sports competitions in South Africa and shall prohibit
entry into their countries of representatives of sports bodies, members
of teams and individual sportsmen who invite on their own initiative
sports bodies, teams and sportsmen officially representing a country
practising apartheid and participating under its flag. States Parties
may also prohibit entry of representatives of sports bodies, members of
teams or individual sportsmen who maintain sports contacts with sports
bodies, teams or sportsmen representing a country practising apartheid
and participating under its flag. Prohibition of entry should not
violate the regulations of the relevant sports federations which support
the elimination of apartheid in sports and shall apply only to
participation in sports activities.
3. States
Parties shall advise their national representatives to international
sports federations to take all possible and practical steps to prevent
the participation of the sports bodies, teams and sportsmen referred to
in paragraph 2 above in international sports competitions and shall,
through their representatives in international sports organizations,
take every possible measure:
(a) To
ensure the expulsion of South Africa from all federations in which it
still holds membership as well as to deny South Africa reinstatement to
membership in any federation from which it has been expelled;
(b) In case
of national federations condoning sports exchanges with a country
practising apartheid, to impose sanctions against such national
federations including, if necessary, expulsion from the relevant
international sports organization and exclusion of their representatives
from participation in international sports competitions.
4. In cases
of flagrant violations of the provisions of the present Convention,
States Parties shall take appropriate action as they deem fit,
including, where necessary, steps aimed at the exclusion of the
responsible national sports governing bodies, national sports
federations or sportsmen of the countries concerned from international
sports competition.
5. The
provisions of the present article relating specifically to South Africa
shall cease to apply when the system of apartheid is abolished in that
country.
Article
11
1. There
shall be established a Commission against Apartheid in Sports
(hereinafter referred to as "the Commission") consisting of fifteen
members of high moral character and committed to the struggle against
apartheid, particular attention being paid to participation of persons
having experience in sports administration, elected by the States
Parties from among their nationals, having regard to the most equitable
geographical distribution and the representation of the principal legal
systems.
2. The
members of the Commission shall be elected by secret ballot from a list
of persons nominated by the States Parties. Each State Party may
nominate one person from among its own nationals.
3. The
initial election shall be held six months after the date of the entry
into force of the present Convention. At least three months before the
date of each election, the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall
address a letter to the States Parties inviting them to submit their
nominations within two months. The Secretary-General shall prepare a
list in alphabetical order of all persons thus nominated, indicating the
States Parties which have nominated them, and shall submit it to the
States Parties.
4.
Elections of the members of the Commission shall be held at a meeting of
States Parties convened by the ecretary-General at United Nations
Headquarters. At that meeting, for which two thirds of the States
Parties shall constitute a quorum, the persons elected to the Commission
shall be those nominees who obtain the largest number of votes and an
absolute majority of the votes of the representatives of States Parties
present and voting.
5. The
members of the Commission shall be elected for a term of four years.
However, the terms of nine of the members elected at the first election
shall expire at the end of two years; immediately after the first
election, the names of these nine members shall be chosen by lot by the
Chairman of the Commission.
6. For the
filling of casual vacancies, the State Party whose national has ceased
to function as a member of the Commission shall appoint another person
from among its nationals, subject to the approval of the
Commission.
7. States
Parties shall be responsible for the expenses of the members of the
Commission while they are in performance of Commission duties.
Article
12
1. States
Parties undertake to submit to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, for consideration by the Commission, a report on the
legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures which they have
adopted to give effect to the provisions of the present Convention
within one year of its entry into force and thereafter every two years.
The Commission may request further information from the States
Parties.
2. The
Commission shall report annually through the Secretary General to the
General Assembly of the United Nations on its activities and may make
suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of the
reports and information received from the States Parties. Such
suggestions and recommendations shall be reported to the General
Assembly together with comments, if any, from States Parties
concerned.
3. The
Commission shall examine, in particular, the implementation of the
provisions of article 10 of the present Convention and make
recommendations on action to be undertaken.
4. A
meeting of States Parties shall be convened by the Secretary-General at
the request of a majority of the States Parties to consider further
action with respect to the implementation of the provisions of article
10 of the present Convention. In cases of flagrant violation of the
provisions of the present Convention, a meeting of States Parties shall
be convened by the Secretary-General at the request of the
Commission.
Article 13
1. Any
State Party may at any time declare that it recognizes the competence of
the Commission to receive and examine complaints concerning breaches of
the provisions of the present Convention submitted by States Parties
which have also made such a declaration. The Commission may decide on
the appropriate measures to be taken in respect of breaches.
2. States
Parties against which a complaint has been made, in accordance with
paragraph 1 of the present article, shall be entitled to be represented
and take part in the proceedings of the Commission.
Article 14
1. The
Commission shall meet at least once a year.
2. The
Commission shall adopt its own rules of procedure.
3. The
secretariat of the Commission shall be provided by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
4. The
meetings of the Commission shall normally be held at United Nations
Headquarters.
5. The
Secretary-General shall convene the initial meeting of the
Commission.
Article 15
The
Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the depositary of the
present Convention.
Article 16
1. The
present Convention shall be open for signature at United Nations
Headquarters by all States until its entry into force.
2. The
present Convention shall be subject to ratification, acceptance or
approval by the signatory States.
Article 17
The present
Convention shall be open for accession by all States.
Article 18
1. The
present Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the
date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the
twenty-seventh instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession.
2. For each
State ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding to the present
Convention after its entry into force, the Convention shall enter into
force on the thirtieth day after the date of deposit of the relevant
instrument.
Article 19
Any dispute
between States Parties arising out of the interpretation, application or
implementation of the present Convention which is not settled by
negotiation shall be brought before the International Court of Justice
at the request and with the mutual consent of the States Parties to the
dispute, save where the Parties to the dispute have agreed on some other
form of settlement.
Article 20
1. Any
State Party may propose an amendment or revision to the present
Convention and file it with the depositary. The Secretary-General of the
United Nations shall thereupon communicate the proposed amendment or
revision to the States Parties with a request that they notify him
whether they favour a conference of States Parties for the purpose of
considering and voting upon the proposal. In the event that at least one
third of the States Parties favour such a conference, the
Secretary-General shall convene the conference under the auspices of the
United Nations. Any amendment or revision adopted by the majority of the
States Parties present and voting at the conference shall be submitted
to the General Assembly of the United Nations for approval.
2.
Amendments or revisions shall come into force when they have been
approved by the General Assembly and accepted by a two-thirds majority
of the States Parties, in accordance with their respective
constitutional processes.
3. When
amendments or revisions come into force, they shall be binding on those
States Parties which have accepted them, other States Parties still
being bound by the provisions of the present Convention and any earlier
amendment or revision which they have accepted.
Article 21
A State
Party may withdraw from the present Convention by written notification
to the depositary. Such withdrawal shall take effect one year after the
date of receipt of the notification by the depositary.
Article 22
The present
Convention has been concluded in Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
Russian and Spanish, all texts being equally authentic.
