national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.” The second paragraph of the same article states: “This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens and non-citizens.” 4. A  rticle (2) of the same Convention states that: “States Parties condemn racial discrimination and undertake to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination in all its forms and promoting understanding among all races, and, to this end… (d) Each State Party shall prohibit and bring to an end, by all appropriate means, including legislation as required by circumstances, racial discrimination by any persons, group, or organization.” Article (5) of the Convention followed that: “In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article (2) of this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law…”. 5. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, established under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, which is assigned to interpret the provisions of this Convention, commented on paragraph (2) of article (1) thereof that: “1. Paragraph (1) of article (1) of the international Convention on the Elimination of all forms of racial discrimination defines racial discrimination. Paragraph (2) of article (1) excludes in this definition actions by a State party, which discriminate between citizens and non-citizens. Paragraph (3) of article (1) restricts paragraph (2) of article (1) by declaring that it is not permissible for States Parties with respect to non-citizens, to discriminate against any particular nationality.” 6. T  he Committee affirms that States parties are obliged to report fully upon legislation on foreigners and its implementation. The Committee further asserts that paragraph (2) of article (1) should not be interpreted in such a way that detracts from the rights and freedoms recognized and enunciated in other instruments, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights7 . 7. In the same context, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in the course of interpreting article (5) of the Convention, commented that: “2- Once a State imposes restriction on one of the rights listed in article (5) of the Convention ..., it must ensure that the restriction is not in conflict, in the purpose and in the outcome, with article (1) of the Convention, as an integral part of international human rights standards ..., 3- All persons living within a state must enjoy much of the rights and freedoms set forth in article (5), such as the right to equality before the courts; as for other rights, such as the right to participate in the elections, to vote, and to run for office; these are the rights of citizens 8.” General Recommendation XI of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on non-citizens (D-42/1993): http://daccess-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N94/032/64/PDF/N9403264.pdf?OpenElement 7  General Recommendation XX of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on non-citizens (D-48/1996): http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=A%2f51%2f18(SUPP)&Lang=en 8  31