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any of the rights set forth in this Convention. No communication shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State Party which has not made such a declaration.

2 — Any State Party which makes a declaration as provided for in paragraph 4 of this article may establish or indicate a body within its national legal order which shall be competent to receive and consider petitions from individuals and groups of individuals within its jurisdiction who claim to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set forth in this Convention and who have exhausted other available local remedies.

3 — A declaration made in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article and the name of any body established or indicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article shall be deposited by the State Party concerned with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who shall transmit copies thereof to the other States Parties. A declaration may be withdrawn at any time by notification to the Secretary-General, but such a withdrawal shall not afreet communications pending before the Committee.

4 — A register of petitions shall be kept by the body established or indicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, and certified copies of the register shall be filed annually through appropriate channels with the Secretary-General on the understanding that the contents shall not be publicly disclosed.

5 — In the event of failure to obtain satisfaction from the body established or indicated in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, the petitioner shall have the right to communicate the matter to the Committee within six months.

6— c) The Committee shall confidentially bring any communication referred to it to the attention of the State Party alleged to be violating any provision of this Convention, but the identity of the individual or groups of individuals concerned shall not be revealed without his or their express consent. The Committee shall not receive anonymous communications.

b) Within three months, the receiving State shall submit to the Committee written explanations or statements clarifying the matter and the remedy, if any, that may have been taken by that State.

7— a) The Committee shall consider communications in the light of all information made available to it by the State Party concerned and by the petitioner. The Committee shall not consider any communication from a petitioner unless it has ascertained that the patitioner has exhausted all available domestic remedies. However, this shall not be the ruie where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged.

b) The Committee shall forward its suggestions and recommendations, if any, to the State Party concerned and to the petitioner.

8 — The Committee shall : include in its annual report a summary of such communications and, where appropriate, a summary of the explanations and statements of the States Parties concerned and of its own suggestions and recommendations.

9 — The Committee shall be competent to exercise the functions provided for in this article only when

at least ten States Parties to this Convention are bound by declarations in accordance with paragraph 1 of this article.

ARTICLE 15

1 — Pending the achievement of the objectives of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peopies, contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, the provisions of this Convention shall in no way limit the reght of petition granted to these peoples by other international instruments or by the United Nations and its specialized agencies.

2 — a) The Committee established under article 8, paragraph 1, of this Convention shall receive copies of the petitions from, and submit expressions of opinion and recommendations on these petitions to, the bodies of the United Nations which deal with matters directly related to the principles and objectives of this Convention in their consideration of petitions from the inhabitants of trust and non-self-governing territories and all other territories to which General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) applies, relating to matters covered by this Convention which are before these bodies.

b) The Committee shall receive from the competent bodies of the United Nations copies of the reports concerning the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures directly related to the principles and objectives of this Convention applied by the administering powers within the territories mentioned in sub-paragraph a) of this paragraph, and shall express opinions and make recommendations to these bodies.

3 — The Committee shall include in its report to the General Assembly a summary of the petitions and reports it has received from United Nations bodies and the expressions of opinion and recommendations of the Committee relating to the said petitions and reports.

4 — The Committee shall request from the Secretary-General of the United Nations all information relevant to the objectives of this Convention and available to him regarding the territories mentioned in paragraph 2, a), of this article.

ARTICLE 16

The provisions of this Convention concerning the settlement of disputes or complaints shall be applied without prejudice to other procedures for settling disputes or complaints in the field of discrimination laid down in the constituent instruments of, or in conventions adopted by, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and shall not prevent the States Parties from having recourse to other procedures for settling a dispute in accordance with general or special international agreements in force between them.

PART III

ARTICLE 17

1 — This Convention is open for signature by any State Member of the United Nations or member of any of its specialized agencies, by any State Party