HR/CERD/98/26
18 March 1998


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended this morning that Ukraine continue to take all necessary steps to fully restore the rights of repatriated persons, including Crimean Tatars and others forcibly deported to different parts of the former Soviet Union some 50 years ago, affording them just an adequate reparation where appropriate.

The group of independent experts, charged with monitoring the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, further recommended that issues relating to citizenship of the repatriated members of minorities be solved as soon as possible, in accordance with international standards.

The remarks came in the wake of the Committee's examination last week of information submitted by the Government of Ukraine on measures taken to eliminate bias. As part of 150 States parties to the Convention, Ukraine is required to report periodically to the Committee.

In its comments, the Committee also expressed concern about reports of mistreatment by the police of members of the Roma population, especially those living in the Transcarpathian region.
Official, printed versions of concluding observations on all reports examined at this session will be issued Friday, 20 March, the final day of the Committee's annual winter meeting.

Also this morning the Committee took up a set of draft conclusions and recommendations on a report of Yugoslavia examined last week in the presence of a Government delegation.

The panel of experts will reconvene at 3 p.m. today to continue work on concluding observations on Yugoslavia. The Committee is also due to examine draft decisions on Papua New Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda.