COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION ADOPTS RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
63rd session
18 August 2003
Afternoon




Considers Periodic Reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines




The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today adopted its observations and recommendations on the eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea on how that country implements the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Committee considered the second to tenth periodic reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the absence of a delegation to present the reports.
With regards to the concluding observations on the reports of the Republic of Korea, the Committee noted with appreciation, as a positive aspect, the adoption of the National Human Rights Commission Act in 2001, establishing a national human rights institution. The Committee also noted with appreciation the progress made in improving the asylum system and the process for determining refugee status.
The Committee said that it was concerned about the lack of specific information in the State party’s reports on acts of racial discrimination, and complaints and legal action by victims. It recommended, among other things, that the State party continue to take measures to improve the situation of all migrant workers. The Committee also encouraged the State party to expand and strengthen ongoing efforts to prevent trafficking and provide support and assistance to victims, wherever possible in their own language.
The Committee was also concerned about the trafficking of foreign women to the Republic of Korea for the purpose of prostitution and encouraged the State party to expand and strengthen ongoing efforts to prevent trafficking and provide support and assistance to victims, wherever possible in their own language.
In its review of the periodic reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Committee Experts, including Patrick Thornberry, the group’s country Rapporteur for the reports, raised a series of comments and questions including the need to look in depth into the implementation of the International Convention and its legal scope in the country; that a specific law be adopted prohibiting racial discrimination, on the lines of article 13 of the Convention; the definition of racial discrimination as contained in the Constitution; the need for special affirmative action to address the needs of the marginalized and depressed communities; whether to suggest to the State that it seek technical assistance from the United Nations in preparing its next report; whether the Committee could do anything to help Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to keep the dialogue alive; and whether neighbouring countries and organizations could help Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to understand and fulfill its obligations over the next four years before the next report was due.
Taking part in the debate on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were Committee Experts Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Régis de Gouttes, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Kurt Herndl, Ion Dionescu (speaking as member of the Committee), and Mario Jorge Yutzis.
The final conclusions and recommendations on the reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will be issued towards the end of the session, which concludes on 22 August. In preliminary remarks, Mr. Thornberry observed that there was a need to be critical, constructive and pedagogic in order to encourage Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to fulfill its duties in the next report. Constructive observations would be made, rather than noting all elements that had not been conformed to in the elaboration of the report. The possibilities of technical assistance would also be raised once more.
As two of the 169 States parties to the International Convention, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Republic of Korea are obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to eliminate racial discrimination.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 August, it will begin its meeting behind closed doors, and then will meet in public to review the situation in Malawi under its review procedure.

Reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
The second to tenth periodic reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, contained in document (CERD/C/378/Add.1), describe progress in the field of human rights and in particular in the fight against racial discrimination. The Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines provides the legal framework in which protection from discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed is afforded. The Constitution is the supreme law of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and subject to the provisions of this Constitution, if any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail and any other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.
By virtue of the Constitution, the law of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines expressly prohibits and outlaws racial discrimination. Not only private individuals and institutions but also the Government of the State are subject to the provisions of the Constitution, which provides an important avenue to the ordinary citizen in the instance of any form of racial discrimination. It is important to note that a person not only has locus standi with respect to himself, but also with respect to a detained person. There has been no record of any governmental legislation or policy being found to be unconstitutional on the grounds of racial discrimination.

Discussion
PATRICK THORNBERRY, Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the reports of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said the reports had been due from 1984 to 2000. The Committee had reviewed the situation there three times under its review procedure, for the last time in 2002. In these reviews, the Committee had noted that the initial and only report contained one sentence, to the effect that there was no racial discrimination in the country, and that protection against racial discrimination was provided for in the Constitution. The Committee had also severally times drawn attention to the possibility of making assistance available for drafting the report.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines included 32 islands, and the nation was an independent sovereign state in the Commonwealth, independent since 1979. Population growth remained a problem, and the country had suffered much from natural disasters. The population was made up of Africans, Amerindians, and East-Amerindians. It also appeared that the majority of the population adhered to various Protestant churches, but there was no information on Muslims or Hindus. There appeared to be a need to offer greater opportunities to the descendants of the original population. The ethnic composition, the country claimed, was not sufficient to develop statistical information with that particular group in mind.
The report did note that the original Carib population did appear to suffer a disadvantage socially, as compared to the rest of the population. The core document noted that English was the official and national language. Provisionally, the situation was assessed as a small population not devoid of complexity, with old and newer strata, with at least one group and possibly others defined as indigenous.
The current report was brief and made up of constitutional revisions and rules, drawing attention to segment 13 of the Constitution, which dealt with discrimination, whilst the first article defined the rights of every citizen. It was also stressed that the Government and the State were subject to the provisions of the Constitution. However, it did not specifically prohibit racial discrimination as indicated in the International Convention.
The country had a dualist system with regard to domestic law and international instruments, as the Constitution was the supreme law. There appeared further to be no redress for the violation of rights that were not listed in the Constitution, which did not include economic or social rights. There was a list in the Constitution of prohibited grounds for discrimination, as well as a list of exceptions, and the Committee needed to know more about the latter, particularly with regard to non-citizens and other groups. The basic prohibition of discrimination could include indirect discrimination, but the terminology was not determinant.
Positive legal methodology was evident in the report, and this should be borne in mind. Other Committees had noted problems including the non-enforcement of compulsory education, the pervasiveness of traditional social and cultural values which impeded the advancement of women, and there appeared to be a considerable amount of recycling with regard to the information available, for example, on children’s rights.
The report did not follow the Committee’s guidelines, but was clearly an improvement on the previous report. Many more questions could be devised on the basis of the guidelines, and issues that had not received appropriate attention in the report. There was no real information on the practical effects, if any, of the International Convention, and little sense of the situation in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and this made the task of the Committee a difficult one. Clarification on the Constitutional position was well received, but the document as a whole was insufficient.
Other members of the Committee also raised issues and made comments on such varied topics as the need to look in depth into the implementation of the International Convention, and its legal scope in the country; the recommendation that the Constitution be revised to bring it into line with the International Convention; that a specific law be adopted prohibiting racial discrimination, on the lines of article 13 of the Convention; whether complaints of racial discrimination could be resolved by administrative measures; the definition of racial discrimination as contained in the Constitution; reasons going far towards palliating the state of the report and the non-appearance of a delegation; the need for special affirmative action to address the needs of the marginalized and depressed communities; whether to suggest to the State that it seek technical assistance from the United Nations in preparing its next report; whether the Committee could do anything to help Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to keep the dialogue alive; and whether neighbouring countries and organizations could help Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to understand and fulfill their obligations over the next four years before the next report was due.
The Committee also noted that it appeared that both man and nature had conspired against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with massive structural damage being caused by natural disasters, and much of the State’s resources devoted to rebuilding rather than growth and the satisfaction of commitments towards treaty bodies. Experts agreed that there was a need to encourage the country and to urge it to submit the next report in a more satisfactory manner, and educating the country as to what its duties in the field of human rights were would perhaps contribute towards this.

Preliminary Remarks
In preliminary remarks, Mr. THORNBERRY observed that there was a need to be critical, constructive and pedagogic in order to encourage Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to fulfill its duties in the next report. There was clearly a mechanism at work as visible in the report submitted by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Constructive observations would be made, rather than noting all elements that had not been conformed to in the elaboration of the report. The possibilities of technical assistance would also be raised once more.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the Republic of Korea
Having considered the eleventh and twelfth periodic reports of the Republic of Korea, the Committee expressed its satisfaction on the progress reported. It also noted with satisfaction the adoption of the National Human Rights Commission Act in 2001, establishing a national human rights institution. The Committee welcomed legislation adopted in July 2003, which provided foreign workers with the same labour protection as domestic workers; and welcomed the amendment to education regulations, which allowed foreign children of compulsory school age, including those of undocumented migrant workers, equal access to local schools. The Committee also noted with appreciation the progress made in improving the asylum system and the process for determining refugee status.
The Committee regretted the lack of specific information in the State party’s report on acts of racial discrimination, and complaints and legal action by victims. The Committee reminded the State party that the absence of complaints and legal actions by victims of racial discrimination may be the result of the absence of relevant specific legislation, or of a lack of awareness of availability of legal remedies, or of insufficient will by the authorities to prosecute. The Committee remained concerned that the legislation of the State party did not seem to fully respond to the requirements of article 4 of the International Convention, and recommended that the State party review its domestic legislation in light of General Recommendations XV of 1993.
The Committee remained concerned that foreign workers in the industrial trainee programme and undocumented migrants did not fully enjoy their rights as provided by article 5, and recommended that the State party continue to take measures to improve the situation of all migrant workers, and that the next report contain information on the implementation of the relevant provisions of article 5 for foreign workers including industrial trainees, undocumented migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The Committee was also concerned about the trafficking of foreign women to the State party for the purpose of prostitution and encouraged the State party to expand and strengthen ongoing efforts to prevent trafficking and provide support and assistance to victims, wherever possible in their own language.



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