COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF KUWAIT'S REPORT

MORNING

HR/CERD/99/24
16 March 1999



Committee Adopts Concluding Observations on Reports
of Finland and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of a report presented by Kuwait on how that country implemented the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Answering questions raised by Committee experts, the delegation of Kuwait said that women enjoyed all their constitutional rights on the same footing with men. However, Kuwaiti women did not enjoy their political rights such as participation in the election process. Women in Kuwait were not allowed to vote.

Mario Jorge Yutzis, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Kuwait, thanked the Government of Kuwait for the positive and fruitful dialogue with the members of the Committee. He urged the Government to include in its forthcoming periodic report statistics on the racial composition of the population.

Also this morning the Committee adopted its concluding observations on the report of Finland and on the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was considered under the Committee’s early warning measures and urgent action procedures.

On the report of Finland, the Committee was concerned at the growing number of racist acts that were occurring in the country, a fact recognized by the State party itself. Despite this increase, in relatively few instances had judicial proceedings been initiated over such incidents, including those of discrimination in the labour market.

With regard to the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Committee noted with dissatisfaction the apparent one-sided characterization of the conflict in the report presented by the Government of that country.

Committee experts Yuri A. Rechetov, Peter Nobel, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Agha Shahi also participated in the discussion.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations on the report of Kuwait towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes on 19 March. A 12-person delegation was on hand to answer questions raised by Committee experts. Kuwait is among the 153 States parties to the Convention and as such is obliged to present periodic reports on how it implements the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the report of Mongolia.

Discussion of Kuwait's Report

In response to numerous questions raised by the Committee experts, the members of the delegation said that the Government was endeavouring to disseminate information concerning the Convention through various mechanisms. Knowledge about the rights in the Convention was essential for the people of Kuwait and for the Government in its efforts to eliminate any form of racial discrimination.

Concerning the situation of refugees, the delegation said that the centre aimed at hosting refugees from different countries had been abandoned and the occupants had been lodged in other places. At present, there were refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq who were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The delegation said that there were no Kuwaiti refugees registered with UNHCR. During the invasion, those who fled the country to escape persecution by the invading power were taken care of by the Government of Kuwait in exile.

On the issue of Kuwaitis who went missing during the invasion by Iraq, the delegation said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was involved in the search for those missing persons but only 126 cases were acknowledged by Iraq. The situation of those missing persons had to be treated on an humanitarian aspect rather than politically as perceived by the Iraqi authorities. The Government of Kuwait was doing everything in its capacity to retrace the whereabouts of those Kuwaitis who left behind them their loved ones, including their children and wives.

The Kuwaiti officials said that the Government, through the United Nations Compensation Commission, had continued to pay out compensation for those who lost their properties during the Iraqi invasion. So far, a large number of victims had been compensated, including those who stood against Kuwait during its dark days, said the delegation. The persons who received compensation were those who had been working or residing in Kuwait during the invasion and they belonged to different nationalities.

Women were treated on equal footing with men, the delegation went on to state. Kuwaiti women enjoyed all constitutional rights and other rights enshrined in international conventions to which Kuwait was a party. According to the delegation, women did not enjoy their political rights such as participation in the electoral process. Women were not allowed to vote because the country's electoral law did not include women's votes in the legislative assembly.

The Government had undertaken appropriate measures to implement article 4 of the Convention on the condemnation of all propaganda and all organizations which were based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race. Any person manifesting such racial superiority could be punished by prison terms of up to six months, said the delegation.

During the court proceedings of the individuals who attempted to kill United States President George Bush, the case was examined in public and the Government had provided the defendants with lawyers at its own expense. Despite the fact that the indicted individuals were all members of the Iraqi security network, there was not any sign of discrimination towards those individuals, and the trial was conducted fairly, said the delegation.

Concerning the situation of domestic workers, the delegation said that there had been bilateral talks with the Governments of those workers aimed at resolving certain problems arising from their recruitment and employment. Many of the domestic workers recruited from Asian countries had language handicaps which might make things worse during their stay with their employers. In some cases, some employers abused their employees either sexually or labour wise. A Kuwaiti employer who after beating his Filipino employee left her to die by denying her medical treatment was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Furthermore, the delegation said that there were about 292 recruiting offices in Kuwait to deal with domestic workers from foreign countries. They were accredited to the Ministry of the Interior and any recruitment needed a deposit of $ 15,000 in the Ministry to cover any expense incurred in the case of repatriation of the individual.

A question was asked concerning the situation of the groups of bidoons. The delegation said that they were illegal residents who were citizens of other States and they lived in Kuwait after hiding their true nationalities and identities. In the 1960s, when the process to determine the nationalities of individuals had been carried out, those groups of persons had not presented themselves to the committee established for that purpose. Now that the determination of nationality had been completed, the bidoons remained as illegal and stateless residents. The number of bidoons had dramatically grown from 7,000 in 1960 to 220,000 just before the invasion. The Government had issued identity cards and passports to 50,000 of them, said the delegation.


Concerning the bedouins, the delegation said that segment of the population was made up of Kuwaitis who lived in the desert parts of the country as nomads. They did not have the same status with the bidoons who only came to Kuwait to benefit from the good welfare services.

An expert took the floor to ask the delegation to provide the Committee with detailed information on the composition of foreigners residing in Kuwait.

MARIO JORGE YUTZIS, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Kuwait, said that there was confusion in United Nations documents between the terms "bidoons" and "bedouins". In its concluding observations and recommendations on the previous reports of Kuwait, the word "bidoons" was translated in the Spanish text as "bedouins".

Mr. Yutzis thanked the Government of Kuwait for the positive and fruitful dialogue with the members of the Committee. He urged the Government to include in its forthcoming periodic report statistics on the racial composition of the population. He said that for Kuwait to fully implement its obligations under the Convention, it had to adopt at the administrative and legislative levels measures to condemn organizations which promoted racial discrimination.

Concluding Observations on Finland's Report

The Committee found as positive the large representation of immigrant groups and traditional national minorities in the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations as well as their participation in the Commission against Racism, Xenophobia, Anti-Semitism and Intolerance.

The Committee was, however, concerned at the growing number of racist acts that were occurring in the country, a fact recognized by the State party itself. Despite this increase, in relatively few instances had judicial proceedings been initiated over such incidents, including those of discrimination in the labour market. The Committee regretted that the question of land ownership of the Sami had not yet been settled and that Finland had not yet ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. The Committee also expressed concern over the situation of immigrants and the Roma minority, particularly with respect of housing, high rate of unemployment and education problems.

In its recommendations, the Committee urged the Government to amend the penal code in order to fully implement article 4 of the Convention. The penal code should contain provisions declaring illegal and prohibiting organizations which promoted and incited racial discrimination, as well as declaring the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred an offence punishable by law.

The Committee recommended that Finland redouble its efforts to solve the land dispute with the Sami as soon as possible, in a manner that did justice to the claims of those people. It also recommended that additional measures should be taken at State and municipal levels to alleviate the situation of the Roma minority and of immigrants with respect to housing, employment, and education. In addition, the Committee recommended that appropriate action should be taken to ensure that access to places or services intended for use by the general public was not denied on grounds of national or ethnic origin.

Concluding Observations on Situation of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

The Committee, in light of the current tragic events in Kosovo, expressed its appreciation to the State party for having submitted additional information as requested by the Committee and contributed to a continuing dialogue with the members. However, the Committee noted with dissatisfaction the apparent one-sided characterization of the conflict in the report of the Government. The State party, in its report as well as in its oral statements, had made serious allegations of human rights violations committed by what was therein referred to as a terrorist organization, generally known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The Committee said that there was no willingness from the side of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to acknowledge that some of its past actions might have contributed to the escalation of the conflict, nor its responsibility concerning the disproportionate use of force by the State's law enforcement agencies and the military against the Albanian population in Kosovo.

Furthermore, the Committee emphasized that according to information available to it from the United Nations and other sources, it was an established fact that grave human rights violations had also been committed by the State party. The Committee, while condemning all forms of terrorist activities, reiterated its position that the State party's reference to the state of insecurity and terrorism could not in any way justify racial discrimination, including acts of violence and intimidation against a particular ethnic group.

The Committee, noting the State party's assurance of its willingness to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the leadership of the Albanian community in Kosovo, called upon the Government and other actors involved to adopt concrete and serious measures to that end, in order to achieve a just and peaceful solution to the situation. The solution should include the highest level of autonomy for the province of Kosovo and respect for the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In conclusion, the Committee found that it was in the self-interest of the people in the conflict area, as well as of the State party, that confidence was restored. That could only be achieved by according full and immediate respect to all human rights, including those protecting equality and non-discrimination, as well as respect of the norms of international humanitarian law and the rule of law.

Some members of the Committee expressed differing opinions on the phrasing of paragraph 4 of the concluding observations on the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, saying that it was unbalanced when it said that "...it is an established fact that grave human rights violations have been committed also by the State party".