COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF ITALY ON COMPLIANCE WITH CONVENTION

MORNING

HR/CERD/99/14
9 March 1999



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of a report presented by the Government of Italy on that country's compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Responding to questions raised by Committee experts, the Italian delegation affirmed that Italy had never applied discriminatory laws against immigrants and that there was no special law to deal with foreign workers. All immigrant workers were treated in the same manner as nationals and they also had equal access to courts to lodge complaints arising from labour disputes, said the delegation.on Diaconu, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Italy, said that the situation of Roma people was still of concern to the Committee. The immigrant population, whether illegal or legal, should be treated fairly and should be given special attention, he added.

Also taking the floor were Committee experts Ivan Garvalov, Luis Velencia Rodriguez, Michael Parker Banton, Deci Zou, Theodoor van Boven, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Régis de Gouttes, Peter Nobel, Shanti Sadiq Ali, Agha Shahi, and Yuri A. Rechetov.

Italy, as one of the 153 States parties to the Convention, must submit periodic summaries to the Committee on its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty. The Committee will issue its final observations on the report towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes on 19 March.

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

Discussion

A number of the Committee's experts raised further questions on the report of Italy this morning. An expert said that in 1997, the Minority Rights Group International had published a list of the main minority groups in Italy which included 1.6 million Sardinians; 600,000 Friulians; 303,000 South Tyrolese German-speakers; 90,000-110,000 Roma/Gypsies; 100,000 Slovens; 100,000 Moroccans; 100,000 Albanians; 75,000 Franco-Provençal-speaking Aostans; 50,000 Accitans; and 46,500 Tunisians, among others. However, the Italian report did not mention the existence of those minorities. Since Italy had acceded to the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Protection of National Minorities, what was its own interpretation of the term "national minority", since the Framework Convention did not contain such a definition?

Another expert said that the Decree-Law 122 of 1993 had also introduced other forms of crimes so as to punish behaviour such as the show, display or manifestation of emblems or symbols of organizations or movements inciting discrimination or violence on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. Such behaviour should be punished when it took place at public meetings or in places where sports events were organized. But it had created aggravated situations when applied. The expert wanted more explanation on the issue.

The first paragraph of the report had affirmed that cases of intolerance had been drastically diminished in number and importance, said an expert, and wanted to hear if that view was shared by the associations of those potential victims. The expert also said that there was unequal treatment of detainees in prisons. In addition, the Italian Government was charged by the European Human Rights Commission with three cases of discrimination concerning allocation of university teaching posts. Also, the expert wanted to know whether residing foreign football associations had equal access to football stadiums.

An expert said that serious discrimination prevailed against the Roma minorities. They were discriminated against in terms of housing and health; even their camps were fenced with wires, sometimes containing them in one place without proper running water and electricity. The report did not mention problems concerning the Roma people.

Several experts echoed dissatisfaction with the categorization of nationals coming from outside the European Union for the purpose of immigrant status. It was said that Italy was the only country that made a distinction between non-European and European nationals. The process of categorization of foreigners was of crucial concern, said an expert. The tendency to push back immigrants was also seen by some experts as a measure of intolerance. One expert said that Argentina had left its door wide open to host Italian migrants and they were always welcome. Italy should do the same for those who migrated to Italy. Another expert asked why the Italian Government did not accept the request for political asylum by the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) leader, Abdullah Ogalan.

In responding to the numerous questions raised during meetings yesterday and this morning, the members of the Italian delegation said that many of the immigrants landing in Italy were using the country as a transit point and went on to other European countries.

The delegation said that the Government was strengthening its legislation pertaining to racial discrimination by enacting new laws similar to that of Decree-Law 122 of 26 April 1993. The aim was to combat racially motivated crimes. The laws provided for a criminal penalty to be imposed on those who disseminated ideas based on superiority or racial and ethnic discrimination as well as those who instigated others to commit or who themselves committed racist violence.

The Italian fight against illegal immigration was two-fold, according to the Government officials. It required urgent measures to face the wave of mass clandestine immigration while preventive steps were also being implemented to forecast the need for migrant workers to be integrated into the country's labour force. In the latter case, the Government had to create pre-conditions for the acceptance of immigrants. The Government had also undertaken Mediterranean regional development schemes and joint ventures with neighbouring countries in order to prevent the exploitation of workers in black labour markets in Italy. Other measures were also taken in collaboration with neighbouring countries to deal with the immigration problem from its source. The delegation said that the Italian population was estimated to be around 58 million, out of which 891,000 were migrant workers. The number of illegal immigrants was estimated to be about 300,000.

The delegation affirmed that Italy had never applied discriminatory laws against immigrants. In addition, there was no special law dealing with foreign workers. All immigrant workers were treated in the same manner as nationals. They also had equal access to courts to lodge complaints arising from labour disputes.

Concerning the situation of the Roma, the Italian delegation said that the estimated 130,000 Roma were no more considered as a nomadic people. The Roma were a community already settled and integrated with the society. They were not discriminated against as alleged by some experts. The Roma fully enjoyed every right as did their Italian compatriots. No Government measures had obliged the Roma to live in camps. The camps where the Roma lived had not been fenced and they were not concentration centres.

ION DIACONU, the Committee expert who served as rapporteur to the report of Italy, thanked the Italian delegation for the positive dialogue with the Committee. He said that as mentioned by the delegation itself, Italy was found in a situation where it was in the course of implementing the provisions of the Convention. He said that the situation of Roma people was
still of concern to the Committee. The immigrant population, whether illegal or legal, should be treated fairly and should be given special attention. The setting up of a human rights commission was also essential to prevent racial discrimination, said Mr. Diaconu, adding that different legislation should be coordinated so as to avoid any lacuna in the legal system.