COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF SENEGAL'S REPORTS

CERD
61st session
7 August 2002
Morning



Senegal Has Launched Awareness Raising Campaigns
to Eliminate any Discrimination against Those Who
Practised Traditional Crafts, Delegation Says



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of the eleventh to fifteenth periodic reports of Senegal on how that country was implementing the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Nourredine Amir, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Senegal, said in a concluding statement that Senegal was moving on the right track in its effort to build a democratic society. In order to discharge its obligations under the International Convention, the Government had been taking measures and enacting legislation in compliance with the provisions of the treaty. Senegal had lived up to the expectations of the Committee and the dialogue between the two should continue, he added.
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts, the Senegalese delegation said that Senegal's Government condemned the caste system which discriminated against people who pursued certain traditional occupations. Awareness raising campaigns had been launched on several occasions to eliminate any form of discrimination against those who practised these crafts.
The following Committee Experts participated in the discussion: Linos Alexander Sicilianos; Regis de Gouttes, Jose Augusto Lindgren Alves, Ion Diaconu, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Patrick Thornberry.
The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Senegal towards the end of its three-week session on 23 August.
A new Committee member, Mohamed Aly Thiam (Guinea), made a solemn declaration this morning to perform his duty as member of the Committee impartially and conscientiously. He replaces his countryman Francois Lonseny Fall, who resigned as a result of his appointment as Foreign Minister of his country.
Also this morning, the Committee decided to consider the situation in Fiji tomorrow morning under its review procedure for countries whose periodic reports are seriously overdue.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the third and fourth periodic reports of Armenia (document CERD/C/372/Add.3).

Response of Senegal
In response to questions raised by the Committee Experts during the previous meeting, the members of the Senegalese delegation said that the Government was attempting to resolve the problem of refugees in the country together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Senegal had not yet ratified the 1954 and 1961 conventions relating to stateless persons. The Government was contemplating to ratify these conventions, and the legal ground for their ratification was being prepared.
With regard to the detention of asylum-seekers, the delegation said that when asylum-seekers infringed on the law of the country, they could be detained after a decision by a judge. In the case of unlawful behaviour by asylum-seekers, such persons could remain under police custody for a "reasonable" period. Upon arrival in Senegal, asylum-seekers were advised to respect the norms of the country and behave properly. However, the grounds to send them back to their country of origin depended on the seriousness of the offence committed on Senegalese territory.
Concerning the 23,000 Senegalese refugees in Gambia, who fled the country due to the conflict in the Casamance region, the Government had done all it could to attract them back by preparing all the necessary grounds for their security, the delegation said. In Casamance, there were now new elements of organized bandits who did not belong to the Casamance Democratic Forces Movement (MFDC). Such bandits were creating confusion among the population.
The Government of Senegal had the political will to uphold the human rights of its citizens, the delegation said. A number of human rights organizations were functioning freely; members of civil society were active in promoting their respective interests; and the Government was maintaining good relationships with the organizations working to promote and protect human rights.
The delegation said that women constituted 52 per cent of the Senegalese population; and 20 per cent them were heads of their families. The Government was encouraging women to assume their responsibilities within the society. As part of the Government's efforts to put more girls in schools, the education budget had been raised to 35 per cent of the national budget, which was one of the highest in Africa.
Responding to follow-up queries put by Committee members, the delegation said that in legislation, religion was included as a ground for discrimination in order to avoid any forms of discrimination based on religion within the society, 95 per cent of which was Muslim. So far the country had lived in religious harmony.
Complaints of human rights violations could be lodged directly to the Senegalese Human Rights Committee, the delegation said. The Committee, after analysing the admissibility of the cases, addressed the complaints to the various authorities for their consideration. The Committee was an independent body whose task was to represent the various trends in public opinion on human rights in the country.
Senegal was not a country where women were suppressed and discriminated against, the delegation affirmed. The fact that women played an important role in Senegalese society was proof that their equality with men was being respected. In many regions of the country, the traditional attitudes towards women had changed.
Concerning the situation of the caste system -- "the untouchables" --, the delegation said that black-smiths, weavers and woodcutters were considered to belong to the caste system. However, the Government condemned any form of discrimination and believed that no human being was superior over the other. Awareness raising campaigns had been launched on several occasions to eliminate any form of discrimination against those who practised traditional crafts.
Asked about the role of the "human rights window", the delegation said that cases that were not brought before the judicial institutions were addressed to the window for achieving reconciliation. People also preferred to bring their cases to the human rights window instead of taking them to court. At times, despite the merit of the court decisions, there were implementation problems, and people preferred to address their cases to the human rights window.

Concluding Statement
NOURREDINE AMIR, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the reports of Senegal, highlighted the importance of dialogue with the Senegalese delegation and the quality of the reports. He said that, although there was no perfect democracy in the world, Senegal was on the right track in its construction of a democratic society. The Government had been taking measures by enacting legislation in order to discharge the State party's obligations under the provisions of the International Convention. Senegal had lived up to the expectations of the Committee and the dialogue between the two should continue.



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