COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES PUBLIC CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF ITALY

CERD
59th session
31 July 2001
Morning



World Conference against Racism Could Be One of the Most Important
Human Rights Events, High Commissioner for Human Rights Tells CERD


The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights this morning told the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that the forthcoming World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance had the potential to be one of the most important human rights events at the start of this century.

In her address to the Committee, High Commissioner Mary Robinson further said that the Conference could and should mark a breakthrough in attitudes towards racism and in strengthening the international community's determination to combat it. The World Conference, which would be held in Durban, South Africa, would have a particular relevance for the Committee in that it would provide an unparalleled opportunity to press States which had not yet done so to ratify or accede to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, she said.

Mrs. Robinson said that the drafting of a Declaration and Programme of Action had been a long and at times painstaking task and there was still considerable consultation and hard work to be done before reaching a final result. But she said she remained optimistic about the prospects of a good outcome.

Following the High Commissioner's statement, Committee Chairperson Michael E. Sherifis said that the World Conference would have a major role to play and that CERD was also ready to do the same. The themes of the Conference were identical to the purpose of the Convention. He also said that the Committee had been insisting that States enact legislation explicitly prohibiting racial discrimination.

Other Committee members also said that the draft declaration and programme of action were lengthy, complex and fairly difficult to focus on; and they underlined the importance of the follow-up of the Conference and the manner in which the Committee would be involved.

Also this morning, the Committee concluded its public consideration of the twelfth and thirteenth reports of Italy, presented in one document, after hearing the response of the delegation to its questions raised yesterday afternoon. The Italian delegation told the Committee that Italy believed that immigration should not be a problem as long as it was handled legally, adding that the presence of foreign nationals in Italy was a source of richness and contributed to the building of the nation.

In his summation of the discussion, Marc Boussuyt, the Committee member who served as country rapporteur to the report of Italy, said that the Government of Italy had been fighting the scrooge of illegal immigration which could be the cause of criminal acts. Italy was also working to establish a spirit of tolerance within the population with regard to foreigners.

Mr. Sherifis said that the Italian delegation had provided the Committee with a wealth of information and the Government was taking its obligations seriously.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations in the presence of the delegation of Italy towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 17 August.

Italy is among the 157 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on how it was giving effect to the provisions of the treaty. An 8-member Italian delegation was on hand during the two meetings to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee members.

The following Committee members participated in the debate: Mario Jorge Yutzis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Michael E. Sherifis, Patrick Thornberry, Agha Shahi, Regis de Gouttes and Tang Chengyuan.

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

Statement by the High Commissioner for Human Rights

MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the forthcoming World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance had the potential to be one of the most important human rights events at the start of this century. It could and should mark a breakthrough in attitudes towards racism and in strengthening the international community's determination to combat it. Durban would have a particular relevance for the Committee in that it would provide an unparalleled opportunity to press States which had not yet done to ratify or accede to the Convention.

Mrs. Robinson said that CERD, along with the other treaty bodies, had made a significant contribution to the preparatory process, both in written form and through the participation of the members in meetings, seminars and other events leading up to the World Conference. She said she shared the members' conviction regarding the need to reinforce political commitments with the firm moral and legal foundations of international law.

The drafting of a Declaration and Programme of Action had been a long and at times painstaking task and there was still considerable consultation and hard work to be done before reaching a final result, Mr. Robinson said. But she remained optimistic about the prospects of a good outcome. Over the past few weeks, in particular, there had been informal consultations by and among regional groups, bilateral discussions between States and other meetings. In addition to the World Conference itself, a wide range of special events was planned to take place in Durban, among them the Special Forum on the Voices of Victims organized by one of the members of the Committee.

Mrs. Robinson said that Durban would present a formidable challenge, in terms of searching for common ground and a constructive way forward. Arguably of even greater importance was to look beyond Durban to see what would lay after the World Conference. One area where there was considerable agreement among States was the need for effective follow-up to the World Conference. Without the commitment of all of the international, regional and national actors and the engagement of all sectors of society to follow up on the Conference, the Declaration and Programme of Action would be of little value, however carefully drafted. The Committee had a key role to play in ensuring that the outcome of the Conference was translated into real action that would improve the lives of those who were victims of racism and xenophobia.

It had become clear during the preparations for the World Conference that the nature of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance varied from one culture to another, and from one nation to another, Mrs. Robinson said. The Committee bore the heavy responsibility, through its role of monitoring implementation of the Convention, to guide the international community towards common interpretations and responses, bearing in mind that specific circumstances required specific responses.

In her conclusion, Mrs. Robinson said that the phenomenon of multiple discrimination was also of fundamental concern. Through the contribution of various actors and bodies to the perpetrators of the World Conference, that had become even more clear. Vulnerable groups, including women, children, persons affected by poverty or individuals suffering from serious illness such as HIV/AIDS might be subjected to additional discrimination, due to their descent or belonging to a particular race or national or ethnic minority.

Following the High Commissioner's statement, Committee Chairperson Michael E. Sherifis said that the Durban Conference would have a major role to play and that CERD was also ready to play that role. The themes of the Conference were identical to the purpose of the Convention. He also said that the Committee had been insisting that States enact legislation explicitly prohibiting racial discrimination.

Other Committee members also said that the draft declaration and programme of action were lengthy, complex and fairly difficult to focus on. They underlined the importance of the follow-up of the Conference and the manner in which the Committee would be involved.

Responding to some of the questions raised by Committee members, Mrs. Robinson said that the Group of 21 had come out with the present draft declaration and programme of action, reducing it by 40 per cent.


Response of Italy

In response to questions raised by Committee Experts yesterday afternoon, the members of the Italian delegation said that Italy was in favour of a policy in which foreigners were settled in the country in a regular and legal manner. Last year, 83,000 entries had been granted, among which 50,000 persons were given permanent residence while 33,000 received seasonal work permits. That situation had allowed many to become legal and had saved them from being victims of criminal groups that trafficked them into the country. Many of the persons admitted in that category were originals of Morocco, Albania, the Philippines and the former Yugoslavia. The total foreign presence in Italy was 1,251,994 as of December 1999.

Italy believed that immigration should not be a problem as long as it was handled legally, the delegation said, adding that the presence of foreign nationals in Italy was a source of richness and contributed to the building of the nation. The human rights of each immigrant, whatever his status, should be respected and guaranteed by law. Italy promoted the positive value of foreigners in the country by isolating and eradicating the causes that criminalized them.

With regard to the problem of reception centres for asylum seekers, the delegation said that there were 22 centres at international airports to host undocumented asylum seekers whose identities were to be verified. In addition, seven temporary resettlement centres were provided for such persons entering Italy.

Any foreign detainee was entitled to legal counselling and other assistance, even an individual who was not a resident of the country, the delegation said.

Asked if a detainee was made aware of his or her human rights at the time of detention, the delegation said that a pamphlet written in seven languages, which mentioned the rights of detainees, was distributed to each of them. In addition, a mechanism of monitoring the conditions of the detainee was put in place under the director of each detention centre. Knowledge of constitutional rights and the international protection of the rights of detainees had been added to the training programme of penitentiary personnel.

In order to tackle the problems related to trafficking in persons, the Government of Italy was preparing a bill against this phenomenon, the delegation said. The bill would give special power to the police to apprehend any criminal involved in trafficking in persons. In the past, trafficked women, who were intended to be exploited as prostitutes, had been liberated and they were socially rehabilitated. Since many of them came from outside, the possibility to stay temporarily in the country had been arranged for them.

Concerning the situation of minorities, the delegation said that Italian legislation differentiated between linguistic and historic minorities, a reference to the newly arrived minorities and historic minorities such as the Albanians in Sicily who settled many years ago. The "Zingara" or nomads referred to a group of Roma people who were not Italians. Among 120,000 Roma people in the country, only 30 per cent were considered as "Zingara", while the rest were Italians.

A question was raised concerning the rights of the Roma population, to which the delegation said that the phenomenon of the progressive settlement of the Roma people in different social structures had triggered a process of gradual sedentarization of the people. However, the lack of strong ties to the territory of the host country, as well as the lack of adequate professional qualifications, had resulted in considerable obstacles to access to housing.

Any discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, or colour was prohibited and such acts were sanctioned both under the civil and criminal codes, the delegation said. The use of emblems representing racial hatred or incitation to discrimination was also strictly forbidden.

The delegation said that concerning the recent anti-globalization demonstrations in Genoa on the occasion of the meeting of the G-8 Summit, the Italian authorities had not yet verified the involvement of fascist groups. However, there had been evidence that the armed "Black Block" or other anarchist groups had been involved. At least 2,000 trouble makers, armed and trained as urban guerillas, had created chaos during the demonstration.

With regard to racial manifestations in football stadiums against black players, the delegation said that the Government had taken severe measures to uproot such vulgar behaviour by imposing a series of penalties against playing teams and their supporters. Teams whose supporters were involved in such racial acts were penalized by not being allowed to play a number of games; and video filming was introduced to identify the culprits.

MARC BOUSSUYT, the Committee member who served as country rapporteur to the report of Italy, said that the delegation had responded to all the questions raised by Committee Experts. In addition, the report had dealt with illegal immigration as a source of problems faced by the Italian Government; however, it was noted that the foreigners themselves were not problems but the fact they lived in the country illegally had been a problem because at times this had prompted criminal acts. The Government had been fighting that scrooge and was working to establish a spirit of tolerance within the population with regard to foreigners.

MICHAEL E. SHERIFIS, Committee Chairperson also said that the Italian delegation had provided the Committee with a wealth of information and the Government was taking its obligations seriously.



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