COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES PUBLIC CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS OF BELGIUM

CERD
60th session
14 March 2002
Morning



Belgium Will Ban Political Parties Advocating Racial
Discrimination, Delegation Says


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon concluded its public consideration of the eleventh to thirteenth periodic reports of Belgium with a Government delegation saying that a law was under way to ban political parties manifesting racial bias.

Before the Committee concluded its consideration of the reports of the Belgium on how that country was implementing the provision of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, it heard the response of the delegation to questions raised by Committee members.

The delegation said that the Government of Belgium was amending its Constitutional provisions in order to ban political parties that advocate racial discrimination. Already, a law had been adopted for imposing financial sanctions against political parties manifesting racial bias; the "Vlaams Blok" party was fined in 1997 and had paid 52 million Belgian Francs for distributing racist pamphlets.

Asked about the death of a foreigner during forced repatriation, the delegation said that a woman from Nigeria, Samira Adamu, had died aboard a plane that was taking her back to Togo from where she had arrived to Belgium. There had been tremendous difficulty in expatriating her and getting her to board the plane. Once she was aboard, and "when she took a certain decision, the policemen who escorted her put a cushion on her face, later she was declared dead".

Ion Diaconu, who served as country rapporteur to the report of Belgium, said that the dialogue with the delegation had been frank and fruitful. He said that the range of measures undertaken by the Government to fight racial discrimination were rich but they should be
coordinated to have more effect. The initiative to recognize the Muslim community in Belgium was
also a positive aspect, and detailed information on that issue should be included in the next periodic report.

Also participating in the debate were Nourredine Amir, Linos Alexander Sicilianos, Regis de Gouttes, Morten Kjaerum, Jose Augusto Lindgren Alves, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Agha Shahi.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the reports of Belgium before the end of its three-week session that concludes on 22 March.

Belgium is among the 161 States parties to the International Convention and as such it is obligated to file periodic summaries of its efforts to give effect to the provisions of the treaty. A 13-member Belgian delegation was on hand during two meetings to present the report and provide answers to the Experts' queries.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will examine the eighth to fifteenth periodic reports of Jamaica (CERD/C/383/Add.1).

Response of Belgium

In response to questions raised by the Committee's Experts, the members of the Belgian delegation said that the 1980 law on aliens had undergone a series of amendments regulating the situation of foreigners and asylum seekers. In addition, several provisions had been adopted or inserted in the regulations on aliens in order to improve their status.

Asked about the death of a foreigner during forced repatriation, the delegation said that a woman from Nigeria, Samira Adamu, had died aboard a plane that was taking her back to Togo from where she had arrived to Belgium. There had been tremendous difficulty in expatriating her and getting her to board the plane. Once she was aboard, and "when she took a certain decision, the policemen who escorted her put a cushion on her face, later she was declared dead". An inquiry into the incident was ongoing and it was expected that the situation would be much clearer in the months to come, added the delegation.

Responding to another question about the cause of the death of an Albanian asylum seeker, the delegation said that on 12 September 2000, Xhendet Ferri ,who was of Albanian origin, had been found dead during an escape attempt from a closed detention centre. The Albanian had been held in the detention centre because of his status as an illegal alien. An independent inquiry had been set up to elucidate the circumstances of his death.

Since the death of those persons, the Government had taken additional measures to train police officers escorting persons to be removed from the country forcefully and had taken security measures aboard the planes transporting those people, the delegation said. Medical examinations were also carried out on illegal aliens in order to decide whether they were fit to fly. Voluntary expatriation was considered before any forceful expulsion. Persons found guilty of illegal entry to Belgium could receive prison sentences and could be expelled.

Under the law on aliens, persons who were found in the territory of Belgium illegally and whose temporary permits had expired were subject to detention in closed centres, the delegation said. They were held in advance of expulsion from the country. The duration of detention could vary from two months up to eight months, depending on the acceleration of their cases. The Government also had difficulties in obtaining travel documents from their respective consular sections.

The delegation said that urgent medical assistance was provided for people under detention and to asylum-seekers. In addition, asylum-seekers had to undergo medical examinations when they arrived at processing centres, including medical checkups for tuberculosis. They also received social assistance until the end of their procedure.

The Government of Belgium had deposited an amendment to article 142 of the Constitution banning political parties that advocated racial discrimination, the delegation said. Already, a law had been adopted to impose financial sanctions against political parties which manifested racial bias. The "Vlaams Blok" party was fined in 1997 and had paid 52 million Belgian Francs for distributing racist pamphlets. The Constitutional amendment would help in combatting effectively the influences of anti-democratic parties in the country. At present, it was difficult to fight one right-wing party, whose influence was extremely widespread, not only at the Belgian level but also at the European level. However, democratic parties were united in rejecting the extreme party of Belgium.

Concerning the use of the Internet, the delegation said that racist movements were using some websites to disseminate their racist propaganda, the delegation said.

With regard to the Muslim community in Belgium, the delegation said that members of the representative body were elected by universal suffrage by the self-declared persons of the Islamic faith. The Muslim representative body was responsible for the appointment of religious teachers to work in the public school system, the secular administration of religious affairs, prison chaplains, cemeteries and ritual slaughter of animals. The body was also responsible for the training of Imams to replace the prevailing tradition of importing Mosque preachers from abroad. In Belgium, there were 55 Muslim communities with Mosques available to each community. Since the 11 September attacks, the representative body had played an important role and had expressed its views in the media about the distinction between acts of violence and Islam as a religion.

Asked about the concept of cohabitation in the Walloon and other regions between nationals and residents of foreign origin, the delegation said that the aim was not to segregate foreigners. In some cases, immigrants, wanting to be near their compatriots or in seeking lower house rent, converged in a given area.

The Government had not taken any steps to amend article 18 bis of the law of 15 December 1980 on foreigners, which prohibited foreigners from residing in certain communities. Although that disposition was contrary to article 5 of the Convention, which affirmed the right to freedom of movement and residence within the border of the State, no measures had been taken to suppress the article despite the Committee's recommendations.

Belgium had adopted a series of measures to facilitate the integration of foreign residents in the society, the delegation said. The number of foreigners who took up the Belgian nationality had now reached 1.5 million.

ION DIACONU, who served as a country rapporteur to the report of Belgium, said that the dialogue with the delegation had been frank and fruitful. The delegation had provided the Committee with additional statistical data and case laws, which should have been included in the report. He said that one should be careful with the emergence of biological racism. The range of measures to fight racial discrimination were rich but they should be coordinated to have more effect. The initiative to recognize the Muslim community in Belgium was also a positive step, and detailed information on that issue should be included in the next periodic report. The Government should also take into consideration that the fight against racial discrimination was a continued effort.


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