COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS DRAFT CONCLUSIONS ON BOTSWANA AND MALI

CERD
61st session
23 August 2002
Morning

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning completed consideration of draft concluding observations and recommendations on reports of Botswana and Mali.
The Committee is expected to officially release these and other conclusions on country reports examined during its sixty-first session towards the end of the day, before adjourning after three weeks of meetings.
In the draft text on the sixth to fourteenth periodic reports of Botswana, if adopted in its definitive form, the Committee will note the progress made by the State party through considerable investment by the Government in education, health and other welfare programmes, and progress achieved generally in the enjoyment of socio-economic rights.
The Committee will note concern at expressions of prejudice against the Basarwa/San people, including by public officials; and concern that in spite of the significant economic growth achieved in Botswana, 47 per cent of the population remained below the poverty line. It will recommend that the State party further identify the needs of minorities and indigenous peoples.
Among positive aspects in the draft conclusions and recommendations on the sixth to fourteenth periodic reports of Mali, if they are formally adopted, the Committee will note that the report contained useful information on the ethnic composition of the population and on the peaceful settlement of the situation in North Mali.
The Committee will note with concern the absence of information on complaints, charges and verdicts in connection with acts of racial discrimination; and will request information on the practical implementation of domestic legal texts prohibiting racial discrimination.
Botswana and Mali are among the 162 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Those ratifying the treaty are obligated to present periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to put the Convention into effect. The Committee is the only United Nations treaty body charged with monitoring the implementation of the International Convention.
Also this morning, the Committee decided to request that one of its sessions in 2003 or 2004 be held at United Nations Headquarters in New York in order to examine with priority the reports of States parties which encounter difficulties in attending meetings of the Committee in Geneva. It will requested the General Assembly to taken appropriate measures to implement that decision.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will deal with remaining business before closing its three-week session.

Draft Conclusions on Botswana
Responding to the sixth to fourteenth periodic reports of Botswana, the Committee, if formal adoption follows this afternoon, will note, among other things, progress made by the State party through considerable Government investments in education, health and other welfare programmes, and progress achieved generally in the enjoyment of socio-economic rights.
Among its concerns and recommendations, the Committee will note that the Constitution and laws adopted in Botswana did not seem to respond fully to the requirements of the Convention; and will recommend that the State party ensure that the Convention be comprehensively incorporated into domestic law.
The Committee will cite concern about the discriminatory character of certain domestic laws, such as the Chieftainship Act and the Tribal Territories Act, which only recognized the Tswana-speaking tribes; and it will recommend that recognition and representation of all tribes in Botswana be ensured on an equal basis in the Constitution. It will call for the Acts to be amended.
Further, the Committee will cite concern at expressions of prejudice against the Basarwa/San people, including by public officials; and concern that in spite of the significant economic growth achieved in Botswana, 47 per cent of the population remained below the poverty line. It will recommend that the State party further identify the specific needs of minorities and indigenous peoples.
The Committee will express concern about the ongoing dispossession of Basarwa/San people from their land; and will recommend that negotiations be resumed on that issue.
It will cite concern at reported cases of intimidation by local police in Gaborone against the Wayeyi people, and recommend that thorough inquiries be conducted. It will further recommend that human rights education of law enforcement officers be undertaken.
The Committee will express concern about information relating to the forced repatriation of some Namibian refugees; and it will recommend that the State party ensure that repatriation was carried out only on a voluntary basis.

Draft Conclusions on Mali
Among the positive aspects to the text, if adopted in its definitive form, the Committee will note that the report of Mali contained useful information on the ethnic composition of the population and on the peaceful settlement of the situation in North Mali. The report also contained information on the socio-economic situation of the country and the problems caused by poverty. The Committee will note with satisfaction that Mali was a party to numerous international instruments with regard to the protection of human rights, and its recent ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the minimum age of admission to employment.
The Committee will cite concern at socio-cultural inequalities still being suffered by the population in rural areas. The Committee will regret that the current report did not provide information on access by various ethnic groups to development, on the partition of resources between the different groups, and in particular on the resources provided to nomads.
Noting the information provided by the State party on the ethnic composition of the population, the Committee will regret the lack of sufficient information on the presence of different ethnic groups in public functions.
According to the draft text, if adopted, the Committee will note that, despite the full information provided on Constitutional and legislative texts prohibiting racial discrimination at the national level, the report did not furnish examples of practical implementation of the legal texts nor did it mention the possibility of invoking the Convention directly before the courts.
The Committee will also note with concern an absence of information on complaints, charges and verdicts in connection with racial discrimination; it will recall that the absence of complaints and charges of acts of racism in a country was no necessarily positive: no State was immune from racist manifestations.
The Committee will request the State party to provide a place for the Convention within the domestic legal system of Mali, as well as the possibility for individuals to invoke directly the provisions of the Convention before the courts. It will also wish to receive information on the practical implementation of legal texts prohibiting racial discrimination, as well as on the number of complaints and charges of acts of racism.
It will request information on the implementation of the National Programme against poverty, put in place by the Government in September 1998; and the measures taken in favour of particularly vulnerable persons, particularly women. The Committee will invite the State party to provide substantial information, in its next periodic report, on the situation of vulnerable persons, particularly children who were victims of exploitation, garibou children and women in rural areas; on the effects of HIV/AIDS and other diseases and the measures envisaged to limit and prevent them; and on the history and evolution of the "sinangouya" custom.



* *** *