COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF ECUADOR

Committee on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination


29 July 2008


The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the combined seventeenth to nineteenth periodic report of Ecuador on how that State party is fulfilling its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Doris Melo, Minister and Sub-Director of the Department of Human Rights and Social Affairs in the Ministry of External Relations of Ecuador, introducing the report, said that Ecuador had implemented laws and established institutions on public policy with an aim to strengthen the goals and commitments of Ecuador with international human rights instruments. Incitement of racial discrimination, financing acts of violence or inciting people to commit such acts received a heavy fine and punishment. In connection with racism and racial discrimination and the advancement of the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples, various national institutions had been implemented and the rights of these peoples were protected under the Constitution. A number of social policies and programmes had been recently implemented in this regard. A number of situations still needed to be overcome at the national level, including but not limited to the shortage and lack of health services; school drop outs amongst Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian children, and the lack of resources for entities that received complaints on discrimination.

In preliminary concluding remarks, Jose Francisco Cali Tzay, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Ecuador, said that the dialogue had been a very positive experience. The presentation was presented in a new form and had provided a number of details that had been requested by the Committee. In the preliminary observations, the delegation would be congratulated for the new draft Constitution heading for a referendum in October 2008 and the reduction in the numbers of stateless persons. However, concerns remained with the Committee and he could not say at this juncture which problems would be highlighted, or what recommendations would be made, but that they would be outlined in the concluding observations at the end of the Committee's meetings on August 15. He said it was a great pleasure to work with the delegation.

Questions raised by Committee Experts included, amongst other things, the status of the Roma; the use of words in identifying ethnic demographics; access to education for the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian people; the use of Indigenous lands and the rights and protections granted for such use; the measures taken to promote and support women's development, specifically Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian women; differences between the Indigenous judicial system and the national judicial system; the promotion of all Indigenous languages; measures to combat rising illiteracy rates; illicit crop growing and peoples living on the borders; human rights training for police and armed forces; housing and development strategies for low income households and the new draft Constitution and how it gave effect to the Convention.

The Committee reviewed the report of Ecuador over two meetings and will issue its concluding observations and recommendations at the end of the session on 15 August.

Ecuador is one of the 173 States parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and as such is obligated to submit periodic reports on implementation of the provisions of the Convention. It is also one of the 53 States parties who have recognized the competence of the Committee under article 14 of the Convention to consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation by States parties of any of the rights set forth in the Convention.

Ecuador's delegation, which presented the report, included representatives from the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office at Geneva; the Ministry of External Relations and the Organization for the Development of Afro-Ecuadorians.

When the Committee reconvenes on Tuesday, 29 July at 3 p.m., it will begin consideration of the combined eighth to twelfth periodic report of Namibia.

Report of Ecuador

The combined seventeenth to nineteenth periodic report of Ecuador, submitted in one document (CERD/C/ECU/19), notes the Government of Ecuador's legislative measures taken to incorporate a range of initiatives into its domestic legal order and policies, with an aim to eliminate racial discrimination, practices that militate against dignified and equitable living conditions for its people, and obstacles to the social, political and economic development of the country. Further, the report notes special measures taken by Ecuador to ensure the proper development and protection of minorities susceptible to racial discrimination, including the creation and strengthening of State bodies and public-private bodies involving both State and civil society. The Government of Ecuador has taken steps to integrate indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian women in the political process and eliminate double discrimination on grounds of ethnic origin and gender. Moreover, the Government of Ecuador notes an explanation of the inter-linkages, objectives and missions, as well as the delimitation of the responsibilities, of the various national institutions responsible for the strengthening and advancement of the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples: the Council for the Development of Ecuadorian Nationalities and Peoples, the Council for Afro-Ecuadorian Development, the Development Project for Indigenous and Black Peoples of Ecuador and the Ombudsman's Office.

On excessive use of force by the police and armed forces, the Ecuadorian Government has introduced human rights as a subject in all police training courses at all levels. The Equal Opportunities Plan 2005-2009 and the Indigenous Women's Conference in March 2004 are some of the recent measures taken by the Government of Ecuador to promote and protect women's human rights and achieve gender equality. Furthermore, the Commission for Public Coordination of Human Rights, an inter-ministerial mechanism to ensure compliance with international human rights obligations, set up in August 2003 the Working Group against Racial Discrimination, the body that prepares the State party's reports on the Convention and follows up on the Committee's comments in conjunction with civil society organizations working to combat racial discrimination. The Working Group also coordinated local implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and information on the steps taken at the national level was also noted in the report.

Presentation of Report

DORIS MELO, Minister and Sub-Director of the Department of Human Rights and Social Affairs in the Ministry of External Relations of Ecuador, introducing the report, said that Ecuador respected human rights and would continue to do so. It had been a State party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination since 1966 and to various other international human rights instruments and mechanisms. Under article 17 of the Constitution of Ecuador, adopted in 1998, the State guaranteed to all its inhabitants, without discrimination of any kind, the free and effective exercise and enjoyment of the human rights established in the Constitution and the international declarations, covenants, conventions and other instruments currently in force. Ecuador took steps to ensure the effective enjoyment of those rights through ongoing and periodic plans and programmes. In addition, under article 19 of the Constitution, “The rights and guarantees established in the Constitution and international instruments did not exclude others deriving from the nature of the individual and necessary to his or her full moral and material development.” The rights of indigenous people were specifically mentioned in the Constitution and particular attention was also paid to young children, women and the elderly. The Criminal Code contained guarantees set forth in the Constitution, which criminalized racial discrimination. Specifically, incitement of racial discrimination, financing acts of violence or inciting people to commit such acts, received a heavy fine and punishment in Ecuador. Further, there was also a heavy sanctioning of public institutions and civil servants if involved in the instigation of such acts.

In connection with racism and racial discrimination and the advancement of the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples, various national institutions had been implemented, noted Ms. Melo. These included the Council for the Development of Ecuadorian Nationalities and Peoples, the Council for Afro-Ecuadorian Development, the Development Project for Indigenous and Black Peoples of Ecuador and the Ombudsman's Office. The Ombudsman's Office specifically dealt with the protection of all citizens. Further on social policies, the national directorate was set-up in 1992 to promote literacy and education campaigns.

Ms. Melo said that the laws and institutions on public policy were established with an aim to strengthen the goals and commitments of Ecuador with international human rights instruments. A series of issues led to a number of plans, with regard to and amongst others, the rights of indigenous people, people of African descent, the elderly and detainees. It was noted that amongst the policies promulgated were the rights of people of African descent. Further, the policies on the Afro-Ecuadorian people were set-up to generate a culture of respect and within that plan there was also a special chapter addressing the indigenous people affirming social and cultural values to live in freedom and liberty in Ecuador. Consultations with both groups were conducted to set standards and cooperation was important in ensuring that there was respect for their rights. The 2007-2010 National Plan was noted with importance as it was established through a rights based approach with the principles of respect and equality and constituted the foundation for public management of human beings rights.

In addition to the many social policies already mentioned, Ms. Melo noted that with regard to housing the Government had endeavoured to overcome concerns of housing shortages and access to affordable housing. Specifically policies targeted the rural areas and the marginalized citizens who tended to be from the Afro-Ecuadorian and Indigenous communities. In response to the housing crises, housing vouchers were introduced. The programme was run by the Rural Development Association and was intended for housing reform and for purchase of housing. The vouchers were approximately the value of 2,500 dollars. Also, a number of incentives had been implemented for support of affordable housing.

Another important social policy carried out by the Government was the implementation of the system for a voucher for human development, which was intended to support low income households. In addition to the vouchers, the Government had also facilitated loans encouraging economic development in those areas of the community. Ms. Melo said that Ecuador was also moving to universal health care, with the aim to promote, strengthen and broaden healthcare systems across the country to provide services in family and community centres. To date the Government of Ecuador has 460 basic health teams trained throughout the country; 5,000 lines of credit for doctors and it had strengthened all levels of care for young children, the elderly and women in an effort to reach people in most need all over the country.

Furthermore, education was also central to the Government of Ecuador's newly established social policies aimed at combating racial discrimination, said Ms. Melo. The policies were aimed at addressing all sectors and the main objective was to reform the curriculum, creating high quality education at all levels. Widespread training programmes for teachers had been set-up with 40,000 teachers trained each year. The Government had removed registration fees, which had previously posed a limitation to education for larger families. Textbooks and uniforms were provided free of charge throughout the country aimed at doing away with illiteracy.

Food supply was amongst other concerns, said Ms. Melo, and it had become such a problem that it was influencing Government policy. The Government of Ecuador aimed to improve the food quality for lower income households; provide education on nutrition; and promote the need for three meals a day especially for mothers and children under the age of 5 and up to the age of 18 years old. Another social policy noted was the Gender Plan 2005-2009, where women were consulted on their needs. Many expressed the need to combat domestic violence, particularly, with women from the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian communities. Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian women had been trained on how to participate in public life in Ecuador; however challenges facing the achievement of this goal and others remained to be tackled.

Ms. Melo said that some challenges remained for the goal to strengthen the need for citizens to respect their rights before the law. A number of situations needed to be overcome at the national level, including the shortage and lack of housing and health services; high indicators of school drop outs amongst Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian children; the lack of resources for entities that received complaints on discrimination which had resulted in limited numbers of complaints being received and processed; Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples limited access to the new media and as such updated and relevant information on the world wide web for example; cultural, political and economic exclusion, which remained for the most vulnerable sections of society; and the lack of representation of Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian people in attaining high profile jobs and the extremely low and alarming numbers of such students in institutions of higher education. The Government through inclusive policy had been addressing the structural and cultural marginalization of poverty. Through policy standards, plans and programmes the Government attempted to achieve equity for the full achievement of all rights for its people and as such the Government was looking into how to change and strengthen existing institutions and policies.

Response by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance

Responding to the list of issues submitted by the Committee in advance with regard to the development strategy for indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples, the delegation noted that the current Government was working with agencies for a development strategy for the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples living in rural areas. On the specific policies with regard to the participation of women, the Equal Opportunity Plan which the National Council of Women had been carrying out since 1998 was noted as a State policy aimed at ensuring the broad participation of women. Further it established economic rights; better access to credit and political participation for Indigenous women, and education and health policies for the benefit of the female population in Ecuador. On the question of offensive acts, and measures to combat such acts, the Decree 1979 was noted. It established offensive acts such as racial discrimination as punishable, especially when these acts were committed by State officials.

Committee Experts had asked Ecuador to provide more details on the comparison of relations between the functions of the Indigenous judicial system and that of the ordinary judicial system in Ecuador. The delegation said that a draft would be submitted covering the elements of both systems to the Committee and that the Government would ensure that the laws of both were reflected in Ecuador's legal system. Further, the law ensured the compatibility of justice for the Indigenous judicial system to the extent that it was compatible with the national system.

On the question of consultation with Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians on use of their land and resources, the delegation said that article 4 of the Constitution recognized the right of the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples to be consulted when any of their resources were exploited. Further on 22 April 2008 a decree was passed which dealt with the consultation of natural resources, in which it stated that a project must obtain an environmental permit in order to be carried out and such a permit would only granted if informed consultation was undergone and consent was given. If and when such projects were accepted, time and space for details of such projects and their benefits and effects would be discussed at length with the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples.

The measures and steps taken for the respect and understanding of women's rights had been noted and the Committee had asked what had been done to further address such issues. The delegation said that this behaviour needed to be overcome through education for long-term guarantees. The National Women's Council had begun work on programmes with local and national authorities to disseminate the needs and respect for women's rights. An incentive had been established to further the progress of women, including their participation in society through credits from the Women's Bank which had been set-up, encouraging the start-up of small businesses.

With regard to the cases of violence and the harm done to the people living on the borders with regard to illicit crop growing, the delegation said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Border Affairs Department in Colombia were working on resolving the issue of illicit crop growing, but to date they had not yet had any developments to present. A Committee had also been set-up to review the human rights situation.

On the question of rising illiteracy rates in the country, the delegation said there was the National Programme for Bilingual Education which had been set-up to combat the issue. It included literacy training in local languages, where approximately 9,080 people had benefited from the programme, which had specifically reduced the number of illiterate Indigenous people. The Government had also designed policy increasing salaries for teachers, which was a major motivation and incentive to strive to provide better services in addressing the need for better education and easier access for low income households. Moreover, free textbooks and free registration fees were among other measures taken to address the issue.

On friendly arrangements between the Government and Indigenous peoples, the National Department for Indigenous Peoples functioning since 2001, now called the National Human Rights Commission for the Indigenous People, provided an avenue for a complaints mechanism. Between 2005 and 2206, 259 complaints were received dealing with a variety of issues, such as the right to property, education and labour rights. On human rights training, the delegation said that under the National Human Rights Plan, providing such training had been a State policy since 1998. Various workshops had been held on topics including, but not limited to: respect for the elderly, migrants, refugees, and sexual diversity. Over 2,000 citizens benefited from such workshops.

On questions on the measures taken to combat discrimination of the Afro-Ecuadorian people, the delegation noted that through education positive results for the future were realized. A regulation was designed to build awareness on the diversity and value of the diversity for all citizens and as a result a number of proposals through local Government had been converted into local programmes. Further on human rights training for members of the police force, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights 2007 planned workshops on diversity, gender and non-discrimination to mention a few, which were scheduled to begin in July 2008 followed by a campaign against racism scheduled for the end of 2008. Moreover, the Ombudsman's Office was responsible for the implementation of courses for police and armed forces, which were among further measures taken to train law enforcement officials.

Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts

JOSE FRANCISCO CALI TZAY, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Ecuador, said that the report contained very important information, assertions and analysis, which the Committee had requested. Ecuador was drafting a new magna carta and it would be important to know how it complied with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and other international human rights instruments. With respect to the criminalization of racial conduct, it was necessary to criminalize such behaviour. There was a report prepared by a non-governmental organization regarding arbitrary detention of “black” people, which had been reported by phone and as such the delegation was requested to elaborate on the case for clarification. It was noted with importance that the delegation clearly defined the “black population” as mentioned throughout the report.

Further Mr. Cali Tzay noted that an issue of concern for the Committee was the extracting of subsoil from lands of the indigenous peoples. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples gave greater effect to such a concern, according to which the indigenous people would be consulted before any project was implemented. Some projects to exploit oil were noted in which the indigenous population was not consulted. There was still use in everyday language and in some media of discriminatory terms or in contexts to stereotype these peoples in a negative context. The delegation was requested to investigate such cases and provide further details on what steps had or would be taken to address this issue. Further, the delegation was asked to give examples of how they were combating discrimination towards the Indigenous people and people of African descent. There was mention that there were particular problems specifically with women, in particular femacide and the Rapporteur asked what measures had been taken to combat this problem.

A Committee Expert asked which non governmental organizations participated in drafting the report and which were participating in the Durban Review and Programme of Action. What were the practical examples of remedies for the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian people for compensation, in consideration of the depletion of their lands? In connection with the Afro-Ecuadorian population there was apparently more of these people than represented in the statistics, and as such what measures had been made to combat objective and subjective discrimination to which this group was victim? The report mentioned “the living well system”, and the delegation was asked to give further details on such a regime.

A Committee Expert said that the report provided a great deal of data and statistics. The Expert noted that the nationalities and cultures were different and that there were different school and employment rates, which gave rise to various kinds of discrimination amongst the nationalities and peoples in Ecuador. In the report there was a case where Indigenous people were not consulted when a project was set-up for the drilling of oil. Any community must be consulted and informed and it must be an informed consent concerning natural resources and ancestral land.

It was noted that a Roma population existed, and that there was difficulty in dealing with their rights, however a first step had been taken to establish the means to their rights with recognition of the group.

A Committee Expert noted that it was very positive that the State party had acceded to the multilateral human rights instruments and that it had reservations on the Convention. This showed Ecuador's' attachment to the protection of human rights. Ecuador had also responded to the recommendations of the Committee and disseminated it to the public. Specifically on a question on teaching indigenous languages, the report contained some but not all the details. The languages should be written, and the Expert asked whether there were textbooks in all the languages and if there was there cooperation with neighbouring countries? Further he asked how different ethnic groups were distinguished. Further information on the human rights textbooks and the number of Afro-Ecuadorian and Indigenous peoples in the police force was requested of the delegation. Clarification on the status of the Roma was requested on whether they were considered as nomads or stateless peoples, and if so that would not exempt them from the right to protection.

The composition of the delegation and the presence of one person of African origin was an indication of the social policy of the Ecuadorian Government and was a very positive element which should be seen in other national and international bodies, noted a Committee Expert. He asked whether there were any studies giving details specifically with Afro-Ecuadorians and strategies with a view of increasing the participation of these people in awareness making. He noted that this was important to know within the framework of the new draft legislation of the Constitution to be adopted, and asked whether there were specific measures which gave access to employment, education and political participation for the indigenous and afro-Ecuadorian people specifically.

A Committee Expert noted that the Roma had been described as gypsy and not Ecuadorian, it was suggested that perhaps the Roma were not considered Indigenous but were a unique ethnic minority, further explanation on the matter was requested from the delegation. It was stated that the Roma were “considered” in the report, and as such it was asked what they were considered to be granted by the State. Structural nomadism was mentioned in the written report, the delegation was asked what was the meaning behind such a term, nomadic peoples did not have structure and thus that was why they were considered nomads. Further, the mention of transnational people was made in the report and caused confusion, and therefore the delegation was asked what that meant and what were these people were subject to and on what basis?

Response by Delegation to Oral Questions

In response to oral questions raised by Committee Experts the delegation noted that a number of questions would be covered in written replies that would be submitted by the delegation at a later date. With regard to the application of the Convention in domestic law, the delegation said that article 17 guaranteed to all inhabitants, without discrimination of any kind, the free and effective exercise and enjoyment of the human rights established in the Constitution and the international declarations, covenants, conventions and other instruments currently in force. Also, article 163 ensured that all conventions and international treaties to which Ecuador was a member to were applicable in domestic law.

There was concern with regard to the case of the Afro-Ecuadorian people who were detained on 13 April 2008 after being picked up in a local city park. The delegation said that the Government had expressed its apologies in public to the Afro-Ecuadorian people detained and to all the Afro-Ecuadorian peoples since the case took place. On the question of what “black people” meant, an anthropological view was used as a reference by the delegation. There were many different identities forged throughout history which had changed throughout time, for example before in Ecuador the Afro-Ecuadorians were called “brown people” or “dark people”, but as the identities of these people developed, the identity was built and changed where the reference changed to “black people” the word black or negro was pejorative, however, when these people went to North America that word meant slave, therefore there was a return to the use of the word “black”. Therefore the pejorative meaning of the use of the word “black” was turned around to be used in a positive way. However, later in the formation of the Constitution the word “black” was replaced with Afro-Ecuadorian as it did not have any negative connotations.

On the question of the use of land of Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian people, article 83 of the Constitution protected the rights of the Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples to be consulted and informed if their land was to be used for a project of extraction of minerals or other resources. On the questions of how the Indigenous justice system vis-à-vis the national justice system worked, the delegation said that the authorities of the Indigenous people had the right to settle problems in accordance with their customs and laws, in so as long as those settlements ran in line with the national justice system. On the questions with regard to the Roma, the Government of Ecuador would later submit written answers to the Committee. With regard to femacide, specific studies had not yet been conducted with regard to indigenous women.

On the questions raised by Committee Experts on what “the living well system” meant, the delegation said that it was a programme and this term was used in a new project which currently was before the Government as part of the draft Constitution and as of yet was not part of the law. On the measures taken to teach Indigenous languages, the delegation said that each year 5,000 texts on Indigenous languages were distributed in the country and the National Secretariat for Inter-Cultural Specialization was in charge of developing Indigenous languages in the country and was mandated to further the development of these languages throughout the country.

Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts

In a second round of questions, an Expert expressed concern once again about the term “Moreno” or “Dark” in post census studies, and said that if those words had been used before and now the terms had been changed to Afro-Ecuadorian there could be large discrepancies in the numbers of each demographic group. Moreover, for example the use of the different terms, “Black”, “African” and “Colombian” all had an effect on the census. If a study was conducted on how Afro-Ecuadorian people viewed themselves, there might be surprises. It was suggested as an idea that the delegation might bear in mind for the future a project of surveying how people viewed themselves, which might shed more light on the actual situation and give a more accurate picture of the demographic statistics on the ground.

A Committee Expert asked what Ecuador's approach was exactly on the measures mentioned in the written report and oral replies with regard to the maintenance and support of Indigenous languages by re-writing textbooks to be translated into the Indigenous languages. It was a surprise that the delegation note in their written report that the Spanish language was the language of inter-culturality. It was of great concern as it implied that part of society was being forced to be multicultural, while the other did not have to conform. Further details were requested on Ecuador's position. An Expert noted concern with regard to the delegation's comment that the Roma could not be covered by international conventions and were transnational people. He asked was it not possible for the Roma to be covered under the National Legislation of Ecuador. Furthermore, he asked what the legal status of the Roma was in Ecuador.

Self identification statistics would never be static, but were affected by psychological and political factors, noted a Committee Expert. There could be double identities with all groups, for example one could be Roma and Afro-Ecuadorian. He asked what collective rights were granted to such groups in Ecuador.

Replies by the Delegation

In response to further oral questions raised by Committee Experts, the delegation said that there was value added in the written report as suggested by the Committee. Further the detailed breakdowns of the figures were an ongoing project that would be updated and applied to the questions on how the afro-Ecuadorian people viewed themselves. In 2011 tests were scheduled to be conducted with a goal of better understanding the real demographics in the country and how people viewed themselves, as had been noted and suggested earlier by a Committee Expert.

On the questions raised with regard to the status of the bilingual education system in Ecuador, the delegation said that it was not a matter of simply just translating texts. The aim of the system was to become truly bilingual through a number of measures and programmes already undertaken. The bilingual education system in the Indigenous sphere was producing knowledge inherent in their experience and had gone into textbooks in the context of their experience and wisdom. Textbooks served as an educational tool and thus translating them was imperative as one measure. A vertical transmission of knowledge was not enough on its own, but dialogue was necessary and these were fundamental in an effort to de-colonization. In order for a horizontal dialogue to exist, it was necessary for both parties to have dialogue in Quechua and Spanish, which was a work in progress. Through language one may learn about culture and as such one could value the wealth of others cultures. The delegation noted to that extent that recently students had been able to learn Quechua in university.

Concern was raised by Committee Experts with regard to collective rights and in response the delegation said that a total of 15 collective rights had been enshrined in the Constitution. Amongst others, article 84 guaranteed Indigenous peoples in accordance to the national law to maintain and strengthen identity, spiritual, cultural, social and political rights; to maintain ancestral possession of community lands and have them attributed under the law; to receive compensation for social and environmental harm; to preserve the bio-natural development, social life and exercise of authority; not to be displaced from lands; the right to property of ancestral land; the right to have access to quality bilingual-cultural education; a right to knowledge and practices of traditional medicines, including plants and animals which were of interest to them; and the right to take part in the political process through representatives through bodies set-up under the law and to use symbols and signs that they recognized. Article 84 recognized and guaranteed those rights, and article 83 specifically stated the guarantee for those rights for both Indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian peoples which were part of the Ecuadorian State which was single and indivisible.

Further Remarks by Experts

Committee Experts raised again the concern regarding the use of the word “black” and specifically its use in the Constitution as noted by the delegation. Reference was made in context of the Apartheid in South Africa and in that context the implications of the use of the word “black.” Questions were also raised on how Governments described or referred to the Roma, and have suggested that the Roma themselves be able to identify themselves as they felt best described their identity. An Expert noted that there was nothing wrong with the use of the word “black” if people identified by using that term, it was not up to the Committee to decide what terms should be used and which should not.

Preliminary Concluding Observations

JOSE FRANCISCO CALI TZAY, the Committee Expert serving as country Rapporteur for the report of Ecuador, said that the dialogue had been a very positive experience. The presentation was presented in a new form and had provided a number of details that had been requested by the Committee. In the preliminary observations, the delegation was congratulated for the new draft Constitution heading for a referendum in October 2008 and the reduction in the numbers of stateless persons. However, concerns remained with the Committee and he could not say at this juncture which problems would be highlighted, or what recommendations would be made, but that they would be outlined in the concluding observations at the end of the Committees meetings on August 15. He said it was a great pleasure to work with the delegation.

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