COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS ADOPTING CONCLUDING RECOMMENDATIONS ON REPORTS OF MOLDOVA

CERD
60th session
18 March 2002
Afternoon





Considers Initial Report of Liechtenstein
on Compliance with the Convention



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started adopting its concluding observations and recommendations on the initial to fourth periodic reports of Moldova in which it expressed concern about reports of police violence against persons belonging to minority groups, in particular the Roma population.

The Committee recommended that the State party take all necessary measures to prevent and punish excessive use of force by members of the security forces against minorities. It also expressed its concern about reports that minorities experienced discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, education and health care; it recommended that the State party undertake effective measures to eradicate practices of discrimination against minorities and, in particular, the Roma population.

Among the positive aspects, the Committee noted with satisfaction the efforts undertaken by the State party to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights through the adoption of the 1994 Constitution, which guaranteed a wide spectrum of human rights. It welcomed the decrees the State party had adopted with the purpose of ensuring the functioning and development of the languages of ethnic minorities and the development of the national cultures of minorities. The Committee also welcomed the establishment of specialized institutions demonstrating its commitment to combat racial discrimination, and the efforts undertaken by the State party to implement human rights education programmes.

At the beginning of the afternoon meeting, the Committee started its consideration of an initial report presented by Liechtenstein on its performance to implement the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Introducing his country's report, Norbert Frick, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Head of the delegation, underlined that his country was deeply committed to honour all obligations entered into as a full member of the international community, particularly regarding the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mr. Frick informed the Committee that preparations to accept the individual complaints procedure under article 14 of the Convention were well under way. An amendment to the law on the Supreme Court was being drafted to give it the competence to hear cases of alleged violations of the Convention; and the Court would thus act as the final body of appeal at the national level, he added.

Kurt Herndl, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Liechtenstein, said that the report followed the guidelines and it gave a good picture of how the provisions were implemented. He said it was well documented and it contained the information required by the Committee.

Mr. Herndl also said that Liechtenstein had reformed its legislative provisions before it ratified the Convention, thus avoiding any demand by the Committee for the compatibility of domestic law with international treaties; however, he wanted to know the exact place of the Convention within domestic law.

Also taking part in the discussion were Committee Experts Mark Boussuyt, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Regis de Gouttes, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai and Mario Jorge Yutzis.

The delegation of Liechtenstein was also made up of Jules Hoch, Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, National Police Force; Hanspeter Rothlisberger, Head of the United Department for Asylum and Refugees, Immigration Office; Nancy Barouk-Hasler, Service for Children and Youth, Office for Social Affairs; and Patrick Ritter, Alicia Langle and Pio Schurti, of the Office for Foreign Affairs.

As one of the 161 States parties to the Convention, Liechtenstein is expected to send periodic reports to the Committee on its activities designed to give effect to the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of Liechtenstein when it reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 March.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Reports of Moldova

Among the positive aspects, the Committee noted with satisfaction the efforts undertaken by the State party to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights through the adoption of the 1994 Constitution, which guaranteed a wide spectrum of human rights. It welcomed the decrees the State party had adopted with the purpose of ensuring the functioning and development of the languages of ethnic minorities and the development of the national cultures of minorities. The Committee also welcomed the establishment of specialized institutions demonstrating its commitment to combat racial discrimination; and the efforts undertaken by the State party to implement human rights education programmes.

The Committee noted the absence in the report of disaggregated data on the population, providing detailed information on the ethnic composition in the country; and it recommended that the State party provide the relevant data in its next periodic report in order to understand the ethnic characteristics of the population in Molodova. It noted the absence of examples of the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in practice; and it recommended that information should be provided on effective penalties and sanctions imposed in cases of conviction for racial discrimination or racism.

Further, the Committee recommended that the State party take measures to guarantee more fully for ethnic minority groups economic, social and cultural rights; it said that landlessness had been reported among persons belonging to minorities and working in collective farms as a consequence of privatization of land held by collective farms of the Soviet era; and recommended that information be included in the next periodic report about the remedial measures to address the economic condition of the landless ethnic minorities. The Committee also recommended that the State party continue and extend its educational and cultural programmes in order to raise public awareness of issues of racism and racial discrimination.

The Committee said it was concerned by reports of police violence against persons belonging to minority groups, in particular the Roma population; it recommended that the State party take all necessary measures to prevent and punish excessive use of force by members of the security forces against minorities. It also expressed its concern about reports that minorities experienced discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, education and health care; it recommended that the State party undertake effective measures to eradicate practices of discrimination against minorities and, in particular, the Roma population.


Report of Liechtenstein

The initial report of Liechtenstein, contained in document CERD/C/394/Add.1, describes legislative, administrative and other measures that have been taken pursuant to the provisions of the Convention; and it contains general information on the country and respect for human rights. It also focuses on the general guidelines of the Committee, and contains information on the individual articles of the Convention. It says the country had a resident population of 32,426 in late 1999, of which 34.3 per cent were foreigners.

The report says that 77.8 per cent of the population are Roman Catholics, 7.1 per cent Protestants and 3.5 per cent Muslims, while 9.5 per cent of the population did not provide data on their religious affiliation. The Constitution of Liechtenstein guarantees freedom of belief and conscience to all persons, and also guarantees civil and political rights irrespective of one's faith.

It notes that the proportion of foreigners residing in the country amounts to over one third of the population; peaceful coexistence among various nations and cultures is a feature of life in the country; there are no political parties with xenophobic platforms, nor do any anti-Semitic or other racist movements exist in the country. However, several right-wing extremist youth organizations have surfaced in recent years, even though Liechtenstein is not a "traditional" breeding ground for radical right-wing activities.

The report affirms that important steps have been taken to combat the trends of the right-wing violence and aggression. However, it is a difficult task to deal fully with latent xenophobic mindsets in a wide sector of the population.


Introduction of Report

NORBERT FRICK, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Head of the delegation, underlined that his country was deeply committed
to honour all obligations entered into as a full member of the international community, particularly as regards the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. As a small country without military or economic power, Liechtenstein knew all too well that international law was the only protection for the weak.

Mr. Frick informed the Committee that preparations to accept the individual complaints procedure under article 14 of the Convention were well under way. An amendment to the law on the Supreme Court was being drafted to give it the competence to hear cases of alleged violations of the Convention; and the Court would thus act as the final body of appeal at the national level.

He said that by the end of 2000, 34.4 per cent of the resident population were foreigners; and the share of non-Liechtenstein nationals within the total working population amounted to 64.2 per cent, which was one of the highest percentages in Europe.

Mr. Frick said that in order to keep pace with the ever-increasing globalization process, Liechtenstein had had to achieve a fairly high level of economic integration with its partners in Europe and elsewhere. However, there were differences in economic integration which were, for instance, reflected by the different degrees in which the free movement of persons was applied. Considering the high percentage of non-nationals, both in the working and in the resident population, Liechtenstein had been granted certain derogations from the principle of free movement of persons even within the European Economic Area (EEA).

Liechtenstein had been confronted with a massive influx of persons seeking protection from the armed conflict in Kosovo, with 600 persons constituting about 2 per cent of the population, Mr. Frick said. The refugee policy had never been taken by politicians as an issue to win right-wing votes. The fact that the refugees were allowed to work had certainly contributed to positive developments and had improved mutual understanding.

Mr. Frick stressed that the situation with regard to the activities of right-wing extremists had much improved. Unfortunately, there were still some isolated incidents such as sporadic conflicts between individuals, or racist expressions sprayed anonymously on walls in public places. The public appearance of extremist groups, however, had ceased, as well as any forms of organized racial action. The awareness of the need for preventive measures with regard to right-wing extremism was especially high at schools and in the field of youth work, as affinities to the right-wing scene still seemed to be a fashionable trend.

Mr. Frick said that the criminal code stipulated that offences committed on grounds of racism and xenophobia were considered highly reprehensible and therefore carried severe sentences. Last year, the Office of the Public Prosecutor had initiated investigations in four cases for alleged violation of article 283 of the criminal code on racial discrimination. One case had been brought before the courts and the offender had been conditionally sentenced to eight months imprisonment for various acts of violence.


Consideration of Report

KURT HERNDL, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Liechtenstein, said that the report followed the guidelines and it gave a good picture of how the provisions were implemented. It was well documented and contained the information required by the Committee.

Liechtenstein had reformed its legislative provisions before it ratified the Convention, thus avoiding any demand by the Committee for the compatibility of domestic law with international treaties, Mr. Herndl. However, he wanted to know the exact place of the Convention within domestic law.

Mr. Herndl also wanted to know the role of the Supreme Court, which was said to guarantee the protection of the United Nations treaties on human rights, including the Convention. The delegation was asked to elucidate how the Court was guaranteeing the protection of all human rights.

The situation of human rights protection and prevention of violation was under control as attested by the delegation and the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance which was good news, Mr. Herndl said.

With regard to the situation of right-wing extremists, the Government had to apply vigilance and a mechanism to control their movement and activities, Mr. Herndl said.

He said that the report should be disseminated widely to all persons inhabiting Liechtenstein, including those who did not understand the German language.

Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions on issues such as citizenship and non-citizenship; acquisition of nationality through marriage; the standards applied to foreigners; access by foreigners to housing and property; and the upsurge of xenophobic trends, among other things.





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