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01 August 2000
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CERD
57th Session
1 August 2000
Afternoon
Exchanges Views With High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started this afternoon its consideration of a fifteenth periodic report submitted by the Government of Finland on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Introducing his country's report, Eero J. Aarnio, Counsellor of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of Finland, said that as immigration was still increasing to the country, more attention was being paid to issues relating to immigration and minorities as well as racism and ethnic discrimination. At the end of 1999, there were about 90,000 foreign citizens in the country accounting for 1.7 per cent of the total population, he said.
Ion Diaconu, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said that according to non-governmental organizations, the Roma minority continued to be subjected to discrimination and its members were confronted with difficulties in finding housing accommodations and education; the rate of unemployment was higher among them; and Romas were prohibited from entering into public places such as restaurants.
Participating in the discussion were Committee experts Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Peter Nobel, Regis de Gouttes, Carlos Lechuga Helvia, and Brun-Otto Bryde, who raised questions on such issues as racism, Saami land rights, and discrimination against minorities, among others.
The Finnish delegation was also made up of Kari Mitrunen, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mikko Cortes-Tellez, Planning Officer, Ministry of Education; Riitta Koponen, Director of Administrative Unit, Ministry of Interior; Risto Laakkonen, Ministerial Advisor, Ministry of Labour; Miranda Vuolasranta, Secretary for Social Affairs and Health; Arto Kosonen, Legislative Counsellor, and Paivi Rotola-Pukkila, Legislative Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Finland is among the 156 States parties to the Convention and as such it has an obligation to provide the Committee with periodic summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.
Also this afternoon, the Committee held a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, on preparatory work for the upcoming World Conference on Racism and Racial Discrimination which will take place next year in South Africa.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 2 August, it will continue to consider the report of Finland.
Discussion with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Committee members that the preparatory work for the upcoming World Conference against Racism was going reasonably well. The main goal of the World Conference was to build and gather an international alliance against the four negatives which were racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Mrs. Robinson said that at the end of August, and in the context of the Millennium Summit to be held in New York, she would present a declaration on the augmentation of resources to assist treaty bodies in their efforts to monitor international human rights instruments. At the same time, she would meet religious leaders, speakers of parliaments and other distinguished personalities to share with them the new vision of human rights.
She also paid tribute to the substantive work being accomplished by the members of the Committee and the thematic debate they were pursuing on the issue of the Roma people.
An expert said that the Committee was working on the Roma people and it was planning to involve the Subcommission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and special rapporteurs of the Subcommission and the Commission on Human Rights who were charged with minority issues. The Committee was also discussing how to include non-governmental organizations and possibly States parties in the general debate. The issue of elaborating substantive recommendations on the subject of Roma people to the World Conference had also been considered.
In response, Mrs. Robinson said that a substantive recommendation to the World Conference would be appropriate; the General Assembly had stressed that the Conference should be action-oriented and practical. A draft plan of action and declaration of the Conference was being taken care of by one of her assistants in consultation with other bodies concerned with the issue.
Report of Finland
The fifteenth periodic report of Finland (document CERD/C/363/Add.2) enumerates the measures undertaken by the Government following the reform of the provisions on fundamental rights, which entered into force in 1995. It says that the legislation concerning education has been revised as of 1 January 1999; and accordingly, Finnish, Swedish or the Saami language is taught as the mother tongue of the student. Also, the Roma language or some other native language of the student might be taught as the mother tongue.
Further, the report says that a new act on the integration of immigrants and reception of asylum seekers entered into force on 1 May 1999; amendments have been made to the aliens' act and as of 1 January 1998 the Asylum Appeals Board no longer exists; and from 1 March, the Office of the Ombudsman for Aliens has been subordinated to the Ministry of Labour and it is envisaged that it will cover ethnic minorities and ethnic discrimination by changing its name into the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination.
Presentation of Finland's Report
EERO J. AARNIO, Counsellor of Legislation, Ministry of Justice of Finland, said that as immigration was still increasing in the country, more attention was being paid to issues relating to immigration and minorities as well as racism and ethnic discrimination. At the end of 1999, there were about 90,000 foreign citizens in the country accounting for 1.7 per cent of the total population.
Recalling the Committee's earlier concern over the fact that article 4 of the Convention was not fully compiled with, Mr. Aarnio said that in addition to existing provisions prohibiting the activities of racist organizations, the Government had submitted a draft law to parliament to strengthen this prohibition. The proposal provided that participation in the activities of a criminal organization would also be subjected to punishment if the purpose of the activities was ethnic agitation.
A study carried out by a steering committee established by the Ministry of Labour had proved that there was ethnic discrimination in the labour market, especially when new staff were employed, Mr. Aarnio said. Another form of discrimination at work was that immigrants were not offered work or posts corresponding to their education and earlier work experience. Half of the Roma and less than 20 per cent of the immigrants reported unequal treatment by the employers. In most cases, however, ethnic minorities were well treated by the employers.
Mr. Aarnio said that according to a report based on a survey sponsored by the Ministry of Interior, more than 300 racist offences were registered in 1998, whereas there were less than 200 in 1997. Of individual ethnic groups, it was the Somalis that most often faced racist offences, followed by the Roma, Moroccans, Russians, Turks and Iranians.
ION DIACONU, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said that in one of the reports of the International Labour Office (ILO) of this year, it was indicated that a certain vagueness of the terms and terminologies was used to mask discrimination in the country's legislation. The Constitution itself referred to discrimination based on sex, age, origin, language and religion while the criminal code made reference to race, colour, national or ethnic origin to be the motives of discrimination against which the acts were punished. In addition, different interpretations of the law were implemented by various central and local authorities. Why was the definition of article 1 of the Convention on racial discrimination not used? What were the measures that the Government intended to take in order to ensure that the definition of the article was strictly observed?
Mr. Diaconu noted that in 1996, several organizations supported the adoption of anti-racist legislation in order to better combat acts of racism. In a recent ILO report, the same idea was supported and it was underlined that such a law could avoid the different interpretations accorded to racial discrimination. Was that issue taken into consideration? Was there a decision on that issue?
The Saami people, who were recognized as a minority in Finland, were confronted with problems which seized the attention of the Committee, Mr. Diaconu went on to say. It should be known that the measures taken in the 1990s had improved the juridic protection of the cultural rights of the Saami people, allowing them to maintain and develop their language, their culture and to preserve the traditional rein deer herders as part of their culture. However, the law on the Saami right to land was not yet adopted and Finland had not acceded to the ILO Convention 169 on indigenous people.
Mr. Diaconu further said that according to non-governmental organizations, the situation of the Roma minority was of concern. Romas continued to be subjected to discrimination and were confronted with difficulties in finding housing accommodations and education; and the rate of unemployment was higher among the Roma. In addition, Romas were prohibited from entering into public places such as restaurants.
Other Committee experts also raised a number of questions on issues such as land rights of the Saami people; the balance of strength of the Saami parliament vis-a-vis the Finish Government; the situation of asylum-seekers and their living condition; and acts of racism.
* *** *
57th Session
1 August 2000
Afternoon
Exchanges Views With High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination started this afternoon its consideration of a fifteenth periodic report submitted by the Government of Finland on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Introducing his country's report, Eero J. Aarnio, Counsellor of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of Finland, said that as immigration was still increasing to the country, more attention was being paid to issues relating to immigration and minorities as well as racism and ethnic discrimination. At the end of 1999, there were about 90,000 foreign citizens in the country accounting for 1.7 per cent of the total population, he said.
Ion Diaconu, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said that according to non-governmental organizations, the Roma minority continued to be subjected to discrimination and its members were confronted with difficulties in finding housing accommodations and education; the rate of unemployment was higher among them; and Romas were prohibited from entering into public places such as restaurants.
Participating in the discussion were Committee experts Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Peter Nobel, Regis de Gouttes, Carlos Lechuga Helvia, and Brun-Otto Bryde, who raised questions on such issues as racism, Saami land rights, and discrimination against minorities, among others.
The Finnish delegation was also made up of Kari Mitrunen, Minister and Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mikko Cortes-Tellez, Planning Officer, Ministry of Education; Riitta Koponen, Director of Administrative Unit, Ministry of Interior; Risto Laakkonen, Ministerial Advisor, Ministry of Labour; Miranda Vuolasranta, Secretary for Social Affairs and Health; Arto Kosonen, Legislative Counsellor, and Paivi Rotola-Pukkila, Legislative Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Finland is among the 156 States parties to the Convention and as such it has an obligation to provide the Committee with periodic summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.
Also this afternoon, the Committee held a meeting with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, on preparatory work for the upcoming World Conference on Racism and Racial Discrimination which will take place next year in South Africa.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 2 August, it will continue to consider the report of Finland.
Discussion with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
MARY ROBINSON, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Committee members that the preparatory work for the upcoming World Conference against Racism was going reasonably well. The main goal of the World Conference was to build and gather an international alliance against the four negatives which were racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Mrs. Robinson said that at the end of August, and in the context of the Millennium Summit to be held in New York, she would present a declaration on the augmentation of resources to assist treaty bodies in their efforts to monitor international human rights instruments. At the same time, she would meet religious leaders, speakers of parliaments and other distinguished personalities to share with them the new vision of human rights.
She also paid tribute to the substantive work being accomplished by the members of the Committee and the thematic debate they were pursuing on the issue of the Roma people.
An expert said that the Committee was working on the Roma people and it was planning to involve the Subcommission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and special rapporteurs of the Subcommission and the Commission on Human Rights who were charged with minority issues. The Committee was also discussing how to include non-governmental organizations and possibly States parties in the general debate. The issue of elaborating substantive recommendations on the subject of Roma people to the World Conference had also been considered.
In response, Mrs. Robinson said that a substantive recommendation to the World Conference would be appropriate; the General Assembly had stressed that the Conference should be action-oriented and practical. A draft plan of action and declaration of the Conference was being taken care of by one of her assistants in consultation with other bodies concerned with the issue.
Report of Finland
The fifteenth periodic report of Finland (document CERD/C/363/Add.2) enumerates the measures undertaken by the Government following the reform of the provisions on fundamental rights, which entered into force in 1995. It says that the legislation concerning education has been revised as of 1 January 1999; and accordingly, Finnish, Swedish or the Saami language is taught as the mother tongue of the student. Also, the Roma language or some other native language of the student might be taught as the mother tongue.
Further, the report says that a new act on the integration of immigrants and reception of asylum seekers entered into force on 1 May 1999; amendments have been made to the aliens' act and as of 1 January 1998 the Asylum Appeals Board no longer exists; and from 1 March, the Office of the Ombudsman for Aliens has been subordinated to the Ministry of Labour and it is envisaged that it will cover ethnic minorities and ethnic discrimination by changing its name into the Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination.
Presentation of Finland's Report
EERO J. AARNIO, Counsellor of Legislation, Ministry of Justice of Finland, said that as immigration was still increasing in the country, more attention was being paid to issues relating to immigration and minorities as well as racism and ethnic discrimination. At the end of 1999, there were about 90,000 foreign citizens in the country accounting for 1.7 per cent of the total population.
Recalling the Committee's earlier concern over the fact that article 4 of the Convention was not fully compiled with, Mr. Aarnio said that in addition to existing provisions prohibiting the activities of racist organizations, the Government had submitted a draft law to parliament to strengthen this prohibition. The proposal provided that participation in the activities of a criminal organization would also be subjected to punishment if the purpose of the activities was ethnic agitation.
A study carried out by a steering committee established by the Ministry of Labour had proved that there was ethnic discrimination in the labour market, especially when new staff were employed, Mr. Aarnio said. Another form of discrimination at work was that immigrants were not offered work or posts corresponding to their education and earlier work experience. Half of the Roma and less than 20 per cent of the immigrants reported unequal treatment by the employers. In most cases, however, ethnic minorities were well treated by the employers.
Mr. Aarnio said that according to a report based on a survey sponsored by the Ministry of Interior, more than 300 racist offences were registered in 1998, whereas there were less than 200 in 1997. Of individual ethnic groups, it was the Somalis that most often faced racist offences, followed by the Roma, Moroccans, Russians, Turks and Iranians.
ION DIACONU, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said that in one of the reports of the International Labour Office (ILO) of this year, it was indicated that a certain vagueness of the terms and terminologies was used to mask discrimination in the country's legislation. The Constitution itself referred to discrimination based on sex, age, origin, language and religion while the criminal code made reference to race, colour, national or ethnic origin to be the motives of discrimination against which the acts were punished. In addition, different interpretations of the law were implemented by various central and local authorities. Why was the definition of article 1 of the Convention on racial discrimination not used? What were the measures that the Government intended to take in order to ensure that the definition of the article was strictly observed?
Mr. Diaconu noted that in 1996, several organizations supported the adoption of anti-racist legislation in order to better combat acts of racism. In a recent ILO report, the same idea was supported and it was underlined that such a law could avoid the different interpretations accorded to racial discrimination. Was that issue taken into consideration? Was there a decision on that issue?
The Saami people, who were recognized as a minority in Finland, were confronted with problems which seized the attention of the Committee, Mr. Diaconu went on to say. It should be known that the measures taken in the 1990s had improved the juridic protection of the cultural rights of the Saami people, allowing them to maintain and develop their language, their culture and to preserve the traditional rein deer herders as part of their culture. However, the law on the Saami right to land was not yet adopted and Finland had not acceded to the ILO Convention 169 on indigenous people.
Mr. Diaconu further said that according to non-governmental organizations, the situation of the Roma minority was of concern. Romas continued to be subjected to discrimination and were confronted with difficulties in finding housing accommodations and education; and the rate of unemployment was higher among the Roma. In addition, Romas were prohibited from entering into public places such as restaurants.
Other Committee experts also raised a number of questions on issues such as land rights of the Saami people; the balance of strength of the Saami parliament vis-a-vis the Finish Government; the situation of asylum-seekers and their living condition; and acts of racism.
* *** *