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23 March 2000
Morning



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today adopted its concluding observations on the country reports of France, Spain and Malta which it considered earlier in its session.

Concerning the report presented by France, the Committee welcomed positive legislative and Government department changes to combat racial discrimination, but expressed concern over the monitoring of the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the negative images of Roma people prevailing throughout the media.

The Committee noted the positive moves by Spain in its implementation of legislation on the rights and freedoms of foreigners, and development programmes for the Roma minority. However, the Committee was also concerned about an increase of attacks on foreigners by extremist groups.

Malta had made some positive legislative changes, the Committee noted, but expressed concern on claims of racial discrimination concerning housing and lack of power for authorities to investigate allegations of racial discrimination in employment.

Committee experts participating in the discussion this morning were Michael Parker Banton, Marc Bossuyt, Francois Lonseny Fall, Ion Diaconu, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Peter Nobel, Deci Zou, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Agha Shahi, Brun-Otto Bryde, Regis de Gouttes, Yuri Rechetov, Carlos Lechuga Hevia, Mario Jorge Yutzis, and Patricia January-Bardill.

The Committee will reconvene at 3.00 p.m. to further discuss its concluding observations and recommendations on country reports.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Report of France

Concerning France, the Committee welcomed the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth periodic reports presented by that country. Although these reports did not adequately address the Committee's concluding observations on previous reports, the delegation orally delivered responses to some of the concerns of the Committee.

The Committee noted with satisfaction some of the new measures against racial discrimination adopted by France. These included the law of 29 July 1998 detailing action against exclusion, the reorganization and extension of the departmental anti-racism bureau, the establishment of departmental commissions on access to citizenship, the creation of departmental committees for coordinating policies against exclusion, and of departmental councils on access to justice, plus provisions for mediation. The Committee commended the part played by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights in combating racism.

The Committee expressed concern about the paucity of information on monitoring the implementation of the Convention. Concern was also expressed about possible discrimination in effect in the implementation of laws providing for the removal from French territory of people with valid French visas, and over reports that negative images of the Roma minority prevailed in the mass media and the public generally.

The Committee recommended that the next periodic report include statistics of racially-motivated offences, their investigation, and the punishment of the guilty. The Committee also recommended that France ensure the effective prohibition of actions which were discriminatory on grounds of race, ethnic or national origin, and also that the State party monitor all tendencies which might give rise to racial or ethnic segregation and counter the negative consequences of such tendencies.

The Committee also reiterated earlier recommendations to ensure that there was effective protection of the exercise of the rights to work and to housing and to provide compensation to victims of racial discrimination. Also, the Committee asked that when France reviewed its laws restricting certain occupations to French nationals it ensured that none was discriminatory in effect.

Remedies available to those believing that they were victims of a violation set forth by the Committee might not be sufficiently well known in France, the Committee stated, and recommended that reports to the Committee by France be readily available to the public.

Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the Report of Spain

Concerning the report of Spain, the Committee welcomed the attendance of the delegation that represented many Government departments. Positive features included the establishment of integration programmes for immigrants in Spain, and the implementation of the Gypsy Development Programme initiated by the Government.

Concerns were expressed by the Committee over the few cases before national courts concerning racial discrimination, despite a recognized general increase in juvenile violence, including attacks on foreigners by extremist groups, neo-Nazi movements and gangs. Also, the Committee was concerned about the recent incidents of violence against persons of Moroccan nationality and was further concerned about reports that the underlying socio-economic problems that provoked these events also prevailed in many regions of the country.

In areas of employment, the Committee highlighted the prevailing discrimination against people of foreign origin, and recommended that the State party ensure the practical enjoyment of persons belonging to ethnic and national minorities of the rights to work, to equal opportunities of promotion and career development, to education and to housing.

Concern was also expressed about the position of the Roma minority, and the reports of racist attitudes on the part of the police and Civil Guard officers. In light of this, the Committee recommended that in the next periodic report, information shoud be given on the effectiveness of non-discrimination training schemes for civil servants.

The Committee recommended that the State party review its reservations on article 14 of the Convention. This reservation imposed a restrictive deadline of three months, instead of six as stated in the Convention, after the exhaustion of domestic remedies, for the submission of communications to the Committee.

Within the next periodic report by Spain, the Committee asked for further information on, amongst other matters, the ethnic composition of the population, actions to implement the Organic Law No. 4/2000 on Rights and Freedoms of Foreigners, and measures taken to ensure that laws governing the right to education and linguistic standardization in the autonomous communities were not discriminatory.


Concluding Observations and Recommendations on Report of Malta

With regards to the report of Malta, the Committee welcomed changes to national legislation intended to cover aspects of article 4 of the Convention. The recent allowing of dual citizenship and new laws covering refugees and asylum seekers were further positive points underlined by the Committee.

The Committee said that although only a few cases of offences of a racial nature were reported, it recommended that the State party investigate them carefully and take steps to prevent such events. Concerns included reports of racial discrimination in housing, particularly with regard to rental accommodation; lack of authority by the Employment Commission of Malta to consider all aspects of racial discrimination; and lack of information on how national legislation covering article 5 of the Convention was applied in practice.

The Committee recommended that the State party review the new Police Code with a view to ensuring that criminal charges be brought against police officers for acts violating the provisions of the Convention.

Further information was asked by the Committee on the criteria for granting temporary as opposed to permanent refugee status, specifically with regards to European and non-European asylum seekers. Additionally, the Committee asked the State party to ensure that the report and these concluding observations were widely distributed to the public.



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