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02 August 2000
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CERD
57th Session
2 August 2000
Morning
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of a report on how Finland implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Over the course of the meeting, the members of the delegation of Finland provided responses to the questions raised by Committee experts. They said that there was some difference in the definition of racial discrimination in the various laws of the country; however, the interpretation by courts and other authorities had always been established. The principle of constitutional prevalence necessitated an interpretation which did not contradict the provisions of the Constitution, the delegation said.
A number of Committee experts also raised additional questions on the issue of discrimination against the Muslim community, the Roma people and people of different colour. The Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, Ion Diaconu, while appreciating the sincere dialogue with the delegation, said that more efforts had to be made in solving problems involving the Saami and Roma people.
Formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Finland will be issued by the Committee towards the end of its four-week session which will conclude on 25 August.
The report was introduced yesterday afternoon by a seven-member Government delegation; the officials, led by Eero J. Aarnio, Counsellor of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of Finland, were on hand throughout the two days to discuss the document and to answer questions put by Committee members.
Taking part in the discussion were Committee experts Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Gay McDougall, Marc Bossuyt, Yuri A. Rechetov, Agha Shahi, and Michael E. Sherifis.
As one of the 156 States to the Convention, Finland is obligated to supply the Committee with periodic reports on how it implements the provisions of the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the fourth periodic report of Slovenia (document CERD/C/352/Add.1).
Discussion
At the beginning of the morning meeting, Committee experts continued to query the Finnish delegation on a number of topics. An expert, quoting a report supplied by the Finnish League for Human Rights, said there was an alarming situation of racism in the country. According to the report, about 12 per cent of the Finns regarded themselves as very racist, 26 per cent as quite racist, 41 per cent as a little racist and only 18 per cent were not racist.
In addition, the expert said that 47 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women thought that persons belonging to certain "races" were inherently incapable of living in a modern society. Further, 32 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women were of the opinion that the practice of Islam should not be allowed in Finland. The expert underlined that those issues should be duly dealt with by the Finnish Government.
Another expert said that Finland had reverted from bi-culturalism with its 5.7 per cent of Swedes to multi-culturalism with the presence of immigrants. With regard to the 7,000 Saami people, in the Committee, the situation should be seen from the view point of universal standards and not on a regional basis. Concerning the Roma minority, its difficulties had risen all of a sudden and it was not clear for how long they had been in the country. If any Roma sought asylum on the basis that he or she was persecuted in the country of origin, the Government should grant asylum. In addition, the presence of immigrants or refugees should not prompt xenophobic sentiments among the Finns. If such a phenomenon arose, the Government had to take appropriate measures to fight it.
Referring to a general policy recommendation for combatting intolerance and discrimination against Muslims issued by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, an expert said that religious intolerance towards Islam and Muslim communities was increasing in countries where that religion was not observed by the majority of the population.
In response to these and other questions raised yesterday, the members of the Finnish delegation said there was a difference in the definition of racial discrimination in the various laws; however, the interpretation by courts and other authorities had always been established. The principle of constitutional prevalence necessitated an interpretation which did not contradict the provisions of the Constitution.
Finland had no legal provisions concerning factors which aggravated racist acts, the Finnish officials said; however, in practice exceptional cases might be considered by courts.
The existence of racism among certain police officers, which was referred to by the Finnish League of Human Rights, had been brought to the attention of the Ombudsman and the procurator general had been instructed to deal with the issue.
Concerning the Saami land rights and the possibility of the Government ratifying International Labour Organization Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous people, the delegation said the subject had been studied by a special rapporteur chosen by the Finnish Ministry of Justice with the consent of the Saami parliament. The conclusion formulated by the rapporteur had prompted diverging opinions, and the issue of the Saami land right was not yet resolved. The right to land ownership was not prerequisite to Finland's ratification of the ILO Convention 169.
Responding to the question of religious intolerance, the delegation said that there was freedom of the press and the media in Finland. Since there was no censorship, Government intervention did not exist. However, the press had been fair in dealing with issue of religion and ethnic questions; and they obeyed the ethical code and their own rules. Recently, a programme had been carried out on how to report on issues pertaining to minorities and training programmes. The Government had participated in it.
National guidelines on education had been formulated to promote cultural identity and diversity and to assist local and central authorities, the delegation said. The education curriculum had been reformed to fit the requirements elaborated in the national guidelines. Teacher training courses also included a multi-cultural concept for teaching methods.
The process of asylum requests had been accelerated in order to resolve the delay in the decision to grant asylum, the delegation said. The constitutional committee had decided that the applicants should be fairly treated and that they should be granted appeal rights in the event of a negative decision. Asylum-seekers waiting for their cases to be processed benefited from medical care and other privileges.
With regard to the Roma minority, the Government had taken a series of measures designed to integrate them in society by providing them with all opportunities in education and employment. Additional measures were also adopted to enable Roma children to pursue their education, thus decreasing the number of school drop-outs. The Roma people also enjoyed the right to use their own language and preserve their cultural identities; and they had been living in Finland since the sixteenth century, experiencing all the difficulties of assimilation and exclusion.
ION DIACONU, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said he was encouraged by the clear and sincere dialogue with the delegation. He thanked the Government for its contribution to the upcoming general debate on the situation of Roma people and said Finland's experience would be considered during that time. He urged the Government to resolve the Saami problem in consultation with the Saami parliament.
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57th Session
2 August 2000
Morning
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its consideration of a report on how Finland implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Over the course of the meeting, the members of the delegation of Finland provided responses to the questions raised by Committee experts. They said that there was some difference in the definition of racial discrimination in the various laws of the country; however, the interpretation by courts and other authorities had always been established. The principle of constitutional prevalence necessitated an interpretation which did not contradict the provisions of the Constitution, the delegation said.
A number of Committee experts also raised additional questions on the issue of discrimination against the Muslim community, the Roma people and people of different colour. The Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, Ion Diaconu, while appreciating the sincere dialogue with the delegation, said that more efforts had to be made in solving problems involving the Saami and Roma people.
Formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Finland will be issued by the Committee towards the end of its four-week session which will conclude on 25 August.
The report was introduced yesterday afternoon by a seven-member Government delegation; the officials, led by Eero J. Aarnio, Counsellor of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice of Finland, were on hand throughout the two days to discuss the document and to answer questions put by Committee members.
Taking part in the discussion were Committee experts Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Gay McDougall, Marc Bossuyt, Yuri A. Rechetov, Agha Shahi, and Michael E. Sherifis.
As one of the 156 States to the Convention, Finland is obligated to supply the Committee with periodic reports on how it implements the provisions of the treaty.
When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the fourth periodic report of Slovenia (document CERD/C/352/Add.1).
Discussion
At the beginning of the morning meeting, Committee experts continued to query the Finnish delegation on a number of topics. An expert, quoting a report supplied by the Finnish League for Human Rights, said there was an alarming situation of racism in the country. According to the report, about 12 per cent of the Finns regarded themselves as very racist, 26 per cent as quite racist, 41 per cent as a little racist and only 18 per cent were not racist.
In addition, the expert said that 47 per cent of men and 37 per cent of women thought that persons belonging to certain "races" were inherently incapable of living in a modern society. Further, 32 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women were of the opinion that the practice of Islam should not be allowed in Finland. The expert underlined that those issues should be duly dealt with by the Finnish Government.
Another expert said that Finland had reverted from bi-culturalism with its 5.7 per cent of Swedes to multi-culturalism with the presence of immigrants. With regard to the 7,000 Saami people, in the Committee, the situation should be seen from the view point of universal standards and not on a regional basis. Concerning the Roma minority, its difficulties had risen all of a sudden and it was not clear for how long they had been in the country. If any Roma sought asylum on the basis that he or she was persecuted in the country of origin, the Government should grant asylum. In addition, the presence of immigrants or refugees should not prompt xenophobic sentiments among the Finns. If such a phenomenon arose, the Government had to take appropriate measures to fight it.
Referring to a general policy recommendation for combatting intolerance and discrimination against Muslims issued by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, an expert said that religious intolerance towards Islam and Muslim communities was increasing in countries where that religion was not observed by the majority of the population.
In response to these and other questions raised yesterday, the members of the Finnish delegation said there was a difference in the definition of racial discrimination in the various laws; however, the interpretation by courts and other authorities had always been established. The principle of constitutional prevalence necessitated an interpretation which did not contradict the provisions of the Constitution.
Finland had no legal provisions concerning factors which aggravated racist acts, the Finnish officials said; however, in practice exceptional cases might be considered by courts.
The existence of racism among certain police officers, which was referred to by the Finnish League of Human Rights, had been brought to the attention of the Ombudsman and the procurator general had been instructed to deal with the issue.
Concerning the Saami land rights and the possibility of the Government ratifying International Labour Organization Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous people, the delegation said the subject had been studied by a special rapporteur chosen by the Finnish Ministry of Justice with the consent of the Saami parliament. The conclusion formulated by the rapporteur had prompted diverging opinions, and the issue of the Saami land right was not yet resolved. The right to land ownership was not prerequisite to Finland's ratification of the ILO Convention 169.
Responding to the question of religious intolerance, the delegation said that there was freedom of the press and the media in Finland. Since there was no censorship, Government intervention did not exist. However, the press had been fair in dealing with issue of religion and ethnic questions; and they obeyed the ethical code and their own rules. Recently, a programme had been carried out on how to report on issues pertaining to minorities and training programmes. The Government had participated in it.
National guidelines on education had been formulated to promote cultural identity and diversity and to assist local and central authorities, the delegation said. The education curriculum had been reformed to fit the requirements elaborated in the national guidelines. Teacher training courses also included a multi-cultural concept for teaching methods.
The process of asylum requests had been accelerated in order to resolve the delay in the decision to grant asylum, the delegation said. The constitutional committee had decided that the applicants should be fairly treated and that they should be granted appeal rights in the event of a negative decision. Asylum-seekers waiting for their cases to be processed benefited from medical care and other privileges.
With regard to the Roma minority, the Government had taken a series of measures designed to integrate them in society by providing them with all opportunities in education and employment. Additional measures were also adopted to enable Roma children to pursue their education, thus decreasing the number of school drop-outs. The Roma people also enjoyed the right to use their own language and preserve their cultural identities; and they had been living in Finland since the sixteenth century, experiencing all the difficulties of assimilation and exclusion.
ION DIACONU, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Finland, said he was encouraged by the clear and sincere dialogue with the delegation. He thanked the Government for its contribution to the upcoming general debate on the situation of Roma people and said Finland's experience would be considered during that time. He urged the Government to resolve the Saami problem in consultation with the Saami parliament.
* *** *