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AFTERNOON
HR/CERD/00/3
6 March 2000



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its consideration of a report submitted by the Government of France on how that country was complying with the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Olivier de Baynast, Head of the European and International Affairs Section of the French Ministry of Justice, introduced his country's report, saying that the legal dispositions and actions taken in France with regard to the fight against racial discrimination effectively rested on the fundamental principles of the indivisibility of the French Republic and equality of rights of all men and women. Article one of the country's Constitution prohibited the classification of individuals according to their ethnic or racial background. The absence of such classification, however, did not impede the implementation of an effective system to fight racial discrimination, he said.

Michael Parker Banton, the Committee expert who served as the country rapporteur to the report of France, said, among other things, that it appeared that there were a significant number of rejected Roma asylum applicants illegally resident in France whose children were being brought up in insalubrious conditions and were unable to attend school.

The French delegation also included Francois Saint-Paul, Deputy Representative of France to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Claire D'Urso, Capin Dulhoste, Martine Rocchy and Francoise Benedetti, Magistrates at the Ministry of Justice; Alain Lercher, Editor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Frederique Doublet, from the Ministry of Interior; Pascale Compagnie, Head of Legal Affairs at the State Secretariate for Overseas Territories; William Wilkinson and Christian Lefeuvre, of the Ministry of Employment and of Solidarity; Pascal Rouzaud, from the Ministry of Defence; Louis Jouve, from the Ministry of National Education; and Philippe Cellard, from the Ministry of Equipment and Housing.

Also participating in the discussion were Committee experts Ion Diaconu, Peter Nobel, Francois Lonseny Fall, Brun-Otto Bryde, Carlos Lechuga Hevia, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Mario Jorge Yutsis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr and Michael A. Sherifis.

As one of 155 States parties to the Convention, France is obligated to submit periodic reports to the Committee on the administrative and legislative measures taken by the Government in view of implementing the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee members decided to add the issue of the Roma people to their general discussion on Friday, 10 March, in the afternoon under item 6: prevention of racial discrimination, including early warning measures and urgent action procedures.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 7 March, it will continue its consideration of the report of France.

Report of France

The fourteenth periodic report of France (document CERD/C/337/Add.5) reviews the administrative and legislative measures taken by the Government with the view to implementing the provisions of the Convention. It says that since 1993, the Government has continued its policy of eliminating racial discrimination, in accordance with the commitments undertaken when it ratified the Convention.

The report says that the new Penal Code entered into force on 1 March 1994 and it brings together a large number of provisions directed against racism and xenophobia. Among recent additional measures was the publication in 16 July 1998 of a Ministry of Justice circular on action against racism and xenophobia. The Ministry has also emphasized the need to tailor penal policy to local circumstances and to strengthen collaboration with anti-racist organizations.

In addition, the report states that two major developments have recently taken place in asylum policy: a marked increase in the number of asylum-seekers and the adoption of new legislative provisions. The number of applications for asylum submitted to the French authorities has increased by 23 per cent in 1997. However, a growing proportion of asylum-seekers do not meet the definition of refugee as given in the 1951 Geneva Convention for Refugees.

The report says that for the majority of offenses of crime against humanity, acts of discrimination, and violations of individual rights through the use of electronic files or data processing, the French Penal Code provides not only for individual but also for corporate liability.

Introduction of Report

OLIVIER DE BAYNAST, Head of the European and International Affairs Section of the Ministry of Justice of France, said that the European Union had made the fight against racial discrimination a priority even before the entry into force of its union treaty. A series of legal texts had been adopted to facilitate access to the law by victims of discrimination and to take action against perpetrators of such acts.

The legal dispositions and actions taken in France with regard to the fight against racial discrimination effectively rested on two fundamental principles which were the indivisibility of the French Republic and equality of rights of all men and women, Mr. de Baynast continued to say. Article one of the country's Constitution prohibited the classification of individuals according to their ethnic or racial belongings. The absence of such classification, however, did not impede the implementation of an effective system to fight racial discrimination, he said.

Mr. de Baynast continued to say that the combat against any form of discrimination in employment constituted one of the priorities followed by the policies of the Ministry of Employment and Solidarity. The Government had been providing training and awareness raising programmes to persons, including in the private sector.

Mr. de Baynast recalled that certain French procurators, for example, had been organizing seminars with owners of drinking and discotheque establishments and with school directors to sensitize them to the legislation which prohibited discrimination in the exercise of their functions. It was under that context that a court in Tour had fined discotheque directors and guards for their discrimination against persons of from North African origin.

In conclusion, Mr. de Baynast reiterated his country's attachment to the principle of equality in the law.

Discussion

MICHAEL PARKER BANTON, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of France, said, among other things, that it appeared that there were a significant number of rejected Roma asylum applicants illegally resident in France whose children were being brought up in insalubrious conditions and were unable to attend school. What steps did France take to ensure that Roma applicants for asylum and the renewal of residence permits received individual attention?

Mr. Banton said that in France there were many non-governmental organizations actively concerned with racial discrimination in connection with immigration, but there were relatively less active in connection with rights. Referring to a report of the Christians for the Abolition of Torture group (ACAT), he said that in 1994, 55 per cent of asylum-seekers were interviewed by those responsible for reviewing applicants but that by 1999, the percentage had fallen to 37. ACAT had drawn attention to the recommendations of the National Commission which stated that article 16 of the 1986 immigration law should be repealed and that individual reasons should be given for refusal of visas.

Mr. Banton said that ACAT had asked that a distinction be drawn between those who wished to help immigrants for humanitarian reasons and those who wanted access to them because they were engaged in unlawful attempts to smuggle them into the country.

Concerning social trends which resulted in segregation in areas of residence and in the school system, Mr. Barton asked if an action could be considered unlawful if a parent were to request that a child be transferred to another school because there were too many Arabs or too many blacks in the child's class. Who could initiate proceedings? If an education authority were to accede to a request for transfer made on racial grounds, would that be unlawful?

If in a particular town there was a disproportionate representation of children of foreign origin in one school relative to others, constituting ethnic segregation in effect, could an anti-racist association initiate proceedings, Mr. Barton asked.

Mr, Barton continued to state that persons might need to be protected both against threats from strangers and against members of their own social groups. Were there no circumstances in which immigrant women needed protection against violence from their male relatives who insisted that they

should conform to the customs of their homeland countries? Did the French Labour Code provide protection in cases of alleged sexual discrimination? If so, could not the same procedures be used to deal with alleged racial discrimination?

Other Committee members also raised questions regarding the report of France. An expert said that despite legally delivered visas to enter France, people of African origin were hampered from entering the country. Many of them were also expelled by the security agents at airports and other entry points because of the visa holders’ lack of French language.

Another expert, referring to Roma people, wanted to know about the size of the community in France. He asked if they were established in the country?

The system of dual penalization of foreign offenders was also raised by by an expert who said that some foreign offenders faced not only prison sentences but also expulsion, which implied dual penalization and discrimination.

Referring to an article in Le Monde Diplomatic, an expert said that some foreigners could only get job interviews after they changed their Arab names to French ones. The expert asked the delegation for an explanation of the issue.



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