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14 August 2000
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CERD
57th session
14 August 2000
Morning
United Kingdom Remains Attractive for Immigrants Due to
Its Tolerant and Diverse Society, Delegation Says
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning started its consideration of a fifteenth periodic report presented by the Government of the United Kingdom on its fight against racism and racial discrimination.
Introducing her country's report, Sarah Marshall, Head of the Race Equality Unit at the Home Office of the United Kingdom, said that her country remained attractive to migrants precisely because it was seen as a tolerant and diverse society. It had a long history of offering sanctuary to refugees and continued to honour its commitments under the United Nations conventions relating to the status of refugees. In addition, the public was sympathetic to people at risk, she said.
Agha Shahi, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of the United Kingdom, noted that the United Kingdom's Government was committed to extending ethnic monitoring to all stages of the criminal justice system. It had introduced compulsory ethnic monitoring on all police force areas from April 1996 covering stops, searches, arrests and homicides. Would ethnic monitoring make it possible to identify the points at which the inequalities took place, for example, black males being imprisoned at higher rates than whites and Asians?
The following Committee experts also took the floor to make remarks and to raise questions: Gay McDougall, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Ion Diaconu, and Regis de Gouttes.
The United Kingdom delegation was also made up of Warwick Maynard, Brian Quaife, Julie Clouder and Tim Woodhouse, from the Home Office; Henry Steel and Nia James from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Simon Fuller, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Office at Geneva; and Paul Bentall, from the UK Permanent Mission at Geneva.
The United Kingdom is among the 156 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and as such it must submit periodical reports to the Committee on the measures it had undertaken to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of the United Kingdom when it resumes its meeting at 3 p.m.
Report of the United Kingdom
The fifteenth periodic report of the United Kingdom (document CERD/C/338/Add.12 Part I and II) enumerates the administrative and judicial measures adopted to implement the provisions of the Convention. In the first part, the report says that the Government is firmly committed to the elimination of all forms of racism and to the development of policies which address racial discrimination, intolerance and violence. The aim is the construction of a society in which every individual, whatever their racial or ethnic origin, is able to fulfil his or her potential through the enjoyment of equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities.
The report says that the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993 raised concerns about police handling of such cases and prompted the Government to set up an independent judicial inquiry to look at police handling of the case and to identify the lesson to be learned for the future investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crime.
The second part of the report gives account of the measures taken in the overseas territories with regard to the implementation of the Convention. The territories are Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falklands Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Presentation of United Kingdom Report
SARAH MARSHALL, Head of the Race Equality Unit at the Home Office of the United Kingdom, said that legislation in 1965, 1968 and 1976 had provided legal remedies against discrimination and had given impetus to profound changes in attitudes, and significant improvements in race equality, for example, the economic capacity of the Asian community; or the higher than average participation in education and training by minority ethnic students. But there was no room for complacency. People of ethnic minority origin formed 6 per cent of the population, but had only 4 per cent of the disposable income. Legislation in Britain was being updated now and the Government was determined that the public sector would lead the way in bringing about a change in race equality.
The United Kingdom remained attractive to migrants precisely because it was seen as a tolerant and diverse society, Ms. Marshall affirmed. It had a long history of offering sanctuary to refugees and continued to honour its commitments under the United Nations conventions relating to the status of refugees. In addition, the public remained sympathetic to people at risk -- the humanitarian evacuation programme for Kosovars had demonstrated the warmth and extraordinary generosity of local communities around the United Kingdom where groups of Kosovars were accommodated.
Ms. Marshall continued to say that the reform procedure for the Immigration and Asylum Act of 1999 would deliver the Government's commitment to helping immigrants and asylum seekers 'fairer, faster and firmer'. The Government was injecting a major investment -- ,604 million this year on asylum support costs. With additional funds to support the delivery of the fairer, faster, firmer policy. By March 2001, at least 70 per cent of people should receive an initial decision within two months, and most appeals should also be determined within 4 months.
Ms. Marshall spoke of the profound effect of the report of inquiry into Stephen Lawrence's murder on public perceptions and understanding of racism in the United Kingdom today. The process of change under way was a tribute to the remarkable courage of Stephen's parents. When the Home Secretary published the results of the Lawrence inquiry in March 1999, he had accepted the inquiry's definition of institutional racism and said that any long-established, white-dominated organization was liable to have procedures, practices and a culture that tended to exclude or to disadvantage non-white people. The new duty of public authorities to promote race equality was a robust response to that problem.
Ms. Marshall underlined that the Government of the United Kingdom was determined to build an inclusive society, where everyone had a sense of belonging -- in the words of the Prime Minister, "a country in which every colour is a good colour and every member of every race is able to fulfil their potential".
HENRY STEEL, of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, told the Committee that on the issue of opening up full British citizenship to the inhabitants of the overseas territories, a bill was already under preparation, and he hoped that it would be included in the legislative programme for the next parliamentary session. Since the programme was likely to be very crowded, the bill might have to wait a little longer; but the commitment was there.
With regard to legislation to outlaw racial discrimination by private persons and bodies, Anguilla had agreed to include the necessary bill in the legislative agenda arising out of its current law revision project; the British Virgin Islands would re-introduce its bill into the new legislative council that had now been elected; in Gibraltar, work on the bill was currently being finalized; in Montserrat, the bill had passed through the legislative council last October; and in Turks and Caicos Islands, the proposals for a bill would be formally introduced soon.
Discussion
AGHA SHAHI, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of the United Kingdom, said that with regard to article 1 of the Convention, the report failed to explain which areas of social life were covered by the prohibition of racial discrimination by the 1976 act. It would be helpful to have a list of areas of social life that were currently covered by a prohibition of racial discrimination.
Mr. Shahi said that the Race Relations Act of 1976 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origin, and outlawed incitement to racial hatred. It made racial discrimination unlawful in employment, education, training and related matters, among others. In addition, it gave individuals the right to direct access to civil courts and employment tribunals for legal remedies for unlawful discrimination. The Act did not cover police, but that was remedied this year.
On article 4 of the Convention, concerning condemnation of racist groups by States parties, Mr. Shahi asked if street attacks on Blacks and Asians could be directly associated with racist organizations. The British National Party and Combat 18 were openly racist and were connected with active new-Nazi organizations. They had an explicit aim to incite a race war, according to Human Rights Watch. Combat 18 had lists targeting members of Jewish, Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities for attack. Those organizations were not restricted. In Northern Ireland, legislation limited freedom of association and banned two Northern Island Protestant paramilitary groups for involvement in sectarian violence; and membership in such groups was punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Mr. Shahi said that the United Kingdom's Government was committed to extending ethnic monitoring to all stages of the criminal justice system; it had introduced compulsory ethnic monitoring on all police force areas from April 1996 covering stops, searches, arrests and homicides. Would ethnic monitoring make it possible to identify the points at which the inequalities took place, for example, black males being imprisoned at higher rates than whites and Asians?
Mr. Shahi continued to say that Amnesty International, in its annual report for 1999, contained extracts from its 1998 report on human rights abuses, including continued killings in disputed circumstances, death in custody, ill-treatment by police and in prisons, and detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions. Many asylum seekers were detained; armed political groups committed human rights abuses.
Michael Manson had died after being set on fire in a racist attack in January 1997; the police treated the case as a suicide for almost 2 years; following a new investigation, three men were charged with his murder; two were convicted of manslaughter and the third for murder. Ricky Reel died in 1997 after drowning; the police failed to carry out an impartial investigation; three police officers were later found guilty of neglect of duty. And James Ashley was killed in a police raid when he was unarmed and in bed; some officers were charged with abuse of power and received only disciplinary notices.
Other Committee members also took the floor to express views on the report which many said was rich in its contents. Several experts referred to the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence and the police attitude towards the crime. They said the result of the investigation into the murder had taken over four years.
An expert said that the stop and search measure by the police was disproportionately used against minorities. Police abuse in such cases had also been reported by various human rights-monitoring organizations. The situation of Roma was also widely commented upon with questions of their status in the society.
* *** *
57th session
14 August 2000
Morning
United Kingdom Remains Attractive for Immigrants Due to
Its Tolerant and Diverse Society, Delegation Says
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning started its consideration of a fifteenth periodic report presented by the Government of the United Kingdom on its fight against racism and racial discrimination.
Introducing her country's report, Sarah Marshall, Head of the Race Equality Unit at the Home Office of the United Kingdom, said that her country remained attractive to migrants precisely because it was seen as a tolerant and diverse society. It had a long history of offering sanctuary to refugees and continued to honour its commitments under the United Nations conventions relating to the status of refugees. In addition, the public was sympathetic to people at risk, she said.
Agha Shahi, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of the United Kingdom, noted that the United Kingdom's Government was committed to extending ethnic monitoring to all stages of the criminal justice system. It had introduced compulsory ethnic monitoring on all police force areas from April 1996 covering stops, searches, arrests and homicides. Would ethnic monitoring make it possible to identify the points at which the inequalities took place, for example, black males being imprisoned at higher rates than whites and Asians?
The following Committee experts also took the floor to make remarks and to raise questions: Gay McDougall, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Ion Diaconu, and Regis de Gouttes.
The United Kingdom delegation was also made up of Warwick Maynard, Brian Quaife, Julie Clouder and Tim Woodhouse, from the Home Office; Henry Steel and Nia James from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Simon Fuller, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Office at Geneva; and Paul Bentall, from the UK Permanent Mission at Geneva.
The United Kingdom is among the 156 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and as such it must submit periodical reports to the Committee on the measures it had undertaken to implement the provisions of the treaty.
The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of the United Kingdom when it resumes its meeting at 3 p.m.
Report of the United Kingdom
The fifteenth periodic report of the United Kingdom (document CERD/C/338/Add.12 Part I and II) enumerates the administrative and judicial measures adopted to implement the provisions of the Convention. In the first part, the report says that the Government is firmly committed to the elimination of all forms of racism and to the development of policies which address racial discrimination, intolerance and violence. The aim is the construction of a society in which every individual, whatever their racial or ethnic origin, is able to fulfil his or her potential through the enjoyment of equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities.
The report says that the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993 raised concerns about police handling of such cases and prompted the Government to set up an independent judicial inquiry to look at police handling of the case and to identify the lesson to be learned for the future investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crime.
The second part of the report gives account of the measures taken in the overseas territories with regard to the implementation of the Convention. The territories are Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falklands Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands.
Presentation of United Kingdom Report
SARAH MARSHALL, Head of the Race Equality Unit at the Home Office of the United Kingdom, said that legislation in 1965, 1968 and 1976 had provided legal remedies against discrimination and had given impetus to profound changes in attitudes, and significant improvements in race equality, for example, the economic capacity of the Asian community; or the higher than average participation in education and training by minority ethnic students. But there was no room for complacency. People of ethnic minority origin formed 6 per cent of the population, but had only 4 per cent of the disposable income. Legislation in Britain was being updated now and the Government was determined that the public sector would lead the way in bringing about a change in race equality.
The United Kingdom remained attractive to migrants precisely because it was seen as a tolerant and diverse society, Ms. Marshall affirmed. It had a long history of offering sanctuary to refugees and continued to honour its commitments under the United Nations conventions relating to the status of refugees. In addition, the public remained sympathetic to people at risk -- the humanitarian evacuation programme for Kosovars had demonstrated the warmth and extraordinary generosity of local communities around the United Kingdom where groups of Kosovars were accommodated.
Ms. Marshall continued to say that the reform procedure for the Immigration and Asylum Act of 1999 would deliver the Government's commitment to helping immigrants and asylum seekers 'fairer, faster and firmer'. The Government was injecting a major investment -- ,604 million this year on asylum support costs. With additional funds to support the delivery of the fairer, faster, firmer policy. By March 2001, at least 70 per cent of people should receive an initial decision within two months, and most appeals should also be determined within 4 months.
Ms. Marshall spoke of the profound effect of the report of inquiry into Stephen Lawrence's murder on public perceptions and understanding of racism in the United Kingdom today. The process of change under way was a tribute to the remarkable courage of Stephen's parents. When the Home Secretary published the results of the Lawrence inquiry in March 1999, he had accepted the inquiry's definition of institutional racism and said that any long-established, white-dominated organization was liable to have procedures, practices and a culture that tended to exclude or to disadvantage non-white people. The new duty of public authorities to promote race equality was a robust response to that problem.
Ms. Marshall underlined that the Government of the United Kingdom was determined to build an inclusive society, where everyone had a sense of belonging -- in the words of the Prime Minister, "a country in which every colour is a good colour and every member of every race is able to fulfil their potential".
HENRY STEEL, of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom, told the Committee that on the issue of opening up full British citizenship to the inhabitants of the overseas territories, a bill was already under preparation, and he hoped that it would be included in the legislative programme for the next parliamentary session. Since the programme was likely to be very crowded, the bill might have to wait a little longer; but the commitment was there.
With regard to legislation to outlaw racial discrimination by private persons and bodies, Anguilla had agreed to include the necessary bill in the legislative agenda arising out of its current law revision project; the British Virgin Islands would re-introduce its bill into the new legislative council that had now been elected; in Gibraltar, work on the bill was currently being finalized; in Montserrat, the bill had passed through the legislative council last October; and in Turks and Caicos Islands, the proposals for a bill would be formally introduced soon.
Discussion
AGHA SHAHI, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of the United Kingdom, said that with regard to article 1 of the Convention, the report failed to explain which areas of social life were covered by the prohibition of racial discrimination by the 1976 act. It would be helpful to have a list of areas of social life that were currently covered by a prohibition of racial discrimination.
Mr. Shahi said that the Race Relations Act of 1976 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origin, and outlawed incitement to racial hatred. It made racial discrimination unlawful in employment, education, training and related matters, among others. In addition, it gave individuals the right to direct access to civil courts and employment tribunals for legal remedies for unlawful discrimination. The Act did not cover police, but that was remedied this year.
On article 4 of the Convention, concerning condemnation of racist groups by States parties, Mr. Shahi asked if street attacks on Blacks and Asians could be directly associated with racist organizations. The British National Party and Combat 18 were openly racist and were connected with active new-Nazi organizations. They had an explicit aim to incite a race war, according to Human Rights Watch. Combat 18 had lists targeting members of Jewish, Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities for attack. Those organizations were not restricted. In Northern Ireland, legislation limited freedom of association and banned two Northern Island Protestant paramilitary groups for involvement in sectarian violence; and membership in such groups was punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
Mr. Shahi said that the United Kingdom's Government was committed to extending ethnic monitoring to all stages of the criminal justice system; it had introduced compulsory ethnic monitoring on all police force areas from April 1996 covering stops, searches, arrests and homicides. Would ethnic monitoring make it possible to identify the points at which the inequalities took place, for example, black males being imprisoned at higher rates than whites and Asians?
Mr. Shahi continued to say that Amnesty International, in its annual report for 1999, contained extracts from its 1998 report on human rights abuses, including continued killings in disputed circumstances, death in custody, ill-treatment by police and in prisons, and detention in cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions. Many asylum seekers were detained; armed political groups committed human rights abuses.
Michael Manson had died after being set on fire in a racist attack in January 1997; the police treated the case as a suicide for almost 2 years; following a new investigation, three men were charged with his murder; two were convicted of manslaughter and the third for murder. Ricky Reel died in 1997 after drowning; the police failed to carry out an impartial investigation; three police officers were later found guilty of neglect of duty. And James Ashley was killed in a police raid when he was unarmed and in bed; some officers were charged with abuse of power and received only disciplinary notices.
Other Committee members also took the floor to express views on the report which many said was rich in its contents. Several experts referred to the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence and the police attitude towards the crime. They said the result of the investigation into the murder had taken over four years.
An expert said that the stop and search measure by the police was disproportionately used against minorities. Police abuse in such cases had also been reported by various human rights-monitoring organizations. The situation of Roma was also widely commented upon with questions of their status in the society.
* *** *