Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considers report of Italy

5 March 2012

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today considered the combined sixteenth to eighteenth periodic reports of Italy on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Introducing the report, Diego Brasioli, President of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Italian legal system guaranteed the principle of non-discrimination, but racist attitudes still persisted. A 200,000 strong Roma community lived in Italy, and the Government was determined to improve their situation, especially access to education, labour, health and housing, while fully respecting and protecting the rights of the Roma population. In 2008 a new legislative framework aimed at foreigners living in Italy, called the "security package", was launched, which sought to address the issue of illegal migration, particularly in the context of the consequences of events that occurred in North Africa since January 2011 and which led to a unique stream of migrants to the Italian coast. Nothing in that legislation was xenophobic or discriminatory against any group or community. Sport was used to promote multi-culturalism, and was invested in as a way to influence public opinion, convey Government messages and to end racism in football. Judicial authorities were empowered by law to investigate criminal content in the documents, speeches and programmes of political representatives, and there had been specific action to prevent anti-Semitism, including education programmes.

During the discussion, Committee Experts asked questions about the situation of the Roma population in Italy, and targeted and discriminatory policies towards them. Experts raised concerns about Islamophobia and the stigmatisation of ethnic and religious minorities, particularly in the media and public discourse. The Committee members asked questions about the situation of migrants, including women and children, in detention centres, and about cooperation with the authorities in Libya to return migrants and ensure the safety of migrants at sea. Experts acknowledged the work conducted by the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office, and also asked about racism on the internet, hate speech, human rights education in universities and whether a ban on the wearing of full face veils was planned.

In concluding remarks, Nourredine Amir, Country Rapporteur for Italy, said that Italy had commendably come before the Committee to seek solutions to its problems. Italy was a land of opportunity, not only for Europe, but for the entire Mediterranean basin.

Diego Brasioli concluded the dialogue and said that the delegation was very grateful for today’s useful discussion, and truly recognised the important role played by the Committee: all recommendations would be taken into account.

The Delegation of Italy consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior and the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The next public meeting of the Committee will be held at 3 p.m. on Friday, 9 March when the Committee will issue concluding observations on all countries considered during the session, adopt its final report, and close its eightieth session.

Report

The sixteenth to eighteenth periodic reports of Italy can be read here: (CERD/C/ITA/16-18).

Presentation of the Report

DIEGO BRASIOLI, President of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Italian legal system guaranteed the fundamental rights of individuals, and there were laws in place against racist and xenophobic speech and incitement to commit acts of violence, while special aggravated circumstances were available for all crimes committed on the basis of discrimination or racial hatred. However racist attitudes still persisted today, and the Government was grateful for the assistance of the Committee in fighting those attitudes. The newly established Ministry for International Cooperation and Integration had responsibilities directly linked to the issue of racial discrimination, while the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office was a de facto independent and impartial body that had established several regional centres to deal with discrimination, ran a hotline, analysed racist activities and supported victims, and offered training and legal aid. Sport was used to promote multi-culturalism, and was invested in as a way to influence public opinion, convey Government messages and to end racism in football. A 200,000 strong Roma community lived in Italy, and the National Anti-Racial Discriminations Office had a draft national strategy covering education, labour, health and housing. The Italian Government adopted this strategy in February 2012, and acknowledged the need to involve both the Local Authorities and the Roma community when adopting policies.

In 2008 a new legislative framework aimed at foreigners living in Italy, called the "security package", was launched, which sought to address the issue of illegal migration, particularly in the context of the consequences of events that occurred in North Africa since January 2011 and which led to a unique stream of migrants to the Italian coast. Nothing in that legislation was xenophobic or discriminatory against any group or community. Instead, it aimed to address a phenomenon because of its urgency in terms of impact and its relationship with organised crime, which exploited illegal immigrants and forced them to live in unacceptable living conditions. Appropriate administrative measures had been put in place to monitor the process of receiving illegal migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, who had to be informed of their rights and duties, given legal assistance and access to education, healthcare, housing and employment opportunities. There had been some anti-Semitic events in Italy, and action to prevent anti-Semitism deserved specific attention, particularly the discriminatory nature of the discourse of certain political representatives and instances of incitement to hatred. Judicial authorities were empowered by law to investigate criminal content in the documents, speeches and programmes of political representatives. Many institutions, such as non-governmental organization and schools, tackled anti-Semitism through education.

Questions from Experts

NOURREDINE AMIR, Country Rapporteur for Italy, said Italy had a decentralised structure, and the distribution of competences between central and local structures meant that clear responsibilities had been established for each level of power. The regions had legislative power pursuant to domestic law. Italy referred to a national plan to implement the Durban Plan of Action to eliminate racist and discrimination practices, and it was interesting to note that Italy, along with other European States, was not satisfied with the Follow-up of the Durban Conference, which took place in Geneva in 2009. The National Anti-Racial Discriminations Office, despite its efforts, had become a governmental body, and a National Human Rights institution had to be established.

The Rapporteur said that the Convention also dealt with non-citizens, and that Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, which stated that all Italian citizens had equal social status and were equal before the law without distinction of any kind, did therefore not meet the standards of the Convention. Although the establishment of the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office was a commendable step, Italy had been asked to create a National Human Rights Institution in compliance with the Paris Principles. The establishment of such an institution was in progress, but considering the current economic situation in Italy, the Rapporteur asked about funding.

The Committee was concerned about discrimination against Roma, and thought that Italy should consider amending or reviewing its legislation. In May 2008, the Italian Government adopted a ‘Declaration of Emergency’ on the base camps of nomadic communities. That decree gave the prefects of Rome, Milan and Naples emergency powers to adopt targeted measures directly or indirectly against the nomads and non-citizens illegally residing in nomad camps. At least 95 per cent of the targeted camps belonged to the Roma community. Those measures led to the expulsion of persons who had legal residency status. Following that decree, there were actions to improve the living conditions of nomadic communities in accordance with human rights principles, but in practice, those principles had not been honoured. Even the Italian courts had recognised a violation of Article 2 of the Convention. The Rapporteur recalled that in its previous concluding observations on Italy, the Committee had reported concerns that Roma persons were still living in conditions of de facto segregation in camps and lacked basic facilities. The Committee was also concerned that those people struggled to get a legal residence permit because they were unable to meet the requirements for establishing a permanent residence in terms of employment or regular income, which was why they had no alternative but to live in the camps. Communities were denied the opportunity to enjoy their rights because they were not given proper housing. Roma people were separated from the Italian population, and that was a de facto segregation.

The Rapporteur reminded the State party that the European Court of Human Rights had addressed the problems of returning migrants to Libya without consideration of their cases, thus exposing them to significant risk, and of collective expulsions, and had urged Italy to pay €15,000 to each person expelled collectively.

Racial discrimination and segregation affected Roma and Sinti people in particular, but also Arabs and Muslims. Islamophobia was a spreading phenomenon throughout the country. Qualitative and quantitative data was needed to strengthen the fight against Islamophobia. Over one million Muslims were estimated to live in Italy, mostly migrants. Racist discourse in the media had increased, particularly after Romania joined the European Union. States parties had an obligation to prevent and punish hate speech. Italy had taken the Committee’s recommendations into account, but further and urgent measures were still needed to address the issue. The Italian legal system had specific laws on the prohibition of hate speech, and the establishment of organizations that promoted racism. Italy had ratified the Convention, but entered a reservation on Article 4, with the explanation that provisions of that Article could jeopardise freedom of expression. There had to be public awareness-raising campaigns on racism and racial discrimination.

The Rapporteur urged the Government to establish an independent National Human Rights Institution, based on the Paris Principles; to implement the judgment of the State Council of 16 November 2011 on the Decree on urgent issues relating to nomads; to halt the activities of racist groups, in particular on the internet; to reform the Penal Code to incorporate the aggravating circumstances for the racist motivation of a crime; to make it easier for children born or raised in Italy and for long-time residents to gain Italian citizenship, and to systematically collect data on racist incidents and offences.

Experts acknowledged the efforts made by Italy since its last examination by the Committee, including in the field of data collection, and recognised that Italy faced a difficult period. Many reports mentioned stigmatisation against ethnic or religious groups, and the poor number of court cases, but the Committee had hope that the new Government would address those issues effectively. It was noted that the Government had also made efforts to address discrimination in schools.

Immigrants in Italy made a valuable contribution to the economy, and the economic situation would be more difficult without them. Experts were concerned about the Roma population who were often victims of violence and discrimination. Certain Italian laws were discriminatory towards the Roma community, and a negative image of Roma people was often disseminated in the media. The emergency legislation relating to the Roma had had a negative impact, and although a court had overturned that legislation after two years, its ill-effects were still hurting the Roma population. Experts said that the ethnic minority census included finger printing of ethnic minority groups, which had serious implications regarding ethnic profiling. What steps were taken to ensure that the discriminatory decree was amended and that the data collected was destroyed? An Expert asked whether committees established to protect the rights of migrants had an advisory capacity.

The role of State authorities in dealing with the punishment of racial crimes had been implemented, and action had been taken against prominent people. However there was a hesitation to prosecute in the name of respect of freedom of expression, and not only in Italy, especially as the burden of proof was very high for any prosecution to occur.

An Expert raised discriminatory practises related to the access of housing, including owners advertising their properties for rent and explicitly rejecting foreign tenants in the advertisements. Was there any mechanism for complaints against such discrimination?

A process of integration for migrant and foreign children in the education system was necessary, although it could have a discriminatory impact. An Expert raised the question of the access to education for all children, and asked what measures were undertaken to ensure that no children were discriminated in their right to access education. There were also economic differences between the several administrative regions in Italy, which lead to concerns regarding different levels of enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by children.

Racist speech was a real phenomenon in Italy, and many cases had not been prosecuted. There were also many stigmatisation in the public discourse and in the media, and a resurgence of far right political ideas. Experts stated the importance of human rights education and awareness raising campaigns among the population. An Expert said that human rights education should be compulsory at university. Where was the process of the ban on headscarves concealing the face?

On the situation of migrants, an Expert asked why Italy had refused to accept the recommendation to sign the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers made during the Universal Periodic Review. An important condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights had just been issued against Italy’s collective measures and its immigration bilateral agreements with Libya. An Expert asked what steps would be taken to implement that ruling?

Response by the Delegation

Establishment of a National Human Rights Institution was currently being considered, and was one of the main recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review of Italy. A new proposal resulted from Government collaboration with with non-governmental organizations, and had been accepted by The Senate. The Financial Crisis led the public to question the necessity of creating and budgeting new bodies and institutions. However, the establishment of the National Human Rights Institution would not be affected by such restraints.

Regarding the recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights, a delegate said that the Government was committed to fully implement the ruling. The Government was working with the new leaders in Libya to start a new cooperation based on new pillars, one of then being the ruling of the European Court and the safeguarding of migrants at sea. Italy was committed to improving the situation of migrants. Cooperation with the Libyan authorities was necessary so that Libya better controlled its own borders. Over the next few years and decades, migration would become an increasingly more important phenomena. Border controls and the fight against human trafficking were important preoccupations and had to be tackled with full respect with human rights.

Italy faced a challenge of positive integration, when uncontrolled immigration would result in the end of Italy as a country. The emergency encountered during the Arab Spring was now over, and the ‘Security Package’ was indeed no longer appropriate.

Legislation that considered the fact of being on the territory illegally as an aggravating circumstance for committing a crime was not in line with the Convention and had therefore been repealed. Regarding the authority for migration policies in Italy; regions did indeed have some autonomy, but the State ensured common rules on immigration, and regions could only improve on State policy. Administrative measures to ensure the rights of foreigners would be improved, including the right to housing.

Regarding the right to citizenship for children born in Italy whose parents were foreigners, legislative amendments were planned. A balance of interest between public security and the rights of those children was needed. The Government was willing to give citizenship to children at the age of 18 who had effectively only lived in Italy. Regarding discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, a bill was currently before parliament to improve protection of victims. A new law would consider discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as an aggravating circumstance for the main crimes.

Italy had signed a Council of Europe Convention against cybercrime, which provided Italy with an occasion to upgrade its legislation in order to better fight racism on the internet.

A delegate said that the National Anti-Racial Discrimination Office would not be dismantled following the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution, but on the contrary would work closely with such body. The complaint mechanism established by the Office was had become increasingly efficient.

There were indeed weaknesses in the way Italy used to treat Roma people, a delegate said. However, now a long-term action plan to address the issue was now in place, and a bill had been drafted which recognised the Roma population as an official minority group. Emergency policies were not used anymore. Collaboration with organizations which worked to protect the interests of the Roma community had been strengthened, and the gender approach of those issues had been reinforced. The Roma community faced the most discrimination and stigmatisation, including from the media. The Office therefore conducted awareness raising campaigns among journalists. Enabling access to education (in particular to universities), employment and healthcare for Roma people were also important challenges to be addressed. Vaccination of Roma children had improved. A new approach would be taken to address access to housing for Roma people, and camps would no longer be used; they would be dismantled and proper housing would be provided. Social housing would be developed with a view to help the Roma community, reduce social exclusion and respect their right to family unity.

Judges, lawyers and staff from prison facilities received training on human rights and on non-discrimination, while members of the judiciary had attended special training sessions on the Muslim and Islamic cultures, in order to combat Islamophobia.

Questions from Experts

An Expert asked what would happen if a region adopted a policy different from the national one, in the field of immigration. The fact that the Constitutional Court was competent to arbitrate such situations was a source of concern, considering the delay it would take to make a final decision.

What improvements had been made to detention centres, an Expert asked, recalling allegations of ill-treatment occurring in the detention centre of Lampedusa. How were migrant children who were held in detention centres with their parents looked after? Another Expert asked whether there was any plan to ban full face veils in Italy.

An Expert asked what effect recognition of the Roma population as an official minority would have, and what would be done with the data collected from the Roma population. Was Roma education regarded as multicultural, and what type of education was provided in Roma camps?

Did Italy plan to lift its reservations on the Convention, an Expert wondered, and when could the National Human Rights Institution be established? He also asked about the time scale for the adoption of the national Action Plan Against Racism.

Response by the Delegation

Referring a policy conflict between local and national authorities to the Constitutional Court was not the only procedure available for victims, a delegate confirmed. There was an initial exchange of information with regard to who was responsible between the State and the Region. The delays were shorter when such conflict was involved.

A proposed law to ban the wearing of veils that concealed the face was not a Government bill, a delegate explained, but had been introduced by a single member of Parliament. It was unlikely that such a law, or prohibition, would be voted in any time soon.

Regarding children living in detention centres with their parents, they were provided with psychological aid from medical services.

The decision to officially recognize the Roma minority was a very recent decision, and the legislation had not yet been drafted. A delegate confirmed that data collected on Roma people had been entirely destroyed, and said that there was no specific database on ethnic profiling.

Italy would indeed examine its reservations to the Convention. The National Human Rights Institution would hopefully be voted for soon, while the National Plan would be adopted in September 2012.

Concluding Remarks

NOURREDINE AMIR, Country Rapporteur for Italy, thanked the State party for an open, constructive and positive debate, which had demonstrated that Italy had commendably come before the Committee to seek solutions to its problems. Italy was a land of opportunity, not only for Europe, but for the entire Mediterranean basin.

DIEGO BRASIOLI, President of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the delegation was very grateful for today’s useful discussion, and truly recognised the important role played by the Committee. He guaranteed that all recommendations from the Committee would be taken into account.

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