消除种族歧视委员会与非政府组织讨论德国和丹麦的情况（部分翻译）

2015年5月4日

消除种族歧视委员会今天上午在本周审议德国和丹麦报告之前听取了来自两国的非政府组织代表的发言。苏丹的报告也将于本周接受委员会审议，但没有来自该国的非政府组织参与讨论。

来自德国的非政府组织表示，公约在该国的落实是不够的，仅仅将种族主义视作表达个人偏见的狭隘和不完全理解导致对无意、间接和体制形式的种族主义问题解决不充分。穆斯林和非洲裔人面临着不断增加的敌意和歧视；这方面的核心问题包括种族定性、暴力、警察使用致命武力和教育领域的歧视问题。宗教歧视是另一项值得关注的问题。为普通民众提供社会福利服务的教会组织是该国第二大雇主；法律允许空缺职位要求属于教会，这使得非基督教徒——尤其是穆斯林无法获得这些工作。

在丹麦，多年来的情况已出现变化：首先面临的挑战是使当局意识到公约和有效补救措施。如今，存在的问题不仅是当局未能承担责任，而是缔约国本身就在歧视。由于该国未能将《消除一切形式种族歧视国际公约》和其他国际法纳入国家立法，这方面的有效补救十分缺乏。政府拒绝承认仇恨罪，其他方面的问题还包括种族定性，家庭团聚法，歧视东欧人——尤其是罗马尼亚人，他们即使在拥有丹麦国籍的情况下也面临着很大的敌视。

以下非政府组织在今天的会议上发言：德国新教教会社会服务部，落实平等待遇法办事处以及律师和非政府组织举措在有关德国的讨论中发言；种族歧视文献中心在有关丹麦的讨论中发言。

委员会将于今天下午3点再次召开公开会议，届时将开始审议苏丹的第十二次至第十六次合并定期报告（CERD/C/SDN/12-16）。

Statements by Non-governmental Organizations from Germany

Social Service Agency of the Protestant Church of Germany presented a parallel report which was the outcome of a collective project by several civil society organizations in Germany. There was an inadequate implementation of the Convention in Germany and the State report exemplified a narrow and incomplete understanding of racism as a mere expression of individual prejudices whereas unintentional, indirect and institutional forms of racism were inadequately addressed. The lack of data was particularly problematic in the areas of racial profiling and other forms of institutional discrimination, such as in education and housing where disparate effects on groups protected under the Convention were observable. The conceptual framework of crime statistics needed a reform to include offences motivated by racial discrimination other than hate speech. Muslims and people perceived as Muslims faced growing hostility and the number of attacks on persons and places of worship was on the rise. Germany was still unable to provide a systematic account of the demographics of Black people or the discrimination they faced. The core concerns were racial profiling, violence and the use of deadly force by the police, and discrimination in the education sector. People seeking asylum faced growing levels of hostility, and there was a surge in anti-refugee rhetoric in parts of public and policy debate. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning and Intersex persons of colour experienced heightened levels of discrimination, abuse and assault; they experienced specific discrimination by the police in the form of intersecting cases of racial and sexual profiling, and faced specific vulnerabilities in the asylum process.

Office for the Implementation of the Equal Treatment Act raised the issue of religious discrimination in Germany and said that there was a noticeable increase in the Muslim population in the country who was largely naturalized and had German citizenship. The unemployment rate of the people of immigrant background was double that of the general population. Social welfare services in Germany were largely provided by religious organizations: Caritas and Diakonia were the second largest employers in Germany, right after the State, and ahead of the car industry. All employers in Germany expected loyalty, including church-based organizations, and this was expanded in job adverts where belonging to a Church was a requirement in job vacancies. This had implications for non-Christians in the country, particularly Muslims, who would have trouble applying for the vacancy and being offered a job. Welfare organizations and services were largely supported by the State. Muslim organizations were not in a structural possibility to apply for the legal recognition which would make them eligible for public subsidies for the provision of social services. The Equal Treatment Act allowed individuals to file complaint against another individual for acts of discrimination. The Act did not cover acts of institutional discrimination, for example by the police or in education, which led to problems related to racial profiling.

Initiative by Lawyers and Non-governmental Organizations took up the issue of institutional racism and said that there were structural defects within the security apparatus which led to racial discrimination and inadequate addressing of instances of racial violence. This was exemplified in the treatment of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a terrorist group which targeted immigrants; many cases were not investigated and prosecuted, and some were not even registered. The NSU had carried out its terrorist activities for more than 14 years without any repercussions or fear of legal consequences. The State report claimed that NSU acts were investigated in all possible directions, but this was not true as the racist dimension of those crimes was overlooked. The trial of those NSU members indicted for killing of two persons in Nuremberg had failed to address the issue of institutional racism.

Discussion on Germany

A Committee Expert asked the non-governmental organizations to expand on their understanding of institutional racism, and to provide concrete examples of the structural defects in the administration of justice and the administration in general. What were adequate responses to racial profiling by the federal police and what concrete examples of inadequate application of the Convention could be cited?

Representatives of non-governmental organizations said that inadequate application of the Convention could be seen in murky definitions of xenophobia, including in statistics, as well as in the definition of groups which were protected under the Convention. Diversity in the workforce in the church-based organizations existed in terms of ethnicity, but not in the area of religion. The law on racial profiling was the result of a political agreement and was difficult to implement because it was unclear in terms of procedure. What was clear was that the people of colour were the targets and that federal police officers received very little training on racial profiling.

Committee Experts asked about the data collection system and what methods could be used to work around the current gaps in the system; whether the collected data was made public; and about the lack of an official complaint office and what other institutional changes would be important. It was noted that special measures were not used on the ground of race, but they were used in connection with gender; why was that? Experts asked the representatives of non-governmental organizations to provide evidence that discrimination on the basis of religion was in fact racism in many instances, and about the reasons for which racist motives behind the crimes, particularly by NSU, were often not brought up.

In response, a non-governmental organization said that neo-Nazis infiltrated the police, some were even police officers themselves, and had the advance information about raids. There was a long-standing discussion between the State and non-governmental organizations about the number of racially-motivated murders; non-governmental organizations claimed that more than 180 had been registered. Germany was more attuned to crimes of Nazism rather than to the ideas of racism and discrimination, which came through the European Union. Also, there was very little perspective on the victims of crimes of racial discrimination, who tended to be neglected.

As for data, the problem was to achieve the level of segregation which would allow for the effective protection of groups defined by the Convention. Voluntary gathering of data could be a way forward, even if some groups preferred not to be categorized and have their data collected. Racial profiling by the police must be documented by the police and a form on the incident should be given to the person questioned. The ghost of history should inspire a full and open debate and eliminate the reluctance to specifically name racial discrimination in the Government discourse, which continued to use terms such as hatred or xenophobia. An independent police complaint mechanism must be put in place to allow all persons to file their complaints on any ground, not just racial discrimination, and so allow the police force to improve.

In a further series of questions, Experts asked about the difference between the situation in Germany and in the United States, and whether the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) was a recognized political movement.

Responding, the representatives of non-governmental organizations said that it was important to recognize racism and to introduce the grounds of racism, and not use any other terminology that would take attention away from racism. Also, it was important to examine the right of citizenship in Germany versus those in the United Kingdom or the United States; those who obtained citizenship by birth were not considered by some to be the real Germans.

Statement by Non-governmental Organization from Denmark

Documentation Centre for Racial Discrimination said that over the years, the situation in Denmark had changed: at first the challenge was to make the authorities aware about the Convention and the effective remedies. Today, the problem was not only the failure of authorities to take responsibility, but that the State Party itself was discriminating. There was a lack of effective remedies, due to the failure of the incorporation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Racial Discrimination and other international law in the national legislation. The Government was in denial of hate crimes, while other issues of concern were racial profiling, the family reunification law, and discrimination against Eastern Europeans, particularly people from Romania, who faced great levels of hostility even if they had Danish citizenship.

Discussion on Denmark

Committee Experts wondered how the place of birth was registered in Danish passports of people born in foreign countries.

In response, the non-governmental organization said the procedure of recording the place of birth in passports had been recently changed without any explanation; in case of people of Romanian origin, Romania was now recorded as a place of birth. This had an impact on Danish citizens of foreign origin, particularly in the context of the fight against terrorism, money laundering, or the police stop and search activities.

Committee Experts asked about what was going on in Denmark and why the situation was alarming, whether it was in an isolated case or a systemic pattern of discrimination, and who was targeted, citizens of Romania or Roma.

In 2002, the law on family reunification granted it until the age of 24; over the age of 24 there was a need to demonstrate that the couples’ aggregate links to Denmark were stronger than links to another country. The age was now raised to 26, but it would not change the fact that it was discriminatory to Danish citizens of non-Danish origin. The fear was about the lack of protection of minority rights and the non-incorporation of the Convention.

An Expert noted that the Convention was not directly enforceable in Danish courts. It was recognized as a source of law and Denmark had in place the Anti-discriminatory Statute. The representative of the non-governmental organization said that this was a very difficult discussion in Denmark and noted that this too had been the case with the European Convention on Human Rights, which had made great impact on the law since its incorporation. There was no evidence of the use of this and other international conventions in the courts, simply because they were not incorporated.
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