消除种族歧视委员会和非政府组织讨论斯里兰卡和巴基斯坦的状况

日内瓦（2016年8月15日）——消除种族歧视委员会今天上午听取了民间社会代表们关于斯里兰卡和巴基斯坦种族歧视的状况，随后委员会将于本周审议上述国家的报告。

关于斯里兰卡问题，民间社会代表表示，针对少数群体的侵犯行为在新政府上台后仍在发生，其中一些案件还涉及国家官员。针对泰米尔（Tamil）少数群体的歧视尤其令他们感到担忧，在种植园社区的土地获取方面尤其如此。《预防恐怖主义法》的运用不成比例地影响到了泰米尔少数群体，并成为了打压异见的工具。他们同样提到了普遍存在却鲜少经过调查的仇恨罪，并特别指出规范礼拜场所建设的立法对穆斯林和新教徒产生了极端偏见。妇女和女童遭到了基于性别、族裔和种姓的多重形式的歧视行为。

在巴基斯坦的状况方面，非政府组织对巴基斯坦立法未能适当定义种族歧视表示担忧，且该国没有可用的指标以测量此类现象。缔约国报告中包含了基于过时数据的信息，且并未提及少数群体面对的歧视行为。他们对哈扎拉什叶派社区的状态表示担忧，其经常沦为逊尼派极端分子的目标，他们的行动自由和经济、社会及文化权利的获取经常遭到歧视和限制。西提（Sheedi）少数群体成员在婚姻、就业等社会和经济领域内持续遭到歧视，并且缺乏政治代表。

反对一切形式歧视国际运动（International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination）、少数人权利团体 （Minority Rights Group）和社会公正中心（Centre for Social Justice）的代表们在讨论中发言。

国别审评将在此进行网络直播：http://www.treatybodywebcast.org
。

委员会将于今天下午3点复会，开始审议斯里兰卡的第十至第十七次合并定期报告（CERD/C/LKA/10-17）。

Statements on Sri Lanka

International Movement against All Forms of Discrimination welcomed good practices by the new Sri Lankan Government and its efforts towards solving minority issues, bringing reconciliation and resettling internally displaced persons, as well as strengthening the rule of law and democracy. Challenges remained however. The rights of members of the Tamil community had been continuously violated due to the structural discrimination and the lack of political will to tackle inequality. Of particular concern was the situation of the plantation Tamil community. Land issue should be a priority, as plantation communities remained landless. This situation was intolerable and steps taken by the Government were insufficient. Plantation communities also lagged behind in terms of education. Widespread incidents of hate crimes, especially by Bodu Bala Sena, a hard-line Sinhala Buddhist group, were hardly investigated, and those responsible were hardly prosecuted. For example, the Government had not prosecuted those responsible for the attack against a Muslim community in Aluthgama in June 2014, which had resulted in the death of four persons. Another major concern should be the representation of minorities in politics, particularly women. Women and girls suffered multiple forms of discrimination based on their gender, ethnicity and caste.

Minority Rights Group noted that ethnic and religious discrimination in Sri Lanka were deeply intertwined and often overlapping. Violations against minorities were still taking place under the new Government, and some had involved State officials. Minority Rights Group pointed specifically at a circular requiring the Government to grant permission for the construction of all new places of worship, which was applied with extreme prejudice against Muslims and Protestant Christians. Hate speech also remained a key issue facing minorities, while legislative inaction suggested the unwillingness of the State party to provide adequate physical safety to minorities. Continuing, Minority Rights Group highlighted issues resulting from the application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which disproportionately affected the Tamil minority and served as a tool to stifle dissent. Finally, it referred to the situation of war-affected women, who lacked security and protection, which was linked to the massive presence of security forces in the north of the country who, for years, had perpetrated sexual violence with almost total impunity.

Discussion on Sri Lanka

An Expert noted that the Committee had to acknowledge the Government’s willingness to address human rights issues, and its ambitious plan for reforms.

Experts asked questions about specific activities being taken in the framework of transitional justice. Had any pardons been granted? What had been the involvement of the Tamil community and of women in these measures? An Expert raised a question about the independence and impartiality of domestic courts, particularly of the Supreme Court. Of particular concern was the appointment and removal of judges on political grounds. Experts asked whether the possibility to choose between personal law and customary law for civil matters had led to discrimination between communities. Were women allowed to make such choices?

Another Expert raised a question on discrimination against religious minorities in Sri Lanka. An Expert asked whether the Buddhist majority also needed permission for the construction of places of worship. An Expert asked what the content of school curricula was, particularly history books, and whether they could contribute to combatting negative stereotypes and hate speech against the Tamil population and plantation communities. On the issue of land-grabbing, an Expert asked how land was accessed to in the first place. An Expert asked for information on the caste system in Sri Lanka.

What measures had been taken to ensure the safe return of displaced persons? What measures had been taken to resolve the issue of statelessness? What was the situation of human rights defenders in Sri Lanka under the new Government? Had it improved? An Expert asked what was the non-governmental organizations’ position on the Antiterrorism Act.

Responding to some of these questions, civil society representatives said that the Government was still negotiating the creation of transitional justice mechanisms at this stage. Regarding land issues, the Government was asked to provide additional land to plantation Tamils, particularly to women. In addition, the current wage for plantation workers was insufficient for them to live a decent life. The Government had a key role to play in that regard, to impose a minimum wage on the private sector.

The law requiring authorization for the construction of places of worship had been applied in a discriminatory way against the Muslim community. The caste system led to discrimination against non-dominant castes. Although the situation of human rights defenders had improved under the new Government, reports of harassment continued, particularly against Tamil rights defenders and under the Antiterrorism Act.

Statements on Pakistan

Centre for Social Justice was concerned that no legislation in Pakistan properly defined racial discrimination, and that no indicator was in place to measure this phenomenon. Around 2,000 women were killed every year in Pakistan, in the name of “honour”. There was also a large number of displaced persons. The data used in the State party report was outdated, as there was a lack of will to undertake a fair and credible census, which would redefine the state of ethnicity in the country. Budget allocations were based on such data, and therefore discrepancies remained. There was no mention of the Kalash, the Dalit or the Sheedi people in the report, despite the grave violations against them. Similarly, no caste or gender-based data was available. This lack of data and the discrepancies in the report made it impossible to measure progress achieved by Pakistan to combat racial discrimination.

Minority Rights Group mentioned continuing barriers to the political participation of minorities, including local legislation that precluded religious minorities from directly electing candidates to fill minority seats. Continuing, it expressed concerns about the situation of the Hazara Shi’a community, which was often targeted by Sunni extremists and suffered everyday discrimination and restriction of their freedom of mobility and access to economic, social and cultural rights. The Government had failed to investigate these attacks and to prosecute perpetrators. Also, there remained ambiguity concerning the extent to which ethnic minorities were recognised and protected under the Constitution, which raised questions over whether the definition of minority adequately took into account all grounds of discrimination. Members of the Sheedi minority continued to face discrimination in social and economic spheres such as marriage and employment, and lacked political representation. Sheedi women were particularly vulnerable.

Discussion on Pakistan

Experts raised a number of questions with regard to Pakistan’s legal arsenal to domesticate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and to combat racial discrimination.

Experts referred to acts of terrorism against minorities, and asked what impact the counter-terrorism legislation had vis-à-vis the armed forces? Questions also pertained to Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation. Other questions pertained to discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers.

A Committee Member asked for figures regarding honour killings.

An Expert noted the views that there were discrepancies and inconsistencies in the State party’s report, including regarding the situation of migrants and discrimination in the workplace.

Civil society representatives were asked whether Pakistan had invited them to participate in the elaboration of its periodic report. Experts asked for details regarding Pakistan’s national human rights institution.

Responding, representatives of the non-governmental organizations explained that the definition of minorities in the Constitution had not changed since the country’s last review by the Committee and despite recommendations made at the time. They pointed at the negative role played by the media in relation to honour killings, which contributed to perpetuate this practice. No funding had been given to the national human rights commission, which compromised its independence and impartiality.

__________

For use of the information media; not an official record