| Draft concluding observations of
the Committee concerning the initial report of Georgia
Draft concluding observations of the Committee concerning
the eleventh periodic report of Bangladesh
Draft concluding observations of the Committee concerning
the fifteenth periodic report of Greece
The meeting was called to order at 10.20 a.m.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS, COMMENTS AND INFORMATION
SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE
CONVENTION (agenda item 6) (continued)
Draft concluding observations concerning the initial
report of Georgia
(CERD/C/58/Misc.25/Rev.2)
Paragraphs 1 and 2
1. Paragraphs 1 and 2 were adopted.
Paragraph 3
2. Mr. SHAHI said that, in paragraph 3, the Committee
rightly recognized that the Georgian Government was
not in control of all the national territory. He regretted
that the Committee had not made the same observation
with regard to some other States parties and hoped
that it would do so in future.
3. Mr. THORNBERRY said that paragraph 3 reflected
the difficulties stemming from the ethnic and political
conflicts faced by Georgia, but it might be inferred
that, since the conflicts had been given dates, they
ended, and that was not the case. He therefore proposed
that the dates should be deleted.
4. Paragraph 3, as amended, was adopted.
5. Mr. Valencia Rodríguez took the Chair.
Paragraphs 4 to 7
6. Paragraphs 4 to 7 were adopted.
Paragraph 8
7. Mr. ABOUL-NASR said he was astonished that the
Committee should still be calling on States parties
to condemn apartheid although that phenomenon had
disappeared in South Africa.
8. Mr. FALL (Country Rapporteur) recalled that the
Committee had discussed the matter when drawing up
the document recapitulating its general recommendations
and decisions of general interest (CERD/C/365/Rev.I).
It had been agreed at the time that apartheid had
been an ideology and that there were no grounds for
asserting that it could not recur, even though it
had been abolished as a State system in South Africa.
In any case, States parties were still called upon
to condemn apartheid pursuant to article 3 of the
Convention.
9. Paragraph 8 was adopted.
Paragraphs 9 to 13
10. Paragraphs 9 to 13 were adopted.
Paragraph 14
11. Mr. ABOUL-NASR, supported by Mr. DIACONU, said
he was surprised at the inclusion of paragraph 14,
which dealt solely with religious freedom; the subject
had nothing to do with the Convention and he therefore
proposed the paragraph's deletion.
12. Mr. FALL (Country Rapporteur) recalled that the
religious conflicts between the Orthodox Church and
other faiths in Georgia were mentioned in the State
party's report and had been referred to during the
dialogue with the Georgian delegation.
13. Mr. SHAHI said that, in the case of Georgia,
religious and ethnic conflicts were closely linked
and that the Committee was undoubtedly right to express
its concern about the matter in that particular case,
even though the Convention did not directly relate
to religious intolerance.
14. Mr. PILLAI said that paragraph 14, as worded,
failed entirely to bring out any connection between
religious and ethnic conflicts and that he was therefore
in favour of its deletion.
15. Paragraph 14 was deleted.
Paragraph 15
16. Mr. SHAHI noted that, in paragraph 15, the Committee
requested the Georgian Government to take the necessary
measures to facilitate the return of Meskhetians to
the country. While welcoming the request, he proposed
that it should be stated, at the end of the paragraph,
that the measures should also enable them to acquire
Georgian nationality on their return.
17. Paragraph 15, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraphs 16 to 21
18. Paragraphs 16 to 21 were adopted.
19. The draft concluding observations concerning
the initial report of Georgia, as amended, were adopted,
subject to the renumbering of the paragraphs.
20. Mr. Fall resumed the Chair.
Draft concluding observations of the Committee concerning
the eleventh periodic report of Bangladesh (CERD/C/58/MISC.26/Rev.2)
Paragraph 1
21. Paragraph 1 was adopted.
Paragraph 2
22. Mr. YUTZIS proposed that the word "detailed"
in the first sentence should be deleted.
23. Paragraph 2, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5
24. Paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 were adopted.
Paragraph 6
25. Paragraph 6 was adopted.
Paragraph 7
26. After a discussion on whether reference should
be made to the "high incidence of poverty"
and its effect on enjoyment of the rights provided
for in article 5 of the Convention, in which Mr. ABOUL-NASR,
Mr. PILLAI, Mr. DIACONU, Mr. SHAHI, Mr. TANG and Mr.
YUTZIS took part, the Committee decided, on a proposal
by Mr. PILLAI, to delete paragraph 7.
27. Paragraph 7 was deleted.
Paragraph 8
28. Mr. THORNBERRY proposed that, in the second sentence,
the word "information" should be preceded
by the word "disaggregated". He also proposed
that, in the last sentence, the word "may"
should be replaced by the word "should".
29. Paragraph 8, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraph 9
30. Mr. ABOUL-NASR proposed that, in the second sentence,
the words "the provisions of" should be
followed by the words "article 4 of". The
sentence would thus read: "The Committee recommends
the State party to consider giving full effect to
the provisions of article 4 of the Convention".
31. Mr. SHAHI proposed that the word "remedies"
in the eighth line should be followed by the words
"under article 6". The second sentence would
then read: "The Committee recommends the State
party to consider giving full effect to the provisions
of article 4 of the Convention, in its domestic legal
order, to ensure penalization of acts of racial discrimination,
as well as to ensure access to effective protection
and remedies under article 6", the subsequent
wording remaining unchanged.
32. Paragraph 9, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraphs 10 to 21
33. Paragraphs 10 to 21 were adopted.
34. The draft concluding observations of the Committee
concerning the eleventh periodic report of Bangladesh,
as amended, were adopted.
35. Mr. Sherifis took the Chair.
Draft concluding observations of the Committee concerning
the fifteenth periodic report of Greece (CERD/C/Misc.24/Rev.2)
36. Mr. RECHETOV (Country Rapporteur) said that the
draft concluding observations under consideration
had been drawn up with the help of the secretariat
and included the amendments suggested by the members
of the Committee.
Paragraphs 1 to 3
37. Paragraphs 1 to 3 were adopted.
Paragraph 4
38. Mr. DIACONU proposed that the last part of the
sentence, from the word "and" to the end,
should be deleted, since that was an undertaking States
parties assumed on ratifying the Convention and it
thus went without saying.
39. Paragraph 4, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraphs 5 and 6
40. Paragraphs 5 and 6 were adopted.
Paragraph 7
41. Mr. SHAHI, referring to a comment by Mr. THORNBERRY,
proposed that the word "Deontology", not
a current term in English, should be followed by the
term "ethics" in parentheses.
42. Paragraph 7, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraph 8
43. Paragraph 8 was adopted.
Paragraph 9
44. Mr. de GOUTTES, referring to an objection by
Mr. ABOUL-NASR, who pointed out that the Committee
did not know whether all minorities participated in
political life in Greece, proposed that the beginning
of the paragraph should be amended to read: "The
Committee notes the information provided by the State
party that …".
45. Paragraph 9, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraph 10
46. Paragraph 10 was adopted.
Paragraph 11
47. Mr. SHAHI noted that the repeal of the article
of the Code in question had had a retroactive effect
for the many persons deprived of their citizenship
while the measure had been in force. It therefore
seemed to him inappropriate to mention that repeal
in the context of positive aspects.
48. Mr. RECHETOV (Country Rapporteur) proposed that
the paragraph should be deleted.
49. Paragraph 11 was deleted.
Paragraph 12
50. Paragraph 12 was adopted.
Paragraphs 13 and 14 (new paragraph 13)
51. Mr. DIACONU proposed that paragraphs 13 and 14
should be replaced by a new paragraph, to be worded:
"While noting that the report of the State party
refers to 'the Muslim minority of western Thrace'
and within it to Turkish, Pomak and Roma groups, and
not to other ethnic groups in the country, the Committee
draws the attention of the State party to its General
Recommendations VIII (38) and XXIV (55) in this regard".
He recalled that a similar paragraph appeared in the
Committee's concluding observations concerning the
fifteenth periodic report of Germany.
52. Mr. SHAHI supported the proposal made by Mr.
Diaconu and further proposed that the full headings
of the General Recommendations in question, not simply
their numbers, should be given.
53. The new paragraph 13, as proposed by Mr. Diaconu
and amended by Mr. Shahi, was adopted.
Paragraph 15
54. Mr. YUTZIS, noting that, in paragraph 15, the
Committee encouraged the State party to build upon
its education programmes in order to counter negative
stereotypes and promote the objectives of human rights
and tolerance, drew attention to the meaning of the
word "tolerance" which was weak and which
the Committee ought to consider at another time. It
would be better to use the word "recognition",
which was the opposite of "intolerance".
55. Mr. DIACONU proposed that the words "the
objectives of human rights and tolerance" should
be replaced by the words "the objectives of the
Convention".
56. Paragraph 15, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraph 16
57. Mr. ABOUL-NASR proposed the deletion of the word
"linguistic" before the words "minority
populations".
58. Paragraph 16, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraph 17
59. Mr. THORNBERRY said that the reference to the
Sidiropoulos v. Greece case without further detail
was unclear. He also noted that the Macedonian community
was not mentioned in any other paragraph of the draft
concluding observations. He therefore proposed that
the words "and its implications fully taken into
account in legal and policy developments affecting
people of Macedonian origin" should be added
after the words "and urges that the decision
be widely disseminated within and beyond legal and
judicial circles".
60. Mr. YUTZIS said he also thought that the Macedonian
community should be mentioned in the draft concluding
observations.
61. Mr. de GOUTTES said that paragraph 17 was unclear
and should be either substantially amended or deleted.
62. The CHAIRMAN, having called for a show of hands
to indicate whether the Committee preferred to maintain
or delete the paragraph, noted that a majority of
Committee members supported its deletion.
63. Paragraph 17 was deleted.
Paragraph 18
64. Paragraph 18 was adopted.
Paragraph 19
65. Mr. FALL proposed that paragraph 19 should be
drafted more briefly and simply and that, in any case,
the reference at the end to the majority or other
groups in the population should be deleted.
66. Paragraph 19, as amended was adopted.
Paragraph 20
67. Mr. RECHETOV (Country Rapporteur) proposed that
the last part of paragraph 20, after the words "the
principles of the Convention", should be replaced
by the words "by law enforcement officials".
68. Paragraph 20, as amended, was adopted.
Paragraphs 21 to 24
69. Paragraphs 21 to 24 were adopted.
New paragraph
70. Mr. de GOUTTES proposed the addition of a new
paragraph in which the State party would be requested
to provide information on proceedings and judgements
in cases of racial discrimination. He recalled that
such a paragraph had been incorporated in a number
of concluding observations relating to reports by
States parties and proposed, as an example, the one
adopted in the concluding observations concerning
the initial report of Georgia, namely, "The Committee
recommends the State party to include, in the next
periodic reports, statistics on cases where the relevant
provisions of the Civil Code and the Penal Code have
found application".
71. The new paragraph proposed by Mr. de Gouttes
was adopted.
72. Mr. SHAHI said he regretted that, following the
deletion of paragraph 17, the draft concluding observations
did not state that communities must be free to manage
their own associations, including charities.
73. Mr. THORNBERRY said he regretted that, since
paragraph 17 had been deleted and his proposal to
amend it had not been adopted, the text of the concluding
observations contained no reference to the Macedonian
community, which did exist after all.
74. Mr. YUTZIS said that he endorsed the point made
by Mr. Thornberry.
75. In the light of those comments, the draft concluding
observations concerning the fifteenth periodic report
of Greece, as amended and subject to drafting amendments,
were adopted. |
>
Gündem Gazetesi > Batı
Trakya Sayfasına Geri Dönmek İçin Tıklayın