COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES PUBLIC REVIEW OF REPORT OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

CERD
59th session
2 August 2001
Morning



Debates Preparations for World Conference against Racism

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning concluded its public
consideration of a report presented by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago

on its efforts to put into effect the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Following the conclusion of the debate on the fourteenth periodic report of the State party,
Committee Expert Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, who served as country rapporteur to the report, said in preliminary remarks that the Committee was of the view that criminal legislation was necessary to fight racial discrimination. He said concern was expressed about the absence of specific information on Amerindians and other small ethnic groups as it was also sought during the consideration of the previous report of the State party. The Committee could not accept the position that there was no racial discrimination in the country, he said.

Over the course of their response to questions raised by Committee Experts, the members of the delegation underlined that the society of Trinidad and Tobago was made up of different races who lived together in harmony and in tolerance, and all people enjoyed equality; the Government had also been endeavouring to favour racial harmony among the population; and a number of legal provisions were aimed at promoting and protecting racial equality.

The Committee will issue its concluding observations and recommendations on the fourteenth periodic report of Trinidad and Tobago, in the presence of a representative from that country, towards the end of its three-week session to be concluded on 17 August.

The following Committee Experts participated in the debate concerning the report of Trinidad and Tobago: Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Patrick Thornberry, Chengyuan Tang, Regis de Gouttes and Michael E. Sherifis.

Trinidad and Tobago is among the 157 States parties to the Convention and as such it is obligated to provide the Committee with periodic reports on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty.

Also this morning, the Committee discussed its contribution to and its participation in the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. One of the Experts, Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, said that the process of negotiations remained slow and the concern was to ensure that the Preparatory Committee would produce a declaration and programme of action which would not water down the legal strength of the Convention and other human rights instruments or weaken existing international rights and humanitarian standards.

She said that the three contentious issues remained. They were acknowledgement of slavery as a crime against humanity and the need for an apology; reparation or compensation; and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Also taking part in the discussion were Yuri Reshetov, Agha Shahi, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Gay McDougall, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Luis Valencia Rodriguez, Regis de Gouttes, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai and Ion Diaconu.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m., it will take up the report of Cyprus.

Response of Trinidad and Tobago

The Government was of the view that the law on sedition was satisfactory, the delegation said; however, if the Committee requested the strengthening of the law and creation of other mechanisms to consider allegations of racial discrimination, the Government would do so.

In order to reinforce racial cohesion, the Government had taken a series of measures, such as the celebration of 'Emancipation Day', which was observed yesterday, the delegation said. Other activities in which all the ethnic groups participated were organized so that they mixed with each other. The country was known for its diversity of races from different parts of the world which were living in harmony.

Asked if penal measures were applied against persons contravening the equal opportunity act, the delegation said that there was no provision provided for such contravention, instead it was reported to the judiciary for its decision.

The delegation said that there was no special mechanism for the dissemination of information with regard to the report submitted to the Committee. However, the report, together with the Convention, had been forwarded to the human rights unit of the Parliament and it was expected that they would be made available on its website.

A question was raised on the situation of indigenous people in the country, to which the delegation said that not one pure Amerindian in the country remained. The Amerindian population dated back as far as 5,000 years ago in the pre-Colombian era. They numbered at least 40,000 at the time of the Spanish settlement in 1492; however, the dehumanizing process of colonization had led to the eventual decimation of the indigenous people. Today, there were approximately 500 people of Amerindian descent.

Asked if the right to access to education was violated on the grounds of race or religion, the delegation said that only one case of prohibition of access to education to one school-girl who refused to change her Islamic chador was reported. That case was later settled. No other cases were reported concerning prevention of access to education on the basis of racial origin.

The delegation said it had no information on the revocation of any licence or prosecution of owners of nightclubs. However, it would inquire on the matter when it returned to the capital.

Responding to a follow-up question concerning the high number of persons of African descent in the police, the delegation said Afro Trinidadians were more attracted by the police profession than other ethnic groups. There was no preferential policy in employment on the ground of race.

The delegation underlined that the society of Trinidad and Tobago was made up of different races who lived together in harmony and in tolerance, and all people enjoyed equality. The Government had also been endeavouring to favour racial harmony among the population. A number of legal provisions were aimed at promoting and protecting racial equality.

The members of the delegation regretted that they were not able to provide answers to all of the Committee's queries; however, they said they found the remarks of the Experts to be positive and that they would take all the necessary measures to act on them.

RAGHAVAN VASUDEVAN PILLAI, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Trinidad and Tobago, in preliminary remarks thanked the members of the delegation for their efforts in providing additional information. The dialogue was fruitful and he hoped that it would continue on a regular basis. He also appreciated the improvement in the quality of the report. It contained a great deal of information, particularly the initiatives in the field of legislation. However, legislation had to better comply with the provisions of article 4 (b) of the Convention.

Mr. Pillai said that the Committee was of the view that criminal legislation was necessary to fight racial discrimination. Concern was expressed about the absence of specific information on Amerindians and other small ethnic groups as it had been sought during the consideration of the previous report of the State party. The Committee could not accept the position that there was no racial discrimination. In that context, the Committee wanted to know what steps had been taken to disseminate information on the Convention and the Committee's concluding observations and recommendations. Clarification was sought on whether the Ombudsman had been empowered to entertain complaints, especially those related to racial discrimination. The Committee required, as far as possible, a detailed breakup of the ethnic population.

Mr. Pillai further said that the Committee also sought information on the involvement of civil society in addressing racism-related issues and in the generation of awareness.

World Conference against Racism

The Committee briefly discussed its contribution and participation in the forthcoming World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance with Experts making comments.

PATRICIA NOZIPHO JANUARY-BARDILL, the Committee Expert who served as the Committee's convener to the Conference, said that a number of documents prepared by the Committee had been made available to the Preparatory Committee of the Conference in its preparation of the draft Declaration and Programme of Action. She said that the Committee had suggested two amendments to the draft Declaration.

Ms. January-Bardill said that the process of negotiations remained slow and the concern was to ensure that the Preparatory Committee would produce a declaration and programme of action which would not water down the legal strength of the Convention and other human rights instruments or indeed, weaken existing international rights and humanitarian standards.

She said that the three contentious issues remained the same. The first was acknowledgement of slavery as a crime against humanity and the need for an apology; Western delegates were willing to condemn the past but would not apologize, she said. The second was reparation or compensation; and the third was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

During the discussion, an Expert said that the Holocaust had been admitted long ago and even compensation had been awarded for victims, but slavery had met with difficulties because of the obstruction created by some Western States.

Another Expert was of the view that indigenous people should be able to enjoy their freedom and since they had been victims of racial discrimination, they should be guaranteed compensation.




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