39/69 Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-first and twenty-second sessions - Note by the Secretariat
Document Type: Final Report
Date: 2018 Aug
Session: 39th Regular Session (2018 Sep)
Agenda Item: Item9: Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action
GE.18-13434(E)
Human Rights Council Thirty-ninth session
10–28 September 2018
Agenda item 9
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
forms of intolerance, follow-up to and implementation
of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action
Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-first and twenty-second sessions
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of
the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-first and twenty-
second sessions, prepared pursuant to Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25 and 36/23.
During its twenty-first session, held in Geneva from 20 to 24 November 2017, the Working
Group held private discussions. At its twenty-second session, held in Geneva from 19 to 23
March 2018, the Working Group focused on the theme “Framework for a declaration on the
promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent”.
The Working Group concluded that the draft declaration should recognize the
cultural, economic, political, and scientific contributions of people of African descent. It
should also highlight the interconnectedness of past to present, mainly of the legacy of the
transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism with the persistence of racism,
racial discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia, marginalization and related forms of
intolerance against people of African descent today. In addition, multiple and intersecting
forms of discrimination faced by people of African descent should be acknowledged and
combated through the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. All
relevant stakeholders should make an effort to implement the Durban Declaration and
Programme of Action and the programme of activities of the International Decade for
People of African Descent.
United Nations A/HRC/39/69
Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its twenty-first and twenty-second sessions*
Contents
Page
I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3
II. Organization of the twenty-second session ................................................................................... 3
A. Opening of the session ......................................................................................................... 3
B. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur .......................................................................................... 3
C. Organization of work ............................................................................................................ 4
III. Update and briefings on activities undertaken by the Working Group in the past year ................ 4
IV. Summary of deliberations ............................................................................................................. 6
V. Conclusions and recommendations ............................................................................................... 14
A. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 14
B. Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 16
Annex
List of participants at the twenty-second session .......................................................................... 19
* The annex to the present report is circulated as received, in the language of submission only.
I. Introduction
1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its twenty-first
session from 20 to 24 November 2017 and its twenty-second session from 19 to 23 March
2018 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The present report is submitted in accordance
with Human Rights Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25 and 36/23, in which the Council
requested the Working Group to submit an annual report on all activities relating to its
mandate. The report focuses mainly on the deliberations at the twenty-second session of the
Working Group.
2. Representatives of Member States, the Holy See, international organizations,
regional organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and invited panellists
participated in the twenty-second session (see annex).
II. Organization of the twenty-second session
A. Opening of the session
3. In her opening statement, the Director of Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures
and the Right to Development Division of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), expressed appreciation for the work
undertaken by the Working Group. She outlined the importance of the thematic discussions
of the session on violent manifestations of racism and racial discrimination, the
administration of justice, land rights and reparations in addressing some of the most
pervasive human rights concerns of people of African descent. She noted that despite the
existence of the robust anti-racism architecture of the United Nations, the mechanisms in
place were only fully effective when Member States honoured their commitment to
international human rights treaties, the Durban Declaration and Plan of Action and the
programme of activities of the International Decade for People of African Descent, along
with sustained civil society engagement and participation in those mechanisms.
4. The Director also encouraged the Working Group to continue to reach out to
financial and development institutions through the development of its operational
guidelines based on the Sustainable Development Goals in which the theme “leave no one
behind” had a special meaning for people of African descent. She also took note of the
initiatives of the Decade to draft a declaration on the promotion and full respect of human
rights of people of African descent and emphasized the need for strong political will and
civil society engagement to accomplish the task. She reaffirmed the commitment of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the Coordinator of the
International Decade, to advancing the rights of people of African descent.
B. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur
5. Michal Balcerzak was elected Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group.
6. Sabelo Gumedze, the outgoing Chair-Rapporteur, welcomed Marie-Evelyne Petrus-
Barry as a new member of the Working Group and thanked the other members for their
contributions. Mr. Gumedze also acknowledged both the success of the Working Group in
having their recommendations adopted by States on the issue of racial discrimination faced
by people of African descent and the need to continue efforts to have more States adopt its
recommendations.
7. Accepting his new role as Chair-Rapporteur, Mr. Balcerzak thanked the other
experts for his election and the participants for their support.
8. The representatives of Brazil, Canada, Haiti, Peru, Togo (on behalf of the Group of
African States) and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) expressed their appreciation to Mr.
Gumedze for his work during his tenure as Chair-Rapporteur and congratulated Mr.
Balcerzak on his election.
C. Organization of work
9. The Working Group adopted the agenda (A/HRC/WG.14/22/1) and programme of
work.
III. Update and briefings on activities undertaken by the Working Group in the past year
10. Mr. Balcerzak informed participants that the Working Group had submitted its
annual report on its nineteenth and twentieth sessions to the Human Rights Council at its
thirty-sixth session, including reports on its country visits to Canada and Germany
(A/HRC/36/60 and Add.1 and 2), and had engaged in a constructive dialogue with Member
States. The Working Group also submitted its annual report to the General Assembly at its
seventy-second session (A/72/319) and participated in an interactive dialogue with the
Third Committee on 31 October 2017.
11. At its twenty-first session, the Working Group had held a closed meeting at which
members reviewed the methods of work of the Working Group, prepared for its upcoming
session, communications and country visits, and held meetings with various stakeholders
and representatives of OHCHR. The Working Group had decided to liaise more intensively
with financial and developmental institutions. It had also met with the Committee on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination to explore ways to increase collaboration between the
two mechanisms on issues of mutual concern.
12. The Working Group had conducted country visits to Guyana (2–6 October 2017)
and Spain (19–26 February 2018). At the end of each visit, the Working Group had released
press statements.1 Reports of the visits would be submitted to the Human Rights Council at
its thirty-ninth session. The Working Group thanked the Governments of Guyana and Spain
for their invitation and for their assistance before, during and after the visits. The Working
Group also thanked the representatives of NGOs and people of African descent with whom
it had met.
13. The Working Group had continued to actively promote and participate in activities
to interact with civil society and assist stakeholders in the implementation of the
programme of activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent. It had
participated in the regional meeting for Europe, Central Asia and North America held in
Geneva on 23 and 24 November 2017. It had also established a standing agenda item for
discussion in its public session on the International Decade as a commitment to raising
further understanding and awareness of the need to implement the International Decade.
14. Ahmed Reid and Mr. Gumedze had participated (through a video message) in the
launch of the Centre for Reparations Research at the University of the West Indies in
Jamaica from 10 to 12 October 2017. From 8 to 11 March 2018, Mr. Reid had participated
in the summit for the International Decade for People of African Descent in Georgetown on
the theme “Where we are, where we ought to be, and how do we get there?” On 25
September 2017, Mr. Gumedze had delivered a keynote address on behalf of the Working
Group at a side event during the thirty-sixth session of the Human Rights Council on
racism, discrimination, Afrophobia and xenophobia in the United States of America, as a
follow-up to the mission undertaken by the Working Group in 2016. On 10 October 2017,
Mr. Gumedze had attended the fifteenth session of the Intergovernmental Working Group
on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in
Geneva. Ricardo Sunga III had written a paper exploring the human rights experience of
people of African descent in Asia, which had been published by the University of the
1 See https://ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22212&LangID=E and
https://ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22705&LangID=E.
Philippines. In a presentation to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
on November 29, 2017, Ms. Petrus-Barry had noted that during all the fact-finding country
visits undertaken by the Working Group, racial profiling had been identified as a major
hindrance for people of African descent in the enjoyment of their human rights. In February
2018, Ms. Petrus-Barry had contributed to activities during the Month of Africa and People
of African Descent in Guadeloupe, at which she had given a presentation on the programme
of activities of the International Decade for People of African Descent to local NGOs that
were looking for ways to implement the International Decade. She had also given a series
of interviews regarding the International Decade in various media outlets. Mr. Balcerzak
had given a presentation on the rise of populism and far-right movements in Europe at a
seminar at the University of Liège in February 2018, an event that was co-organized by
OHCHR.
15. During the reporting period, the Governments of Belgium, Norway and Uruguay had
extended invitations to the Working Group to visit in 2019 and the Governments of
Switzerland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had invited the
Working Group to visit in 2020. The Working Group expressed its appreciation to all the
Governments that have cooperated with the mandate and invited it to undertake country
visits. The Working Group had requested invitations to visit other countries and
emphasized the importance of confirming dates and allowing visits to be planned and to
proceed on schedule.
16. During the reporting period, and in accordance with its mandate, the Working Group
had sent eight communications regarding allegations of human rights violations to Brazil,
Guyana, Libya, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The communications sent and replies received had been included in the joint
communications reports of special procedures mandate holders submitted to the Council
(A/HRC/39/27, A/HRC/38/54 and A/HRC/37/80). The Working Group urged States to
address human rights violations faced by people of African descent seriously and to take
effective measures to end impunity and structural racism.
17. The Working Group also issued several media statements during the reporting
period. On 16 August 2017, it warned that racism and xenophobia were on the rise across
the United States in the wake of the far-right demonstrations and violence in Charlottesville,
Virginia. On 6 October 2017, it joined several special procedures mandate holders in a
statement calling for urgent action to end the disproportionate impact of the death penalty
on people from poorer communities. On 30 November 2017, the Working Group joined
other special procedures mandate holders and issued an urgent call for action to ensure a
future based on equality, justice and solidarity, marking the thirty-first anniversary of the
Declaration on the Right to Development. That same day, it also joined in a statement
urging the Government of Libya to take urgent action to end the country’s trade in enslaved
Africans, after shocking images showing an auction of Africans were captured on video and
televised across the globe. On 1 March 2018, the Working Group joined several special
procedures mandate holders in a statement urging an immediate halt of plans to deport
Eritrean and Sudanese nationals from Israel. On the International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, the Working Group, the Special Rapporteur on
contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination issued a joint statement
urging States to act against resurgent hate and structural discrimination. On 26 March 2018,
the Working Group joined a statement expressing alarm over the killing of prominent Afro-
Brazilian human rights defender Marielle Franco, who had decried the use of force by the
military in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 27 April 2018, the Working Group issued a statement
expressing serious concerns over the deaths of people of African descent and of ethnic
minorities in custody, which reinforced concerns about “structural racism” in the United
Kingdom.
18. Following the internal session of the Working Group in November 2017 and the
Regional Meeting on the International Decade for People of African Descent on 25 and 26
November, the Working Group had also organized a meeting on addressing racial
stereotypes of people of African descent, with the participation of members of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and several civil society activists.
The discussion had focused on issues of perception, representation, historical stereotyping
and portrayal in the media; racial bias and stereotypes in the justice sector; stereotypes in
the education, housing, employment and health sectors; and gender and other forms of
stereotypes faced by people of African descent, and the participants had deliberated on
good practices to combat such stereotypes. The Working Group was planning to develop a
thematic report based on the discussions at the meeting and its ongoing research.
19. The Working Group had continued its work on advancing engagement with financial
and development institutions. It had commenced preparation of a draft set of operational
guidelines on the Sustainable Development Goals in relation to people of African descent.
It aimed to field-test the guidelines by engaging with national authorities and partners to
promote the human rights of people of African descent in national programming processes.
During the reporting period, Working Group members Mr. Reid and Mr. Balcerzak had
taken part in a panel on international human rights mechanisms and the role of national
human rights institutions in supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, which was held during the high-level political forum on the
Sustainable Development Goals in New York on 13 July 2017. The Working Group had
also held a meeting on 3 November 2017 with the United Nations Development Group in
New York on the operational guidelines and received valuable feedback.
20. The Chair opened the floor for Member States. The representative of Brazil reported
that in the previous year it had, together with several other Member States, presented a
resolution on the elaboration of a draft declaration on the promotion and full respect of
human rights of people of African descent. The speaker reaffirmed the support of Brazil for
such a declaration, stressed the importance of addressing multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination and urged all Member States and relevant stakeholders to start negotiations
on the draft declaration as a concrete outcome of the International Decade for People of
African Descent. The representative also recommended the creation of an international
forum of people of African descent. The representative of Togo, on behalf of the African
Group, expressed eagerness to follow up the processes recommended in the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action to raise awareness of the ongoing consequences of
the enslavement and colonialism suffered by people of African descent. The representative
of Peru noted that Peru was one of the co-authors, along with Brazil, of the above-
mentioned resolution. The representative of Canada stated that on 30 January 2018 its
Prime Minister had announced official recognition of the International Decade. The
representatives of Haiti and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expressed satisfaction at
participating in the session of the Working Group.
IV. Summary of deliberations
Thematic analysis
21. The Working Group devoted its twenty-second session to the theme “Framework for
a declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African
descent”.
22. The first panel discussion focused on violent manifestations of racism, racial
discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia and related intolerance through extremist
ideologies, hate speech and incitement to hatred. The topic was discussed pursuant to
Human Rights Council resolution 36/23 on the mandate of the Working Group, in which
the Council requested “the Working Group to pay special attention in its annual report to
the rising tide of racism and racial hatred, as evidenced by the resurgence of white
supremacist ideologies, and extremist nationalist and populist ideologies, and to make
specific recommendations in this regard.”
23. Mr. Sunga delivered a presentation entitled “Reflections on right-wing extremism”.
He shared the experience of the Working Group during their country visits, during which
they had observed the effects of right-wing extremism on the lives of people of African
descent. He attributed the lack of understanding and fear of the person of African descent to
recent migration trends, the perceived stress on national economies and social welfare
systems, and the global fight against terrorism. He also asserted that each person was able
to make a unique and meaningful contribution to society and all persons, including
migrants, whatever the nature of their contribution, had infinite value simply by being. Mr.
Sunga reiterated the significant role of the State in promoting positive perceptions of
migrants to the public, including the presentation of facts and studies that included the
contribution of migrants to society. On the matter of the prevention of violent extremism,
Mr. Sunga recommended that States develop joint and participatory strategies with civil
society and local communities to protect communities from recruitment for violent
extremism. In addition, he suggested that States use confidence-building measures at the
community level by providing appropriate platforms for dialogue and the early
identification of grievances. He stated that the Durban Declaration and Programme of
Action and the programme of activities of the International Decade for People of African
Descent were useful instruments that would provide guidance in this connection.
24. Joe Frans, a former member of the Swedish parliament and a former Chair of the
Working Group, highlighted in his presentation an increase in racism, which was
perpetrated through hate speech and manifested by violence towards people of African
descent around the world, particularly in Europe and North America. He explained the three
levels at which racism functions: institutional racism, mediated racism and internalized
racism. He pointed out the importance of understanding how exactly racism permeates the
very social fabric of societies to develop mechanisms to redress the issue. For instance,
America’s “Black lives matter” movement had arisen out of the deaths of black people, but
it was not a new development. The root cause was slavery and colonialism. Another
example from Denmark showed how policymaking affected racism. According to Mr.
Frans, the Government of Denmark had recently decided to empower the police to adopt a
regime where the same type of crime would attract different sanctions depending on in
which part of the city an individual lived. Even though the motive of the policy was to
combat crime, it risked criminalizing a certain group of people because of where they
resided, whereby people of African descent were negatively affected because they lived in
the affected areas, when the main issue was poverty. He added that such policies led to
gains for far-right parties and emboldened them to raise the tone of their anti-migrant, anti-
black rhetoric. He called for continued efforts by the whole human rights community,
including the Working Group, to rectify structural and institutional discriminatory policies.
25. During the interactive discussion, Mr. Gumedze asked the panellists how States
could address the issue of extremist ideologies and violence against people of African
descent if they lacked data disaggregated on the basis of race or ethnicity. Mr. Sunga agreed
that it was indeed difficult to address the issue without proper data. While the best option
would be to strongly urge States to count people on their territory on the basis of voluntary
self-identification, Mr. Frans suggested the development of application software in order to
keep track of racist crimes and unfair treatment faced by people of African descent. Mr.
Gumedze also wanted to know how to deal with violent extremism in sports and during
election periods when hate speech was commonly employed in order to win votes. Mr.
Frans suggested that the Working Group could engage further with sporting federations. He
called upon civil society to take an active role in pushing back on the increasing tolerance
for hate speech during elections. Mr. Balcerzak commented that the climate of tolerance for
hate speech was the root of the problem and that there should therefore be laws in place to
punish and criminalize hate crimes. Mr. Reid commented that one way forward in
addressing institutional and violent racism was for States to implement the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action and the programme of activities of the International
Decade for People of African Descent, with an emphasis on teaching African history and
highlighting the contribution made by people of African descent.
26. One representative of an NGO pointed to the importance of seeking the source of
racism rooted in the notion of white supremacy. Another representative of a civil society
organization voiced deep concern at the rise of incidents targeting racial, ethnic and
religious minorities and the proliferation of violent hate groups and called upon the
Working Group to encourage Member States, in the strongest possible terms, to hold
violent hate groups and individuals accountable, to honour non-refoulement obligations and
ensure that national immigration policies and law enforcement policies did not discriminate
based on race, national origin or other status. Mr. Balcerzak stated that the Working Group
regularly reacted and responded to such concerns through its communications procedure.
Another civil society representative stated that racial profiling had the potential and
propensity to give rise to police brutality and other rights violations. The tendency of police
forces to disproportionately stop and search people of African descent could also lead to
detention experiences that might amount to torture. Mr. Frans expanded upon this,
suggesting that racial profiling was a form of racial violence. Mr. Gumedze noted that
during the fact-finding country missions undertaken by the Working Group, encounters
with police and administrative bodies had revealed a distinct lack of representation of
people of African descent, which resulted in people of African descent being unwilling to
report violations of their human rights. He noted that the Working Group would continue to
encourage representation in such bodies to further address the challenges of racial profiling.
27. The second panel focused on the theme “Administration of justice: police violence,
prisons and accountability”. Mr. Gumedze gave a presentation on the topic and commented
that the reason for the continued rise in violence against people of African descent lay in
the lack of willpower of those who were involved in the administration of justice to apply
international human rights principles. Mr. Gumedze recalled the conclusions drawn by the
Working Group from its fact-finding visits to several countries on police violence, where a
pattern of impunity for police violence, including the killing of unarmed people of African
descent, had been involved. He also expressed concern at the overrepresentation of people
of African descent in penitentiary systems and prolonged pretrial detention. Racial profiling
of people of African descent and the impunity of the officers involved were common and he
concluded that States must hold accountable those who violated the rights of people of
African descent and ensure that they accounted for their actions or omissions in the
administration of criminal justice, as provided for in the Durban Declaration and
Programme of Action and directed by the International Decade for People of African
Descent.
28. Evita Chevry, an attorney from Guadeloupe, gave a presentation on the
administration of justice in Guadeloupe. The fact that most law enforcement officers were
white, coupled with the language barrier, were leading causes for the prevalence of racial
discrimination. Ms. Chevry stated that police violence existed in Guadeloupe; however,
until the media reported such incidents, it was very rare that cases of police violence were
heard in the courts. She added that the lack of data on ethnicity should not be an excuse to
look further into the unequal treatment of people of African descent since the majority of
people in Guadeloupe were of African descent. Ms. Chevry also pointed to overcrowding in
prisons and an insufficient number of medical doctors and inadequate facilities in prisons.
She expressed concern about lower than national average rates of education among those
imprisoned. Ms. Chevry concluded by emphasizing the importance of French human rights
obligations.
29. Mr. Frans emphasized in his presentation that racial discrimination in the
administration of justice was a global problem, which subverted the rule of law,
undermined faith in the legal system and resulted in the victimization of racial and ethnic
groups by the very institutions responsible for their protection. He showed how volatile
situations could become when racial injustice was combined with the administration of
criminal law, providing examples of riots in Los Angeles and Florida. Mr. Frans further
commented that despite the significant population of people of African descent in Europe,
structural racism, marginalization and the exclusion of people of African descent was not
on the European political agenda. He elaborated on how race disproportionately affected
people of African descent with regard to the death penalty, harsher sentences, the lower
likelihood of making bail and the higher rates of “stop and search” by the police. He
concluded his presentation by urging the Working Group to engage with the International
Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the International Council of Police
Representative Associations to combat racism towards people of African descent in the
administration of justice.
30. During the interactive dialogue, Mr. Reid shared his observation from the fact-
finding visits of the Working Group that there was a growing trend for women of African
descent to end up in the criminal justice system, with detrimental effects on their children
as well as themselves. Ms. Chevry mentioned that there had been big demonstrations in
Guadeloupe requesting the Government to come up with protection policies for women,
including education on gender relations. Mr. Balcerzak inquired about the issue of access to
legal representation for victims of racism and racial discrimination, suggesting that it would
require coordination with groups such as lawyers’ associations. Mr. Frans responded that
there was an issue with the quality of legal aid, even though most European countries had a
framework for legal aid. He called upon civil society to take up cases involving
discrimination against people of African descent to build praxis in various jurisdictions
upon which to rely. He encouraged the Working Group to increase cooperation with the
International Bar Association and the International Association of Judges.
31. Lack of interpretation or cultural understanding of non-verbal communication for
migrants of African descent who find themselves subjected to the criminal justice system,
compounded by a lack of representation, was also raised as an important issue by several
members of the Working Group and the panellists. Ms. Chevry emphasized the seriousness
of the issue in Guadeloupe, where people of African descent might feel pressured to use the
French language, leading to misinterpretation arising from subtle differences between the
French and Creole languages. Ms. Petrus-Barry commented on the lack of representation of
people of African descent in the judiciary in France. In Guadeloupe, civil society actors had
protested and requested the Government to have quotas on media personnel, in order to
have equal representation of all races, but to no avail. She also noted that people of African
descent were often relegated to non-public sectors and were working in low-paid and
menial jobs rather than in higher posts in the public sector. The representative of Brazil
pointed to the use of and support for positive measures as an imperative for bringing about
equality and representation for people of African descent, and described their application in
Brazil. The speaker also called for the principle of positive measures to be incorporated in
the draft declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African
descent.
32. One representative of an NGO commented on the lack of action to counter bias-
based policing. Another civil society representative supported the recommendation of the
Working Group that comprehensive legislation prohibiting racial profiling be adopted and
racial profiling and treatment of minorities by law enforcement be monitored. Civil society
representatives also raised the issue of prison conditions affecting people of African descent,
given their disproportionate incarceration rates. A civil society representative called upon
all Member States to implement the International Decade for People of African Descent,
noting that while discussions focused on global initiatives, there were country-specific
duties, which States needed to fulfil.
33. The third panel focused on the theme “Land rights for people of African descent”. In
his presentation, Mr. Reid emphasized the reason that land rights should form the
cornerstone of the draft declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of
people of African descent. Mr. Reid stated that the long-term effects of a policy to exclude
people of African descent from owning land were observable today. He provided examples
of the British enslavers even receiving compensation money until recently, whereas the
enslaved persons and their descendants were left landless in the Caribbean. Mr. Reid
explained that the situation was similar in North America after emancipation. He also
provided examples from Latin American countries, where the expansion of mining and
petroleum activities were resulting in the expropriation of land and creating conflicts
among indigenous peoples, people of African descent and others. Mr. Reid concluded his
presentation with the recommendation that Member States actively consider, where
possible, instituting legislation on an ancestral rights bill for people of African descent. He
also recommended that Member States guarantee recognition, titling and demarcation of
land belonging to people of African descent, which was aimed at resolving all outstanding
land claim issues within historically black communities. Finally, he recommended that
Member States remove the bureaucratic obstacles that prevented people of African descent
from rightfully claiming their land.
34. The second presenter, Kimani Nehusi, Associate Professor of Africology and
African American Studies at Temple University in the United States, highlighted ignorance
as the main factor perpetuating structural violence against people of African descent. He
provided some historical accounts of the long relationship that Africans have had with land
since the beginning of civilization. He further highlighted the spiritual, religious,
administrative and cultural connection that people of African descent had with land. Mr.
Nehusi pointed out that the consequence of colonization was not just that they were
dispossessed of land but also that there was no compensation for their labour for people of
African descent. He requested the Working Group to support people of African descent in
recovering their ancestral lands. He also recommended that Africans be involved at all
levels of society to search for solutions on land issues. Lastly, he recommended the training
and teaching of African culture and history and the return of lands obtained by colonization.
35. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance gave a presentation by video statement. She pointed out
that denial of land rights was one of the most persistent and structurally rooted forms of
racial oppression confronting people of African descent and Africans in Africa. The Special
Rapporteur stated that in the diaspora, communities of African descent were facing a risk of
forced, violent and often deadly displacement because Governments, multinational
corporations and even multilateral financial institutions often used the discourse of
development to legitimize the dispossession of those communities of their land. Even in
urban settings, people of African descent confronted documented, egregious racial
discrimination related to security of tenure, including in their access to housing. She
suggested that in order to resolve the issue, there must be an acknowledgement by the
former colonial powers of their shared moral responsibility for finding workable solutions
that respected human rights to the failure of decolonization processes, providing pathways
to substantive racial equality in landownership. She also emphasized that women of African
descent must be included in the discussion as they are especially vulnerable to
intersectional discrimination and subordination because of the ways that race and gender
interact to heighten their exclusion from land rights. The Special Rapporteur concluded by
assuring the Working Group of her close cooperation on the proposed declaration,
including specifically on the question of land rights.
36. During the interactive discussion, Mr. Sunga noted the recommendation of giving
land to people of African descent as a way of compensating for enslavement. He asked how
such land rights could be formulated alongside the rights of indigenous peoples. In response,
Mr. Nehusi said that in the Americas, the labour of people of African descent on the land
meant that they belonged to the land and vice versa. He commented that while land might
not be claimed in compensation while dispossessing its rightful owners, those lands where
people of African descent had lived could be provided to them. Ms. Petrus-Barry noted the
important connection between land and the remembrance of ancestors for people of African
descent. Mr. Nehusi noted that colonialism had fractured African people through the
erasure of African cultures and traditions, as well as importing the colonizers’ own schisms
— for example, there were British-dominated parts of the Caribbean and French parts of the
Caribbean. He called for disconnected groups to restore unity and freely exchange
information among themselves. Ms. Petrus-Barry echoed this suggestion, acknowledging
that language was often a formidable barrier to finding common cultural grounds. She also
raised the issue of human rights defenders who are at risk of criminalization as they pursue
African land rights in addition to other rights. One representative of civil society raised
concerns over racial discrimination against Afro-Colombians and their right to free, prior
and informed consultation in relation to land in Colombia. Similarly, another civil society
representative shared information about discriminatory housing practices in the United
States.
37. The fourth panel focused on the theme “Reparations for people of African descent”.
Ms. Petrus-Barry gave an introductory presentation on the topic. She defined reparations in
the context of the deportation and enslavement of Africans and the Durban Declaration and
Programme of Action. Ms. Petrus-Barry also emphasized the need to make reparations to
people of African descent for such crimes and pointed out that only after confronting past
and current theories related to the presumed inferiority of people of African descent, would
the general public pay attention to violent acts of racism, question their own mentality and
accept legislative changes at the national level that could reverse the discrimination and
violent extremism that face people of African descent. Ms. Petrus-Barry then examined
international human rights tools for reparations, including the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) 10-point plan for reparatory justice, which had been endorsed by the Working
Group as a basis for reparatory justice for people of African descent. On the issue of a
binding international legal reparation system, she suggested that the proposed declaration
could also be useful in that regard. In addition, she noted that the International Decade for
People of African Descent could offer a real opportunity to build a strong international link
and networks among people of African descent to support the process of reparations.
38. In her presentation, Ms. Chevry affirmed the urgent need for reparations for the
crime against humanity that transpired during enslavement and the transatlantic trade in
enslaved Africans. She reiterated the need for reparations, including individual claims for
financial reparations and the setting up of expert bodies to evaluate the magnitude of those
violations. She added that other forms of reparations could be the returning of land taken by
settlers and in the possession of their heirs. Ms. Chevry also stated it was unacceptable to
apply non-retroactivity on crimes against humanity and any more delay should be met with
increased reparations. Mr. Nehusi highlighted the need for reparations as an end to
centuries of destruction, subjugation and continuing exploitation of the African people and
their resources. He stated that positive discrimination was vital, despite some believing that
it was wrong that African people should receive assistance from States that had traditionally
repressed them. He added that financial reparation was important, but it was difficult to
quantify the intergenerational psychological pain inherited by people of African descent.
He concluded by saying there were intergenerational physical manifestations of trauma
suffered as a result of enslavement, such as an increased risk of diabetes and coronary
disease.
39. In the ensuing interactive dialogue, Mr. Reid suggested placing reparations within
the framework of the right to development. He also outlined the various forms of
deprivation inflicted upon people of African descent and how that could determine the type
of reparations to be sought. He stated that in addition to health issues, illiteracy was also a
consequence of enslavement, and given the massive detriment to development such
illiteracy rates had, reparations in the context of the right to development would oblige
European countries to undertake a broader range of responsibilities to facilitate sustainable
development. The issue of double taxation was also raised with regard to reparations. If
State taxes were used to pay for reparations and people of African descent were paying
taxes, victims were ultimately paying for their own reparations, which defeated the purpose.
Mr. Nehusi therefore suggested tax relief for people of African descent, whether full or
partial exclusion from taxes, which could create a sort of “structured settlement” over time,
reducing the burden on successive generations of people of African descent. In that
connection, Pastor Murillo Martinez, a member of the Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination, also referred to the CARICOM 10-point plan for reparatory justice,
specifically article 10 that calls for debt cancellation for the Caribbean countries.
Representatives of civil society suggested the possibility of the Working Group preparing a
report on reparations that would include articulation of their importance to the equality of
human dignity and rights for people of African descent and recommendations that would
include the establishment of a tribunal dedicated to the issue of reparatory justice. Another
civil society representative pointed to conclusions at the Durban Review Conference, where
the nations of the world reached a consensus that enslavement was a crime against
humanity, that victims of those atrocities were entitled to reparations and that there was no
statute of limitations, underscoring the legal foundation for the basis of reparations. The
basic principles of remedies for victims of gross and serious violations under humanitarian
law, enacted in General Assembly resolution 60/147 including (a) restitution; (b)
rehabilitation; (c) compensation; (d) safeguarding and protection from future violations,
were also raised. Reparations in the form of return of history, including opening the
archives of museums to document the histories of people of African descent and having
museums return African artefacts to people of African descent and/or African institutions
were also raised.
40. The fifth and sixth panels were devoted to discussion on the theme of “Elaboration
of a draft declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of
African descent, including feedback on the questionnaire”, pursuant to Human Rights
Council resolution 35/30 and General Assembly resolution 69/16. As part of the
preparatory work, the Working Group sent a note verbale to all Member States and a call
for submissions to civil society, requesting submissions on the scope of the declaration. The
Working Group asked for input on the key human rights and specific guarantees that the
draft declaration must include. It received 5 submissions from Member States and 20 from
civil society. Ms. Petrus-Barry presented a compilation of all the submissions, including
inputs from the Working Group. Before starting her presentation, she encouraged Member
States and civil society to make further submissions and comments before 1 October 2018.
41. Ms. Petrus-Barry presented suggestions for a preamble of the draft declaration,
referring to the language used in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. That
included calling upon States to recognize the existence of their populations of people of
African descent and the cultural, economic, political and scientific contributions made by
those populations. Other inputs would focus on the relationship between the legacy of the
transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism and the persistence of racism, racial
discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance against people of
African descent today, adding multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, such as
age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and economic situation.
42. Submitting entities also called for the draft declaration to encourage Member States
that have not yet ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination and other international agreements related to combating racism and
discrimination to do so. Also emphasized in the submissions was the suggestion that the
draft declaration should include a mandate for States to make a genuine commitment to
collecting disaggregated data according to the motto of the Sustainable Development Goals
— “leave no one behind”. The availability of, and access to, data and statistics
disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability,
geographic location and others are important for monitoring the implementation of the
Sustainable Development Goals. The draft declaration should also assert a right to
reparations and reparatory justice for the descendants of enslaved Africans, within the legal
framework of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and of the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 6). The view
that fundamental rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and security of the person, should
be included in the draft declaration was also included in submissions. Furthermore, equality
before the law should be guaranteed for people of African descent in the draft declaration,
including the right to presumption of innocence, the right to an independent and impartial
tribunal, including equal treatment before that tribunal, the right to the assistance of counsel,
the right to a fair trial and the right to ensure full and effective access to the justice system.
43. The draft declaration should focus on the right of people of African descent to
security of person and protection by the State against violence or bodily harm. Violence or
bodily harm includes ethnic or racial profiling, disappearances, extrajudicial executions,
torture and unequal treatment on the economic, social and political levels, whether inflicted
by government officials or by any individual group or institution, including law
enforcement and the judiciary. The Working Group has also recommended the setting up of
national observatories on racial profiling to identify and document violations of rights for
people of African descent and for them to report instances and receive reparations for those
violations. It was suggested that this section of the draft declaration should also include a
reference to the responsibility of States regarding the training, control and accountability of
law enforcement personnel, with the goal of ending the systematic and institutionalized
targeting and killing of people of African descent, particularly youth. It was also suggested
that articles advocating for abolition of the death penalty in States where it still exists
should also be included.
44. The draft declaration should include robust legal protections against discrimination
and violent crimes, especially those motivated by hate based on race. All States should be
required to counter offline and online hate speech and incitement to hatred from extremist
political parties, movements and groups, including neo-Nazis, skinhead groups and similar
extremist ideological groups. In addition, a comprehensive approach based on a solid legal
framework, complemented by other key measures, including education and awareness-
raising programmes and the training of law enforcement officials and members of the
judiciary on Afrocentric issues and victim-centred approaches, should be further developed.
States should also ensure that the abuse, exploitation, trafficking and torture of, and all
forms of violence against, children of African descent are adequately prevented or
prosecuted, while also ensuring that women and girls of African descent are not subject to
forced marriage and female genital mutilation. Similarly, Ms. Petrus-Barry stated that
submissions also called for the inclusion of the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers in the draft declaration, as well as positive measures to reduce the inequalities that
marginalize communities of African descent.
45. The draft declaration should re-assert the human right to health and well-being, and
highlight new global risks, such as climate change, environmental degradation and
pollution, and urban migration. It should also call upon States to take appropriate steps to
ensure that people of African descent are fully and effectively included in the schemes of
universal health coverage and the public health system. In the same connection, the draft
declaration should call upon States to adopt specific programmes with the aim of further
decreasing the incidence of the diseases referred to in target 3.3 of the Sustainable
Development Goals among people of African descent. In terms of substance abuse, the
declaration should aim at prevention and treatment of the abuse and providing ways for the
reintegration of substance abusers with other members of society. Reproductive health
provisions should include reducing global maternal mortality and the preventable deaths of
newborns and children under 5 years of age within the population of African descent. States
should also support a multinational team of healers to develop pan-African black
psychology treatments and healing protocols to address the psychiatric damage stemming
from the dehumanizing assault of the colonization and enslavement of peoples of African
descent.
46. Submitting entities also called upon States to document the number of people of
African descent living in areas that were likely to be affected by climate change and to
develop national preventive measures, including putting in place disaster management
programmes aimed at protecting people. States were called upon to develop educational
programmes aimed at raising the awareness of people of African descent of climate change
mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. In the draft declaration States
should be encouraged to take all necessary steps to eradicate hunger and poverty, while
ensuring an increase in the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale producers
of African descent.
47. According to the submissions, the draft declaration should encourage Member States
to develop legislation and land reforms to ensure adequate housing and the land rights of
people of African descent, especially pursuant to Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, general recommendation No. 34 (2011) on racial discrimination against
people of African descent. Similarly, employment should also be available to people of
African descent without discrimination, as required by the International Labour
Organization (ILO) Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No.
111). The draft declaration should include provisions regarding improvements in anti-
discrimination legislation and its enforcement in employment, by focusing on and
addressing multiple forms of discrimination, such as discrimination based on race, colour,
gender and disability. In their submissions, entities also emphasized the right of people of
African descent to be able to establish and manage their educational systems and
institutions, providing education in their own languages in a manner appropriate to their
cultural methods of teaching and learning. The rights and freedoms and corresponding State
obligations outlined in the draft declaration should also include cultural rights, such as the
right to engage in and teach African religions and spiritual practices. In that connection,
States should also be encouraged to promote and fund academic and research endeavours
related to African history. Ms. Petrus-Barry also shared submissions pertaining to the need
to establish positive measures. The draft declaration should include similar provisions for
people of African descent who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination
based on sexual identity, gender expression, religion or belief (art. 14 of the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action), national or ethnic origin and all other forms of
protected identities. The declaration should advocate for the repeal of discriminatory laws
on any of those protected grounds.
48. During the interactive dialogue, the representative of the United States shared its
best practices on promoting tolerance, non-discrimination and inclusivity, as well as
protecting and promoting the human rights of people of African descent, including freedom
of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Mr. Murillo Martinez highlighted the
close link between global risks, such as extreme weather events, large involuntary mass
migrations, severe natural disasters and large-scale terrorist attacks, and the impact of those
risks to people of African descent in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. He also focused on the need for comprehensive data on people of African
descent, including the identification of victims and documentation of the consequences of
the past and its impact on victims today, as elements to be included in the draft declaration.
One civil society representative reiterated the importance of positive measures and
reparatory justice for people of African descent. Another civil society representative raised
the issue of racism and racial discrimination in cyberspace, including surveillance and
wiretapping activities aimed at social movements.
49. Mr. Balcerzak reminded participants of the one-day meeting to be held during the
next session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of
the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, at which participants would consider the
elaboration of the draft declaration, and therefore requested all Member States and civil
society to continue to send their inputs. Mr. Reid suggested developing a concise document
incorporating all the feedback received. Mr. Murillo Martinez suggested focusing on the
aims, scopes, concepts and principles of the draft declaration beforehand, in order to make
the meeting fruitful. He emphasized that the declaration needed to consider the human
rights concerns of three groups of people of African descent: (a) victims of the transatlantic
trade in enslaved Africans; (b) Africans who have migrated and are second-generation
descendants of victims of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans; (c) Migrant
populations, which have recently crossed the Mediterranean. African countries and their
role in the declaration should also be considered. Mr. Martinez also emphasized that the
declaration needed to address the issue of racial profiling. He added that another area that
needed to be covered through the declaration was self-identification. Ms. Petrus-Barry
agreed, adding that the key issue for people of African descent was their invisibility, given
the lack of data on their human rights situation.
V. Conclusions and recommendations
50. The Working Group thanks Member States and representatives of international
organizations and civil society for their active participation.
A. Conclusions
51. Equality and non-discrimination are foundational principles of human rights.
Any act of racial discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia and related intolerance runs
contrary to those principles. The Working Group concludes that the heightened
security measures adopted by States have increased the risk of violations of the rights
of people of African descent, while the spectre of terrorism has fanned the flames of
right-wing extremism.
52. Criminalization of irregular entry and other discriminatory State actions,
including immigration legislation and practices, perpetuate negative perceptions of
migrants and people of African descent, while bolstering support for right-wing
extremism. Violent manifestations of xenophobia, Afrophobia and hate speech against
non-nationals, particularly migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, contribute to
structural racism. The Working Group is also concerned by increasing levels of
racism in sport.
53. The Working Group is concerned that some States do not collect disaggregated
data that reflects the magnitude of racism, racial discrimination, hate speech and hate
crimes perpetrated against people of African descent. States that do not collect and
analyse disaggregated data lack the information necessary to address racism and
intolerance effectively, including measures to counter extremist ideologies and hate
speech.
54. Institutional and structural racism and racial discrimination are the legacies of
enslavement, colonialism, neocolonialism and centuries of dehumanization. People of
African descent are disproportionately discriminated against in the administration of
justice. Racial profiling gives rise to police brutality and other violations, particularly
against people of African descent. Trends ranging from stop and search to the killing
of people of African descent by law enforcement agents are of grave concern to the
Working Group.
55. The overrepresentation of people of African descent in prisons is a major
concern for the Working Group. People of African descent are less likely to be
granted bail than others, thereby spending more time in jail before they are even
convicted of a crime. They are more likely to receive harsher sentences for the same
crimes than others. Once incarcerated, people of African descent are more likely to be
segregated and subjected to violence at the hands of prison staff, and are more likely
to die while in custody. People of African descent are also underrepresented in
employment in the justice system.
56. The Working Group is concerned by the growing trend of criminalization and
sexual exploitation of women of African descent. That also leads to infringement of the
rights of children, some of whom are born and remain in prisons or detention centres
for prolonged periods of time.
57. In the criminal justice system, language barriers can be compounded by social
or cultural pressure to speak a language that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers of
African descent do not understand. Some may not be aware of the right to use their
language or have access to interpretation where it is available. Such barriers can lead
to miscommunication and grave injustices.
58. For people of African descent, land is a strategic resource. Among other things,
it is a source of livelihood and economic activity for them and informs their identity,
culture, spirituality and self-worth. Historically, people of African descent have been
subjected to violent dispossession of their lands and continue to struggle to maintain
collective control of them. In urban settings, people of African descent confront
documented, egregious racial discrimination related to security of tenure, including in
their access to housing.
59. Women are especially vulnerable to multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination, which heightens their exclusion from land rights. Patriarchal cultural
practices, in combination with legal frameworks, exclude women from realizing their
land rights. That is despite the pivotal role that women play in productive land use
and supporting families and communities, often doing so in the absence of
compensation for and recognition of their fundamental roles.
60. A growing number of people of African descent aspire to return to their
ancestral lands in Africa. Those who return to Africa require support to facilitate
access to landownership.
61. People of African descent have a right to reparations, which should be
proportional to the gravity of the violations and the harm suffered. The consequences
of the trade in enslaved Africans, enslavement, colonialism, neocolonialism and
discrimination go beyond mere financial inequalities. They include injustices, such as
intergenerational health issues, disproportionately high illiteracy rates and the
erasure of collective culture, history and identity. Reparations include the right to
restitution, rehabilitation, compensation, and safeguarding and protection from
future violations.
62. The Working Group is concerned by the risk of people of African descent
making contributions to State funds, including through taxation, that could be used to
pay reparations to descendants of enslaved Africans.
63. The principle aspect of the draft declaration should be made clear: that people
of African descent are particularly vulnerable to structural discrimination and
various forms of inequity with respect to the enjoyment of human rights. Equality and
non-discrimination are foundational principles of human rights.
64. The draft declaration provides an opportunity to consider the impact of
historical injustices and structural racism on people of African descent and to remedy
their consequences. It is also an opportunity to elaborate rights that are not yet
enshrined in the international legal framework and that are specific to the experience
of people of African descent.
65. The draft declaration will establish or reaffirm standards related to the
individual and collective rights of people of African descent, including the right to
reparations; recognition as ethnic communities and groups; the right to communal
ownership of their ancestral lands; the preservation of traditional knowledge; and the
right to an equitable share of resources.
66. The success of the draft declaration relies upon the participation of all Member
States, regional and international organizations, United Nations funds and
programmes, specialized agencies, civil society organizations and all other relevant
stakeholders.
B. Recommendations
67. States should engage with communities, especially those with long histories of
mistrust of authorities, including people of African descent, to prevent and counteract
any instances of racial violence, hate speech and incitement to hatred. States should
develop zero-tolerance policies towards white supremacy and other extremist
nationalist and populist ideologies, hate speech and incitement to hatred. Specific legal
measures should be implemented to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and
brought to justice. Such measures might include provisions introducing aggravated
criminal responsibility for such acts, but they should also address the area of
prevention. Social campaigns and educational measures are strongly advised. People
of African descent engaged in the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and
peaceful assembly should not be targeted or criminalized.
68. States should develop joint and participatory strategies, including with civil
society and local communities, to prevent the emergence of violent extremism, protect
communities from recruitment and the threat of violent extremism, and support
confidence-building measures at the community level by providing appropriate
platforms for dialogue and the early identification of grievances. The Working Group
recommends the development of technological tools, such as applications, for
capturing data on racial discrimination and profiling. States should increase
collaboration with sport federations and fan clubs to combat racism in sports.
69. States should conduct censuses and collect disaggregated data in a way that will
accurately reflect the human rights situation of people of African descent and the
multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence that they face. States
should utilize that disaggregated data to develop policies on the prevention and
monitoring of white supremacy and other extremist nationalist and populist ideologies,
hate speech and incidents of incitement to hatred.
70. States should criminalize acts of racial profiling, collect and publish statistics
about police stop and search practices and abuse, and monitor trends regarding racial
profiling and treatment of people of African descent by law enforcement agents. They
should also end impunity for any member of law enforcement who engages in racial
profiling and ensure that victims can gain access to the justice system. States that have
not yet done so should establish independent oversight bodies for police agencies, with
the authority to conduct investigations of all complaints of human rights violations.
States should strengthen human rights training and awareness-raising activities
designed for immigration officials, border police, the staff of detention centres and
prisons, local authorities and civil servants in charge of enforcing laws. National
security forces should receive training on the proper treatment of migrants and
asylum seekers.
71. Member States should, as a matter of priority and urgency, address the
overrepresentation of people of African descent in prisons and take positive measures
at all levels of the justice system to end the mass incarceration of people of African
descent. States are encouraged to explore alternatives to prosecution and
incarceration, including alternative dispute resolution processes and restorative
justice initiatives. States must engage in bail reform to ensure that people of African
descent are not more likely than others to be detained prior to their trial. States
should ensure training for sentencing judges and judges should be reminded of the
principle of proportionality in sentencing. States should take positive measures to
ensure the representation of people of African descent in the justice system, including
in law enforcement and among lawyers and the judiciary.
72. The Working Group recommends that States end the disproportionate
criminalization of women of African descent and the violation of their rights. The best
interests of children should be paramount.
73. States should ensure that people of African descent are afforded the necessary
language interpretation services throughout the justice system.
74. Land rights should form the cornerstone of the promotion of and full respect
for the human rights of people of African descent. Land rights for people of African
descent must therefore be legally recognized. The enactment of ancestral rights laws
should be taken into consideration. Member States should guarantee the recognition,
titling and demarcation of land belonging to people of African descent, with the aim of
resolving outstanding land claim issues within communities of African descent.
Member States should remove the bureaucratic obstacles that prevent people of
African descent from rightfully claiming their land, including by ensuring affordable
access to legal representation.
75. The Working Group recommends that States consider women of African
descent as a primary focus in guaranteeing land rights. Women must play a central
role in the formulation and implementation of protective policies and strategies
related to land rights, at the national, local and community levels.
76. States should work with civil society groups to create programmes aimed at
facilitating resettlement, including aiding access to land rights for people of African
descent who are resettling in Africa.
77. The Working Group reiterates the content of paragraph 101 of the Durban
Declaration and Programme of Action, that with a view to closing those dark chapters
in history and as a means of reconciliation and healing, the international community
and its members are invited to honour the memory of the victims of past tragedies,
including the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans. The Working Group further
notes that some have taken the initiative of regretting or expressing remorse or
presenting apologies and calls on members that actively participated in the
transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans to pay reparations to their descendants, who
continue to suffer the consequences of the slave trade and colonialism, and to
contribute to restoring the dignity of the victims.
78. The right to reparations for genocide and crimes against humanity, such as the
transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, colonialism and neocolonialism is not subject
to any statute of limitations. States responsible for historical injustices must ensure
that reparations are made for those injustices to people of African descent. In addition
to financial compensation, those States should consider special measures, including
quotas in education and employment in governmental and private sectors. States must
provide reparations in a manner that fully respects and implements the right to
development of people of African descent. A tribunal dedicated to the issue of
reparatory justice should be established. The Working Group recommends the
CARICOM 10-point action plan for reparatory justice as a guiding framework.
79. States should consider, where relevant, implementing a tax-relief scheme that
avoids double taxation for people of African descent, while simultaneously easing the
burden on successive generations of people of African descent.
80. The draft declaration should call upon States to recognize the existence of their
populations of people of African descent and the cultural, economic, political and
scientific contributions they have made. It must stress the relationship between the
legacy of the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism and the
persistence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of
intolerance against people of African descent today. The draft declaration should also
address the marginalization, poverty and exclusion faced by people of African descent,
and their vulnerable condition owing to multiple and intersecting forms of
discrimination. The draft declaration should underline the importance of eradicating
all forms of discrimination faced by people of African descent, including through the
framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
81. The draft declaration should emphasize that people of African descent, as a
collective and as individuals, have the right to the full enjoyment of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms as recognized in international human rights law. It should
require all States to ratify the relevant treaties and ensure that national legislation is
compatible with international human rights law.
82. The draft declaration should include guarantees for civil and political rights,
and economic, social and cultural rights. It should also include reparations; protection
of land rights; protection from State violence, including racial profiling; protection
against hate crimes; protection for human rights defenders; and protection for
migrants, refugees and asylum seekers of African descent. States should also be called
upon to establish positive measures to ensure the participation of people of African
descent at all levels of society and in all areas of employment, including guaranteeing
a high level of political participation.
83. The Working Group recommends that all Member States, regional and
international organizations, United Nations funds and programmes, specialized
agencies, civil society organizations and all other relevant stakeholders implement the
Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the programme of activities of
the International Decade for People of African Descent. The Working Group
reiterates its call and urges Member States to reach consensus as soon as possible, so
that the forum for people of African descent can be held at the earliest opportunity.
Annex
List of participants at the twenty-second session
A. Members of the Working Group
Mr. Michal Balcerzak
Mr. Sabelo Gumedze
Ms. Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry
Mr. Ahmed Reid
Mr. Ricardo A. Sunga III
B. Member States
Argentina, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, South Africa, Togo,
United States of America, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
C. Non-member States
Holy See
D. Intergovernmental organizations
European Union, International Labour Organization (ILO)
E. Non-governmental organizations not in consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council
Advocates for Human Rights USA, Instituto Internationale Maria Ausiliatrice (IIMA),
France Ô
F. Panellists and presenters
Evita Chevry, Attorney, Guadeloupe
Joe Frans, former member of the Swedish parliament and former Chair of the Working Group of Experts
on People of African Descent
Kimani Nehusi, Professor of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University, United
States
E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance
Pastor Murillo Martinez, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination