A/HRC/27/68
I. Introduction
1.
The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its fourteenth
session from 31 March to 4 April 2014 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. It was
attended by all the members: Monorama Biswas, Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, Mirjana
Najchevska, Maya Sahli and Verene Shepherd. The present report of that session is
submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 9/14 and 18/28 requesting
the Working Group to submit an annual report to the Council on all activities relating to its
mandate.
2.
Representatives of Member States, the Holy See and the State of Palestine,
international organizations, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and invited panellists participated in the session of the Working Group of Experts
(see annex II).
II. Organization of the session
A.
Opening of the session
3.
The outgoing Chair-Rapporteur, Ms. Shepherd, opened the session and welcomed
all who were attending, especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights.
4.
The High Commissioner, in her opening statement, expressed appreciation for the
recommendations that had emanated from the Working Group which had had great impact
in the fight against the historical and continuing inequality faced by people of African
descent, and welcomed the fact that the Working Group had started dealing with allegation
letters and urgent appeals. She also noted that the Working Group had decided to focus the
session on the issue of access to justice, in line with the theme for the International Decade
for People of African Descent, which was due to begin in 2015. She highlighted the
importance of access to justice and the fact that, at both the international and the domestic
levels, respect and protection of human rights could be guaranteed only if effective judicial
remedies were available when an individual’s rights were violated.
5.
The High Commissioner also pointed out that, despite guarantees in international
and national law, many victims of racial discrimination were still unable to obtain remedies
for wrongful acts through their domestic institutions. She noted that some of the most
important challenges facing people of African descent related to discriminatory treatment
by the very institutions that were supposed to administer justice. She gave the example of
when judicial and law enforcement bodies, which should be primary forces in opposing and
preventing racism, failed to uphold justice and equality and instead mirrored the prejudices
of the society they served. Thus, racial discrimination persisted among law enforcement
officials, in the application of the law and in the functioning of the criminal system.
6.
She noted the importance of recommendations emanating from the various human
rights mechanisms, including general recommendation No. 31 (2005) of the Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the prevention of racial discrimination in the
administration and functioning of the criminal justice system. The High Commissioner also
noted the finding of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance that institutional discrimination in
justice systems often had a disproportionate impact on people of African descent. She
expressed the strong commitment of her Office to supporting efforts that helped realize the
rights of people of African descent.
3