UNITED NATIONS Press Release 13 August 2004 The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the report of Portugal on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Presenting the report was Antonio Vaz Pinto, High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities of Portugal, who said that in Portugal, there were some 10 million inhabitants, including approximately 500,000 immigrants. In general, during the reporting period a series of actions and measures were taken by the Government of Portugal for the purpose of integration and to combat racial discrimination. In the course of the discussion, which was held over two meetings, issues concerning immigration and asylum seekers, Gypsies living in Portugal, police brutality and human rights education were raised, among other subjects. In preliminary remarks, the country Rapporteur for the report, Committee Expert Kurt Herndl, said it was important for the State party to continue in its work to combat racial discrimination and noted that its legislative framework was comprehensive enough to deal with this question. Among other things, he noted the steps taken by the State party to combat police brutality, and the information provided on the use of force and on the Gypsy population in Portugal. Mr. Herndl said it was evident by the presentation of the delegation that the Government of Portugal had taken every measure to implement the Convention in all its aspects. The Committee will present its final conclusions and recommendations on the tenth and eleventh periodic reports of Portugal, which were presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 20 August. The delegation of Portugal also included representatives of the Ministry of Justice, the Immigration Service and the Secretariat for Multicultural Programmes. When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will begin its consideration of the country report of Kazakhstan (CER/C/439/Add.2). REPORT OF PORTUGAL The tenth and eleventh periodic reports, incorporated in one document CERD/C/447/Add.1, provide information in terms of the demographic status of the Portuguese population (number of aliens, residence by aliens, residence permits, naturalization, gypsies, etc.); an analysis of the major constitutional provisions against discrimination; the general situation with regard to discrimination; some incidents of racial discrimination; recent domestic measures to combat racism and intolerance; and, lastly, Portugal's participation in the activities of international organizations. The report states that there was an increase in the alien population of Portugal in 2002; there was a total of 235,627, of which 112,550 were from Africa (with an increase in people from countries other than former Portuguese colonies, namely 6,217). Portugal's gypsy population of some 40,000 is particularly concentrated in the most densely populated coastal regions and in border areas. A set of measures were implemented to provide better protection and integration of gypsies as well as positive discrimination on their behalf. Racial violence in Portugal seems to consistently embody the defamation and discrediting of others. There are other forms of aggression, less frequent, which may even involve physical assault causing bodily harm. The report states that Portugal pursues an anti-racism policy in terms of legislation and specific actions. A legal framework exists which protects potential victims and specific activities are undertaken, in particular on an ongoing basis by the High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities. There is no racial segregation in Portugal. Since the 1974 "red carnation" revolution, Portugal has consistently and strongly condemned all policies of racial segregation throughout the world. It maintains this position today, and supports all efforts to end segregation. PRESENTATION OF REPORT ANTONIO VAZ PINTO, High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities, said in Portugal there were some 10 million inhabitants of which approximately 500,000 were immigrants. Although Portugal was a country of emigration, it had become a country of immigration with a high percentage of Africans from former colonial countries, mostly from Cape Verde. As of the mid-1990s, there had also been considerable immigration from Eastern Europe. Immigrants had been scattered throughout the country and were employed in wide-ranging occupational groups. With the recession that Portugal entered into in 2002, unemployment had increased significantly and the search for employment became more difficult. This recession resulted in the restructuring of the Government. Despite budget cuts, the budget for the Office of the High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities was increased. The restructuring of the Government did play a significant role in strengthening the fight against racial discrimination and the support for minorities. The restructuring of the High Commissioner's Office led to the creation of the post of Deputy High Commissioner as well as of the Inter-cultural Secretariat. The Government's Advisory Council for Immigration Affairs and the Commission for Equality and Non-Discrimination were also recently restructured. In general, during the reporting period a series of actions and measures were taken by the Government of Portugal for the purpose of integration and to combat racial discrimination. The President recently presided over a National Congress on immigration which brought together a group of experts. Several studies had been carried out on discrimination and immigration, a monthly information bulletin in Portuguese with news for all immigrants and minorities, and a website on the subject was also created, the head of delegation noted. Moreover, thematic brochures were also made available on subjects ranging from labour issues to human rights and a call centre - SOS Immigrant – was developed to aid immigrants in need of assistance. The Government was working in partnership with local organizations and NGOs to further their efforts to support immigrants; counselling centres had been set up; a weekly television programme on immigrants was produced, and there were also 18 local immigration support centres in partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, there were two national immigration support centres in Lisbon and in Porto where immigrants could visit to solve a variety of problems ranging from legal aspects, employment and health matters, and family reunification. Mr. Vaz Pinto said the mass media was also involved in promoting tolerance, multiculturalism and combating racial discrimination. Mr. Vaz Pinto said there were some 40,000 Gypsies living in Portugal. Since they did not claim to be a legal minority and led a semi-nomadic lifestyle, it was difficult for them to establish stability. The situation of Gypsy women was unequal to men and several Gypsies had become involved in the drug trade. As a result, many people in society had anti-Gypsy sentiments. In conclusion, the head of delegation noted that although progress had been made, much remained to be done on, especially on a practical level, in terms of changing attitudes and ensuring proper training in the field of human rights. DISCUSSION KURT HERNDL, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, said that while the legal and to a large extent the institutional situation as far of the implementation of the Convention was concerned was satisfactory, problems of implementation of relevant legislation remained. If left unresolved, they might create in the long term a more critical situation. Nevertheless, Portugal's record in the field of recently introduced legislation in the field of discrimination was excellent. Moreover, Portugal's legislation conformed to the European Council's directives covering aspects of equal treatment. Mr. Herndl said that much remained to be done in terms of the actual fight against discrimination by way of training for police and public officials. According to a report from the European Union Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia, anti-Semitism in Portugal could be considered as a marginal phenomenon; there were only cases involving the vandalism of a synagogue in Lisbon in 2002 and the report of a few Nazi sites on the Internet. The report also indicated that, in terms of Anti-Islamic behaviour, there were some discriminatory acts against the Portuguese Muslim community. Notwithstanding, there were some serious concerns, many of which were voiced by NGOs and the international media, the Rapporteur noted. The Country Rapporteur noted that Portugal became a State party to the Convention in 1982 and since then had been reporting to the Committee regularly. Overall, the Government had a good record as far as human rights conventions and ILO conventions were concerned. In that regard, the Rapporteur asked what the Government's plans were to ratify the Convention on Migrant Workers as well as the Convention on Cyber Crime. Mr. Herndl welcomed the fact that some 50 per cent of the report was in the form of statistics; this information included data on the alien population and the number of residence permits handed out. Not enough information, however, was provided on the Gypsy population. The Rapporteur referred to the report where the State party indicated that the Government of Portugal prohibited and suppressed fascist and racist organizations. He asked what the plans were of the Government to ban such organizations. Among other things, Mr. Herndl asked for more information on the Government's Office of Multiculturalism, on its measures to further educate Gypsies, and on the Office of the High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities. The Rapporteur also referred to a case in front of the Paredes district court where a Paredes counsellor made a statement which included racist comments about Gypsies. In that regard, he sought additional information. In terms of police brutality, the Rapporteur made reference to several cases cited in the report, namely the killing of a man of Cape Verdean origin by the police and the death of another man after police fired rubber bullets at him. More information was sought in this regard. Mr. Herndl drew attention to a discrepancy in figures concerning the Roma community living in Portugal; the report stated there were 40,000 Roma and the European Commission for Racial Intolerance said the number was between 50,000 and 60,000. Despite considerable measures taken by the Government to address the situation of the Roma, there was still a need for confidence building measures between the Roma and law enforcement. On both these matters, more information was requested. The Rapporteur raised the topic of the Government's system of regulating entry into and exit from Portugal while referring to a report from the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights; the report criticized Portugal's system as being too long, too expensive for the immigrant and having strict rules on family reunification. He asked for further information on this system as well as for information on the number of aliens. Before responding to questions posed orally by the Committee, the delegation clarified its position on a few matters, namely that integration did not mean assimilation but rather the recognition of the diversity of people living in Portugal. There was an agreement between those coming to live in Portugal and the State on the condition of mutual respect. The attitude of the Portuguese State was to promote and respect diversity while allowing persons to live in complete freedom and to enjoy their rights. The delegation also affirmed that there were no political parties based on racist notions in Portugal. In response to a question, the delegation said the word "Roma" was not commonly used in Portugal; these groups of people were more generally referred to as "Gypsies". Responding to a related question, the delegation noted that as per Portuguese legislation, no statistics could be drawn up on the basis of race or skin color. Also on Gypsies, the delegation said there was a need for these people to change their habits in order to be integrated into Portuguese society; certain Gypsy communities did not want to be recognized as Portuguese. Several social factors contributed to problems of their integration. The Catholic Church had been working throughout the territory with Gypsies to provide them with assistance. The Secretariat for Multicultural Programmes had also tried to reverse the way Gypsies were perceived in society and to bring them together with non-Gypsies. Concerning female genital mutilation, the delegation said Portuguese law totally rejected any form of physical impairment to any of its citizens. If these cases did exist as claimed by the media, they most probably involved Portuguese citizens of Guinean origin where the practice was more common. Responding to a question about the existence of slums and ghettos in Portugal, the delegation said when immigrants from the former Portuguese colonial territories arrived in Portugal, they settled in communities which developed into the ghettos of today. Many of these neighborhoods did not meet the levels of good social standards. Subsequently, programmes had been initiated by the State to improve the infrastructure of these neighborhoods and particularly to help the children living in these neighborhoods to break out of this negative situation and to move on to a situation which would help them to fully enjoy their rights. The Government had taken several measures in order to promote racial and ethnic tolerance. The State had fully met the criteria for a democratic and open society, however bureaucracy, people's attitudes, and existing prejudices provided certain barriers. The State, therefore, had embraced a policy for breaking down barriers and building confidence among various groups in the country. To that aim, information programmes had been produced, including in the media, to promote these values. Concerning questions raised on education, the delegation noted that inter-ministerial programmes had been set up to improve the education system so as to promote the values of co-existence and integration. The Government had been working on special programmes focusing on the production of multicultural teaching materials. Moreover, seminars and workshops on human rights education and racism had also been conducted. Material for teachers was distributed free of cost to further promote these values. Also noted was that Gypsy children were not well represented in Portuguese schools and they also had the highest drop out rates. To address this the Ministry of Education had developed courses targeting Gypsy children to teach them their own history and culture. Concerning the population structure, the latest data showed that the number of foreign citizens residing in Portugal had increased in recent years. In 1998 in accordance with the Government's Act on Asylum, the Portuguese Government set up provisions to resolve the situation of thousands of foreigners who arrived in the country in an irregular situation and decided to set up a permanent residence status for some 180,000 foreigners. On refugee matters and also in accordance with the Asylum Law, the national NGO the Portuguese Council for Refugees had been providing assistance to refugees on all matters related to medical, legal and housing issues. Moreover, the delegation noted that there was a centre outside of Lisbon where asylum seekers were able to reside on a temporary basis while their cases were being decided. There was a possibility to appeal the rejection of asylum and the person involved could stay on the territory of Portugal while the appeal was pending. When the asylum request was granted a temporary residence permit was given and the person could work while the case was being finalized. Concerning the right to family reunification, as per Portuguese law a citizen resident for at least one year had the right to family reunification with members of the family who were outside the national territory and who lived with him/her in another country or who were his/her dependants. On the issue of human trafficking, the delegation noted that considerable efforts had been taken to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings. Moreover, a Government Office had been set up to analyze and collect all information on organized networks dealing in the trafficking of persons in order to combat this problem. Concerning police abuses, the Internal Administration Inspectorate was created to monitor the activities of the Portuguese police forces; a code of conduct for law enforcement officials was drawn up; and there has been ongoing training in the area of human rights for these officials. All police training included human rights training with an emphasis on the use of firearms and force, the issue of torture, minorities and a focus on racial discrimination. Moreover, a special 70-hour training programme was instituted for further impact. The training was also available to the National Guard. The delegation noted that the cases involving abuse by the police were followed up accordingly by the Internal Administration Inspectorate, which applied disciplinary measures where necessary. There were no statistics on cases of police abuse committed against ethnic minorities, the delegation added. On political parties and racist organizations, the delegation noted that there was a law that banned fascist organizations, so as to prevent a return to the previous situation prior to the "red carnation" revolution of 1974. Portugal had always strongly condemned all policies of racial segregation throughout the world. It maintained this position today and supported all efforts to end segregation. The delegation added that there had never been a real problem with fascist organizations but there were extremist organizations against which one legal proceeding was conducted. However, the organization disbanded before criminal proceedings began. PRELIMINARY REMARKS KURT HERNDL, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur, thanked the delegation for the open and frank manner in which the report was presented. In doing so they provided very detailed replies to very complicated and sensitive issues. The two-day discussion, he said, was conducted in a cordial atmosphere. Mr. Herndl said it was important for the State party to continue in its work to combat racial discrimination and noted that its legislative framework was comprehensive enough to deal with this question. Reference was made to the discrepancies in figures for the numbers of foreigners in Portugal and the alien resident population. This discrepancy had led to some misunderstanding. Also noted was the steps to combat police brutality, and in particular information on the use of force. The Rapporteur also noted that the Roma/Gypsy population seemed to be the only real minority within the territory of the State party. In conclusion, Mr. Herndl said it was evident by the presentation of the delegation that the Government of Portugal had taken every measure to implement the Convention in all its aspects. ========= World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) listserv ========= Send mail intended for the list to <wcar@hrea.org>. Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/wcar/markup/maillist.php To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with the following text in the message: subscribe wcar To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>, with the following text in the message: unsubscribe wcar If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-wcar@hrea.org>.
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