NATIONALIST GROUPS AND ENDANGERED LANGUAGES RAISED BY EXPERTS AS THE COMMITTEE ON RACIAL DISCRIMINATION EXAMINES THE REPORT OF MONGOLIA

Experts of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination raised issues concerning nationalist groups and endangered languages as it considered the combined twenty-third and twenty-fourth periodic report of Mongolia on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Committee Experts said that less than a year ago, the State party had stated in a report that there were 18 officially registered organizations with nationalist views, including Dayar Mongol. Now the delegation said this organization had evaporated into thin air. These matters required further answers. Was the Government planning to take any measures to protect the seven native languages spoken by ethnic minorities in Mongolia that had been classified as endangered?

G. Bilguun, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said the 18 non-governmental organizations had never defined themselves as nationalistic. The Government had classified them as such based on investigations carried out by law enforcement bodies. These organizations were being surveyed by the police to prevent any act based on nationalism, hate, racial discrimination or other kinds of discrimination. They had not said that they intended to conduct nationalist activities at the time of registration. Dayar Mongol was not registered at the moment; it had been dismantled.

Regarding the endangered languages, the cultural policy of the State clearly stipulated that Mongolia supported ethnic languages. Relevant legislation also granted a special status to these languages and stipulated that ethnic minorities had the right to preserve their languages. In Mongolia, the ethnic minority languages were considered an intangible heritage that had to be preserved. The Government would consult with the national committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on this matter.

A Committee Expert said that although hate crimes and hate speech were now punishable by Mongolian law, the actual implementation of the provisions of the new Criminal Code was yet to be seen. The lack of definition of discrimination, including racial discrimination, could prove to be a stumbling block impeding the successful prosecution of such serious crimes in Mongolia.

In his concluding remarks, Yeung Kam John Yeung Sik Yuen, Committee Member and Rapporteur for Mongolia, said the Committee and the States parties had always found this exercise worthwhile. This one too had been worthwhile and enriching. The concluding observations would be issued by the Committee as a whole. He thanked the delegation.

Mr. Bilguun said the delegation had talked about future actions as well as on the current situation. He reaffirmed that Mongolia was keen to work with international partners to eradicate all forms of discrimination in Mongolia, including those based on race. The Government would submit its future periodic reports in a timely manner.

Noureddine Amir, Committee Chairperson, warmly thanked the delegation and congratulated them for providing answers to the questions raised by the Committee.

The delegation of Mongolia consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry, and the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will next meet in public on Friday, 16 August at 3 p.m. to consider the combined twelfth and thirteenth periodic report of the Czech Republic (CERD/C/CZE/12-13).

Report

The Committee has before it the combined twenty-third and twenty-fourth periodic report of Mongolia (CERD/C/MNG/23-24).

Presentation of the Report

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said that Mongolia had acceded to the Convention in 1969. The Government was making concerted efforts to ensure the implementation of the Convention, and during the reporting period it had revised several key laws and enacted some new laws in the context of a legal reform. It had revised the Criminal Code in 2015; the Law Civil Service, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Law on Misdemeanours, the Law on Misdemeanour Adjudication, the Law on Implementation of Judicial Decisions, and the Law of Policing in 2017; and the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities in 2018.

In addition to criminalizing discrimination, the newly revised Criminal Code had established the principle of non-discrimination in criminal adjudication on the grounds of national origin, language, race, age, gender, social status, wealth, occupation, official position, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, disability, opinion, and level of education. It had further established the principle of equality of all legal entities before the law without distinction as to property, revenue, and area of activity and business. These revisions had brought national legislation in conformity with the Convention.

The Law on Civil Service had imposed a legal obligation on civil servants not to discriminate in the course of public service delivery, establishing a prohibition against discrimination in any form.

Within the framework of the National Programme on Improving Legal Education for All, a training programme dedicated to the special population groups, including persons with disabilities and children, had been created. As of 2019, 424 people, including officers working at all levels of administrative units who were responsible for legal education and awareness-raising, as well as social workers, had taken part in this training programme. Moreover, several activities had been carried out to notably provide civil servants and the general public with informal education on legal issues.

An independent body dedicated to combatting human trafficking and prostitution had been created under the Criminal Police Department of the National Police Agency to implement the Law on Combatting Human Trafficking as well as the National Programme on Combatting Human Trafficking. Over the past three years, the Government had allocated 95 million tugriks to non-government organizations working in that field. Training programmes on human trafficking were being organized regularly for officers from the police, courts, offices of the prosecutor, as well as from the border control and immigration agencies.

Last year, the Government had evaluated the Programme on the Improvement of the Life Standards of the Reindeer Herders and decided to continue its implementation. The evaluation had pointed to the need to provide welfare support to the reindeer herders of Taiga as well as the need to update the related regulations.

Non-discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity was enshrined in Mongolia’s Constitution and was reflected in many laws. There were 34 laws that prohibited direct forms of discrimination and 81 laws aiming to ensure justice and equality, according to research conducted by the National Legal Institute.

The Government continued to support positive actions such as the bilingual education of the Kazakh and Tuva ethnic minorities. It was also keen to develop and implement effective policies towards public education in the following sectors: education, culture, communications, media and science.

Hate speech, although not explicitly mentioned, was addressed by article 19.3 of the Constitution, articles 14.1 and 19.9 of the Law on Administrative Offence, and article 6.21 of the Law on Advertising, amongst others.

The Law on Labour and the Law on Migrant Labour had been reviewed based on the International Labour Organization’s principles, norms and standards. They now set forth the responsibilities of employers of migrant workers and set up better occupational control standards at work places. The Government was examining the International Labour Organization conventions 81 and 129 as well as the Optional Protocol 29 to the Convention on Forced Labour, with a view to joining them.

The Government had amended the Law on the Human Rights Commission with a view to preserving its independence, in line with the Paris Principles. In that regard, a draft bill would soon be submitted to Parliament.

Questions by the Country Rapporteur

YEUNG KAM JOHN YEUNG SIK YUEN, Committee Member and Rapporteur for the report of Mongolia, thanked the delegation for being present today. He commended Mongolia for the timely submission of the report.

The lack of data in the previous reports had been remedied to a certain extent, said the Rapporteur. Unlike the previous report, the present report contained interesting data and statistics with which the State party had attempted to bridge the gap. However, some data disaggregated by ethnicity was missing, notably in relation to poverty, housing, health, life expectancy, enrolment in social security, and the use of native languages. A lot of the information provided would need deciphering and further explanations. Some data was missing, notably that which related to all ethnic minorities living in Mongolia such as Buriad, Bayad, Uriankhais, Khalkha, Dariganga, Durvud, Uuld, Zakhchin, Khazakhs, and the Darkhad, Khamnigan. Why had the State party not provided this data? Was it available somewhere? Did the methodology used for the census conducted every five years include the disaggregation of data by ethnicity? If yes, how many minorities were referenced? Were they referenced on the basis of self-identification? What about data related to the socio-economic situation of non-citizens, including asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and stateless persons?

He asked if there was any explanation why the Bayan-Ulgii region was mainly inhabited by ethnic minority groups. Was there specific provincial legislation in place to protect their rights, notably the right to participation in decision making, and ensure non-discrimination?

On persons with disabilities, he enquired about their percentage in the mainstream population, that was the Khalkhas. This group represented 82 per cent of the population of Mongolia. Why did the percentage of persons with disabilities rank so high among the Tsaatan?

There were also reports of discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment and education, including barriers in access to schools, inadequate textbooks, lack of specialized teachers for children with disabilities, and limited access to public buildings and transportation. He asked if there were plans of action devised to meet these challenges.

On education, he pointed out that paragraph 11 of the report mentioned that 77.4 per cent of the Kazakhs were educated, and also stated that only 22.6 per cent of Kazakhs had completed the primary level of education. There seemed to be a discrepancy, which needed to be explained. Did the State possess a comparative table of the number of educated persons belonging to the mainstream population, that was the Khalkhas?

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had classified seven native languages spoken by ethnic minorities as endangered languages, namely the Tuvan, Buryat (Manchuria), Dukha, Evenki (Southern Siberia), Khamnigan Mongol, Khövsgöl Uryangkhay and Oyrat. Was the State party planning to take any measures to protect such languages?

Was the State party planning to take special measures to promote the employment of persons belonging to ethnic minorities in public services, he asked. No figures had been given to indicate the unemployment level of the mainstream Khalkhas. How did it compare with those of the Tuva, Kazakhs and Tsaatan?

Turning to the access of Dukha to healthcare, Mr. Yeung Sik Yuen said that this minority had faced a number of problems, some of which had been somewhat remedied by positive actions taken by the Government of Mongolia. For example, the Dukha herders and their families now had access to free health care following a Presidential Proclamation in their favour. They could go for check-ups and obtain healthcare advice twice a year at the regional hospital. It was however located at a 2-day horseback ride distance. The sick and elderly would still have a problem to obtain health care for lack of suitable transportation.

He asked if the State party intended to somehow consult and include Dukhas in the management and protection of the national park.

What were the obstacles preventing the State party from developing a specific legislation defining racial discrimination in accordance with article 1 of the Convention and prohibiting all forms of racial discrimination?

He asked if the State party was planning to organize mandatory training for judges, prosecutors, court officials, lawyers and other related professions on the provisions of the Convention, non-discrimination and minority rights? Did the “National Programme on Improving Public Legal Education” adopted in 2018 contain a section on the Convention?

On the status of international conventions before domestic jurisdictions, he sought clarification on the “domestication” process of international conventions. In practice, was a law passed in Parliament to “domesticate” an international treaty?

Nationalist groups were emerging and having a heyday; the inability of the legal system to protect fundamental human rights and national interests had to be examined seriously. He requested that the delegation provide information on the current status on the matters of concern related to hate speech and extremist groups that had been mentioned by the State party before the Committee in 2015. What had been the outcome of the investigations and prosecutions of the eight ultra-nationalist individuals and the Dayar Mongol group?

Although hate crimes and hate speech were now punishable by Mongolian law, the actual implementation of the provisions of the new Criminal Code was yet to be seen. The lack of definition of discrimination, including racial discrimination, could prove to be a stumbling block impeding the successful prosecution of such serious crimes in Mongolia.

Questions by Committee Experts

GUN KUT, Committee Rapporteur for Follow-up to Concluding Observations, recalled that the Committee had adopted concluding observations on Mongolia in January 2016 and had expected an interim report within one year. Unfortunately, no interim report on the follow-up paragraphs had been submitted within one year. A reminder had been sent by the Committee, and an interim report had been subsequently submitted by the State party.

An Expert asked what criteria were used to distinguish between national and non-national ethnic groups. She requested information on the poverty rate, including data disaggregated by ethnic group. This information would help the Committee assess the work done by Mongolia to fulfil Sustainable Development Goal 1.

Another Expert asked for information on special measures. What was the Government’s position on the potential ratification of article 8 of the Convention?

An Expert pointed out that the report did not provide information on the implementation of the laws that dealt with non-discrimination. Had there been cases of non-discrimination in the courts? Could the Convention be directly invoked in the courts? He requested information on the provision of education in minority languages and the Government’s efforts to preserve them. He drew the delegation’s attention to migrant workers from China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Did the Government have information on the impact of air pollution on minority groups?

Another Expert asked if there were aggravating circumstances in the Mongolian law. Could there be heavier sentences when there was a racial dimension to the act? Was specific training provided to police officers to ensure they did not engage in racial profiling? She asked if citizens were aware of the recourses that were available to them when they were victims of discrimination.

An Expert pointed out that numerous people had renounced the Mongolian nationality and then asked to get it back. Could the delegation explain this situation and how the Government was dealing with it? He requested data on attacks on Chinese nationals and Mongolian women who were married to Chinese men, as well as information on the rise of extremist groups in the context of the last elections. Had the national human rights institution been involved in the drafting of the report?

It was commendable that the State party had taken the concluding observations seriously and implemented some of them, notably by providing training on the Convention, said an Expert.

Another Expert, turning to migrant workers, asked the delegation to explain what the situation regarding forced labour was in the country and comment on how gender impacted this phenomenon. Could the delegation provide information on gendered migration? On indigenous peoples, were they being evicted from their villages? How was the Government responding to that situation? She also requested information on the illegal extraction of natural resources. What role had outside investors and the Government played in that regard?

It would be useful for the delegation to clarify the picture of the socio-economic profile of the population, taking into account the different ethnic groups, another Expert said. She requested information on the status of stateless persons and their access to rights and services in the country.

How many national ethnic minorities were there in the country, enquired an Expert. How about other ethnic groups? What was the difference between the two, and why did the Government draw such a distinction?

Another Expert sought clarification with regard to two human rights bodies that had been established under Parliament. Was there not a risk of overlap? She asked if there was a monitoring body to ensure that working conditions of migrant workers were in line with national norms. Could migrant workers apply for nationality?

Replies by the Delegation

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, thanked the delegation for the questions. There had been numerous questions about Dayar Mongol. There once existed a non-governmental organization called Dayar Mongol, but it no longer existed. The Government had faced challenges to dissolve certain non-governmental organizations. Hence the new draft law on not-for-profit organizations, which envisaged provisions for the dissolution of non-governmental organizations. Discrimination was a basis for dissolving an organization as provided for in the draft law, including discrimination against a person based on age, gender identity and sexual identity, origin, occupation, and disability, amongst others.

The delegation explained that “nationalist organization” was not a legal term. There were 18 organizations registered as promoting the national identity or culture. Four of them were active. From 2015 to 2018, five people had been convicted of crimes related to discrimination. There had been no such cases in 2019.

On the mining licences, the law required that the people be consulted on the issues related to the use of indigenous lands. A tripartite agreement system was now necessary. The delegation said that extractive industries had impacted the health of Tsaatan. A territory of 40,000 hectares had been put under protection from extractive activities. Ten mining licences had been rescinded.

The number of persons with disabilities amongst the Tsaatan people was higher than the national average. This was linked to the specificity of their livelihood and culture. It was not connected to the enjoyment of their rights.

Concerning data on ethnic groups, the delegation said that the Mongolian Parliament had adopted a law on populations and censuses which stipulated what information should be collected. It outlined that information should be collected from individuals that were Mongolian nationals, foreigners, diplomats and their families as well as Mongolians traveling or living abroad. The population was divided in ethnic groups and minorities. This information had not been included in the report because the document was already too long. There were 29 ethnic groups in Mongolia, the largest of which was the Khalkhas. In 2015, an interim census had been conducted. The results of the previous census could be provided to the Committee if need be.

There had been one person who had illegally entered Mongolia, but that individual had been given a permit to stay. Foreigners who legally entered Mongolia enjoyed the same rights and had the same duties as Mongolian nationals, except for the rights and duties related to the military service. In Mongolia, every resident could choose were they resided. It was up to the citizens to choose their place of residence. They could move freely in the country.

Moving on to persons with disabilities, the delegation confirmed that the percentage of Tsaatans with disabilities was higher than that of the population in general. This difference was linked to their culture as their customs did not allow them to marry people from other ethnic groups. There were also persons whose disabilities resulted from incidents such as car accidents.

To erase the barriers that persons with disabilities faced in their access to education, the delegation said there were six specialized education schools and two specialized kindergartens. There were also groups for students with special needs in regular schools as Mongolia had an inclusive approach to education. A given district would calculate the number of children with special needs, and specialized teachers and textbooks were made available accordingly. The educational philosophy was centred on inclusion, and the Government drew inspiration from programmes in place in Japan. There were commissions in schools that offered special support to students with special needs.

A national programme had been adopted on the rights, participation and development of persons with disabilities. In 21 provinces and 9 districts of the capital, sub-units had been established to support its implementation. The Government had consulted with persons with disabilities to develop a law on this matter.

In 2018, 3.6 billion tugriks had been allocated to programmes to support the employment of persons with disabilities. Special support was also offered to parents with children with disabilities. According to the labour law, beyond a certain threshold, companies had to employ a person with disabilities, lest they be fined. The Government had recently suggested increasing the amount of that fine.

The delegation explained that, regarding general and higher education, one usually graduated from one level and moved on to the higher level. Children up to the age of 10 went to primary education schools, and, from 10 to 14 years, they attended basic education institutions.

In 2015, a State policy on education had been adopted which stipulated that minorities should have the opportunity to learn their own languages. Therefore, the philosophy of dual languages had been introduced as per this policy. It gave ethnic minorities the opportunity to learn both the language of the majority, that was the official language of Mongolia, and the language of the minority groups. Dual language learning was positive for children according to studies.

Data had been collected about the education and the level of language learning of ethnic minority children. The data showed that minority children had been learning their language but that their level of mastery of the Mongol language was less. The Government understood from this that it should further support the teaching of the Mongolian language and that it needed to raise awareness on the importance and usefulness of learning the majority language. In that regard, good practices from around the world were being collected so that Mongolia could learn from them.

Regarding the endangered languages, the cultural policy of the State clearly stipulated that Mongolia would support ethnic languages. Relevant legislation also granted a special status to these languages and stipulated that ethnic minorities had the right to preserve their languages. In Mongolia, the ethnic minority languages were considered to be an intangible heritage that had to be preserved.

The delegation recalled that the State party report included figures on unemployment. In Mongolia, one could start working at the age of 15. The general unemployment rate had gone down to 7.8 per cent after 2010. It had also dropped accordingly for the Tsaatan. These numbers would have to checked against the results of the 2020 census.

There was no legal obligation to hold consultations on mining licenses. However, in accordance with the administrative laws of Mongolia, if people wanted to participate in the decision-making processes, they were allowed to, notably as regarded this issue. The territory cadaster was sent to the Governor, who made the decision on whether the land could be mined. Prior to making a decision, the Governor consulted with the local parliament, which in turn consulted with the people who might be affected by the mining activities.

In Mongolia there were four types of protected areas, including national parks. The area where most Tsaatan lived had been protected for a number of years, notably as per a 2011 decision of the Parliament of Mongolia. The places where Tsaatan people mostly lived was therefore now protected, which meant that the issuance of mining licences for these areas was limited. There were no registered mining activities at the moment.

On specific legislation on racial discrimination, the Government was implementing the provisions of the 81 laws that ensured justice and equality. The Government wanted to conduct scientific research on this issue and would continue to examine it, as well as talk with victims of racial discrimination. There were no obstacles preventing it from drafting a specific law and presenting it to Parliament. The Ministry of Justice would evaluate the 81 laws that currently existed and depending on the outcome of this evaluation, the Government could consider drafting specific legislation. The Government was not opposed to drafting specific legislation on racial discrimination.

Regarding training on human rights, there was a mandatory course on human rights for judges and other members of the judiciary. There was no specific course on the Convention. The Human Rights Commission was involved in the development of the curriculum, along with the Bar Association. Training for paralegals covered the Convention.

Moving on to the Mongolian Constitution, the delegation said that article 10.4 of the Constitution stipulated that before ratifying any treaty, Mongolia had to ensure that it did not contravene the Constitution. As soon as it was ratified, a treaty was effective in the country. Translation issues may have triggered the Committee’s questions.

The 18 nationalistic non-governmental organizations had 200 followers, as stated in the report, said the delegation. This information was based on intelligence from the police. The non-governmental organizations might have declared that they had a larger base and claimed having 3,000 members. This information was impossible to ascertain.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said that it was possible that some groups called themselves Dayar Mongol online or that some individuals claimed to be members of such an organization, but no organization called Dayar Mongol was officially registered in Mongolia.

There had been four hate crimes cases registered in 2018 that had not been reflected in the report, the delegation said.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said there were four registered nationalist organizations. One was a company and the other three were non-governmental organizations. When registering, these organizations never mentioned their nationalistic philosophy. For instance, one of them had said its objective was to ensure public oversight of projects that had an environmental impact.

The delegation remarked that provisions of the Criminal Code addressed racial discrimination. It stipulated that any act of discrimination based on colour, race or ethnicity was prohibited and punishable by imprisonment.

New regulations had been included in a draft bill on non-governmental organizations, outlining a series of prohibitions, one of which was linked to the Convention. They notably prohibited discrimination lest the organization be dismantled. This represented a concrete step towards the implementation of the Convention.

On refugees, the delegation explained that Mongolia had not acceded to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, but its Constitution provided for the reception of refugees. If a person had illegally crossed the border to seek asylum in the country, that individual would not be considered a criminal under the Penal Code.

Mongolia had also developed a law on the status of foreign nationals, and the Government had been working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to give residency and 6 to 12-month permits to asylum seekers. After that period, asylum seekers could move to a third country. There were seven refugees in Mongolia. Between 2007 to 2019, there had been 66 asylum seekers who had been given a residency permit.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said the budget of the National Human Right Commission had been reduced due to the economic crisis faced by the country. However, in 2018, its budget had been significantly increased compared to the previous year.

The delegation explained that, based on self-identification, there were 600 Tsaatans in Mongolia. Regarding the International Labour Organization Convention 169 on Indigenous Peoples, the delegation took due note of the Committee's recommendation that the State party ratify it.

The Constitution prohibited any discrimination on ethnic origin, language, age, sex and other characteristics and this applied to police officers as well. Citizens could lodge complaints related to misconduct on the part of police officers through a hotline. As of today, no case had been registered.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said the exodus to Kazakhstan of 60,000 people might have been due to the fact that dual citizenship was not allowed in Mongolia. It should be noted that the number of people coming back from Kazakhstan to Mongolia was increasing.

At the end of 2018, 6.9 per cent of Mongolian women were married to foreign nationals, he added.

He added that paralegals’ background and professions were different from that of lawyers.

Questions by Committee Experts and Responses by the Delegation

YEUNG KAM JOHN YEUNG SIK YUEN, Committee Member and Rapporteur for the report of Mongolia, said he had been impressed by the delegation of Mongolia. It had put in a lot of hard work to provide answers to the questions asked by the Committee, notably as regarded data.

He asked if the people of Buryat ethnicity had been living in Mongolia for some time. In any case, as there were Buryats living in the country, his question related to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization statement on endangered languages was still relevant.

The free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples was a requirement by law, he remarked. Regarding the 8 ultra-nationalist individuals, he asked if charges had been brought against them and what the sentences had been.

There remained many things related to Dayar Mongol that were still not clear. Less than a year ago, the State party had stated in a report that there were 18 officially registered organizations with nationalist views, including Dayar Mongol. And now the delegation said this organization had evaporated into thin air. These matters required further answers.

Another Expert sought clarification regarding the number of Tsaatan people in the country. He pointed to discrepancies between governmental sources in that regard.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, said the Government would consult with the national United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization committee regarding the endangered languages.

The Government did consult with the people regarding decisions that could affect them. The law did not require the provision of any information in writing to the people. The administration decided how to conduct consultations. There were no legal provisions requiring that prior written notice on mining license be given to the population.

The delegation said that some of the 8 ultra-nationalist individuals that had been convicted had been fined. Others had been imprisoned and one had been released under an arrangement whereby that person would not leave the country.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, said the 18 non-governmental organizations had never defined themselves as nationalist. The Government had classified them as such based on investigations carried out by law enforcement bodies. These organizations were being surveyed by the police to prevent any act based on nationalism, hate, racial discrimination or other kinds of discrimination. The organizations had not said that they intended to conduct nationalist activities at the time of registration. Dayar Mongol was not registered at the moment; it had been dismantled. The person who used to be the head of that organization had made a public statement to the effect that other people were now using the name Dayar Mongol.

An Expert asked why some ethnic groups that could identify as indigenous peoples did not do so.

On the nationalist organizations, another Expert asked if a non-governmental organization that registered as an environment group but strayed in other areas could see its license revoked. Would the Government consider acceding to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness?

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said ethnic groups’ self-identification as indigenous peoples was based on Mongolia’s culture and history.

Concluding Remarks

YEUNG KAM JOHN YEUNG SIK YUEN, Committee Member and Rapporteur for the report of Mongolia, said the Committee and States parties had always found this exercise worthwhile. This one too had been worthwhile and enriching. The concluding observations would be issued by the Committee as a whole. He thanked the delegation.

G. BILGUUN, State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia, said the delegation had talked about future actions as well as on the current situation. He reaffirmed that Mongolia was keen to work with international partners to eradicate all forms of discrimination, including that based on race, on the ground in the country. The Government would submit its future 0periodic reports in a timely manner.

NOUREDDINE AMIR, Committee Chairperson, warmly thanked the delegation and congratulated them for providing answers to the questions raised by the Committee.


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