COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF YEMEN

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the fifteenth and sixteenth periodic reports of Yemen on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Presenting the report, Ali Saleh Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, said that Yemen had come a long way in fulfilling its obligations under the Convention. After 1990 a modern, democratic multi-party State had been established through free elections. Since then there had been greater will to participate in civil and political life and a growth in the number of non-governmental organizations, owing to the emphasis being given by the Government to human rights on the basis of democracy and a rejection of discrimination. Specifically with regard to discrimination, the State was looking at a number of ways to entrench equality in the law, to ensure educational equality, and through programmes to combat poverty.

In preliminary remarks, Ralph Boyd Jr., the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for Yemen, noted that the delegation and the Government’s view was that Yemen’s society was largely homogeneous. It was State policy not to recognize racial groups, and not to collect data by race or descent. That, however, was juxtaposed with the delegation’s own acknowledgement that there were people within the population who were clearly black and who were marginalized, and their unique origins were obvious. The State’s policy made it very difficult to assess how effective the wide range of poverty alleviation programmes and efforts to increase educational opportunities, as well as to widen the social protection net, were doing in terms of helping those for whom race or descent was an aggravating factor in their deprivation.

Other Committee Experts raised questions about the minority languages spoken in Yemen and their status; land rights of the Al-Akhdam minority; and whether there were any instances of discrimination against persons of African heritage. An Expert noted that the Committee had more generally focused on discrimination on the basis of ethnic or national origin, or sometimes with regard to colour or descent and that caste or caste-like groups had also been the focus of the Committee in recent years. Another Expert added that it was important to recognize that marginalized groups were not formed passively or spontaneously but were the product of active forces.

The Yemeni delegation also included representatives from the Ministry of Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the fifteenth and sixteenth periodic reports of Yemen, which were presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 18 August.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. it is scheduled to take up the initial to third periodic reports of South Africa, presented in one document (CERD/C/461/Add.3).

Report of Yemen

The fifteenth and sixteenth periodic reports of Yemen, submitted in one document (CERD/C/YEM/16), says that the Ministry of Human Rights is the main governmental body responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights. By virtue of its legal status, it is considered part of the executive, although its organizational structure and duties and functions are consistent with many of the principles relating to the status and work of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights (the Paris Principles) adopted by the Commission on Human Rights.

The National Committee for Refugee Affairs was established in 2000 and several joint programmes have been implemented in the framework of cooperation between Yemen and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Through a programme to register and issue identity cards to Somali refugees dispersed throughout Yemen, 47,000 refugees were registered. There are no precise figures, but Somali refugees are estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands judging from the steady and continuous influx of migrants. The Government and UNHCR have made efforts to make all those who deal with refugees aware of refugees’ rights and duties, and Yemen is in the process of drafting a national refugee law. With regard to “marginalized persons”, the report says that term has come to be used in recent years to describe the servant class, who were not marginalized because of their physical characteristics or on grounds of descent. As the legislative framework does not discriminate among citizens, the Yemeni Government has not enacted laws on the rights of socially marginalized persons. The principle of equal citizenship underlying the Yemeni legislative system is a guarantee that the situation of the members of this class will change with time.

Presentation of Report

ALI SALEH ABDULLAH, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, said that Yemen had come a long way in fulfilling its obligations under the Convention. The Constitution of Yemen prohibited discrimination and promoted human dignity and equal citizenship. After 1990 a modern, democratic multi-party State had been established through free elections. Since then there had been greater will to participate in civil and political life and a growth in the number of non-governmental organizations, owing to the emphasis being given by the Government to human rights on the basis of democracy and a rejection of discrimination.

Mr. Abdullah observed that Yemen participated in numerous national, regional and international human rights events. There were 75 human rights organizations in the country and the Government was also working to include human rights elements in the educational curricula at all levels. To further protect human rights, Yemen had promoted the independence of the judiciary and a plan of judicial reform had been launched to bring Yemen’s laws up to date with the current human rights and other developments in the international sphere. In the area of legislation, Yemen had reviewed all laws and rules with a view to aligning them with all the major international human rights instruments.

Specifically with regard to discrimination, the State was looking at a number of ways to entrench equality in the law, to ensure educational equality, and through programmes to combating poverty, including training programmes.

Mr. Abdullah listed a variety of national and international human rights activities undertaken by Yemen. Among others, Yemen had hosted an international conference for dialogue between cultures this year; a dialogue for women was held in 2004; Yemen had undertaken a population and infrastructure census; the Cabinet had adopted in 2004 their consent to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and a national strategy for gender had been adopted.

Oral Replies by the Delegation to Written Questions Submitted in Advance

Responding to written questions by the Committee submitted in advance, the delegation said that, regarding the composition of the population, there were no racial groups in Yemen. There was the so-called marginalized group, but that term was not commonly used nor was it accepted by the State. Statistics could not be compiled on the basis of being a marginalized person in the sense of belonging to an ethnic or racial group. However, a study had been undertaken in 2001 that had allowed the creation of a socio-economic database that could give information on persons who were socio-economically marginalized.

The term marginalized group generally referred to domestic workers, the delegation said, who were of a black colour, and who were to be found throughout the country. The status of that group had been improving ever since the revolution of the 1960s and had improved dramatically in the last 10 years.

The marginalized group had a high illiteracy rate, but it was high for the country as a whole, the delegation observed, at 27 per cent. In the capital, of the marginalized group 46 per cent were illiterate, and in Aden, 49 per cent of that group were illiterate. Under five per cent of the members of that group had obtained a bachelor’s degree.

Regarding social services, according to the study undertaken in 2001, over 80 per cent of the members of this group owned their own house. Employment was the main source of income, and the employment rate was approximately 50 per cent for that group. The high level of unemployment extended to other groups as well, the delegation asserted. Participation in political life was high, between 80 and 90 per cent, and was consonant with that of the rest of the population.

Civil society organizations were particularly involved in awareness-raising and training. Among successful projects were a programme to create training centres and social integration and the building of 46 housing units for low-income families.

Turning to examples of courts invoking the Convention in domestic legislation, the delegation asserted there were no judicial statistics related to cases referred to Yemeni Courts.

Concerning policies adopted in line with the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the delegation noted that Yemen had participated in all the activities related to that International Conference on Racial Discrimination and Related Intolerance in August 2001. The five-year plan that was adopted by Yemen last month included among its objectives and policies to improve human rights to undertake a national strategy to promote human rights and entrench those values in society.

There were five Government programmes to address the social needs of marginalized groups, including the social network programme, a fund to improve fisheries and agriculture, a productive families and social insurance programme, and a social work programme. In cooperation with international organizations like UNICEF, the Government had elaborated a national strategy for childhood and youth and it was in the process of implementation.

A report published by the Ministry of Human Rights on the status of human rights in the country focused on the situation of persons with disabilities.

Turning to the situation of refugees, the delegation said that six additional centres for refugees from the Horn of Africa region had been set up in cooperation with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR): the Mifa`ah centre, the largest, had held over 60,000 Somali refugees between 1999 and 2004; the Khawkhah camp with approximately 2,500 Eritrean refugees; the Najd Qasim camp, now closed, had held some 500 Ethiopian refugees; the Mukha camp, which, similarly, had held 450 Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, but was also now closed after the refugees returned; the Jahin camp, which closed when the Somali refugees there were transferred; and the Kharaz camp, which was now the main camp. The Kharaz camp had a school and a health centre operating around the clock. Camp residents received food aid from the World Food Programme via UNHCR. The camp currently housed over 500 Ethiopians and some 10,000 Somalis.

Trafficking was not widespread in Yemen, but isolated cases did exist. The delegation stressed that it was a recent problem and that the authorities and civil society had the capacity to handle the problem.

Turning to the Adult Literacy and Adult Education Act, the delegation said illiteracy was indeed one of the great problems faced by Yemeni society. The number of those benefiting from the programmes had increased dramatically: from 66,000 in 2000, to 171,000 in 2005.

In response to a query as to when Yemen would ratify the International Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the delegation said that Yemen’s position was clear; it had signed the Convention.

The delegation reiterated that it had no information on cases brought before the courts relating to racial discrimination.

Regarding awareness-raising training programmes for judges and other law enforcement workers, the delegation noted that the judiciary had been extensively reformed. A law had been adopted to reinforce the financial and legal independence of the judiciary; specialized tribunals were being set up; new regulations on inspection of the judiciary had been put in place; and a training programme had been set up to improve the technical and administrative levels of members of the judiciary, as well as their performance levels.

Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts

RALPH BOYD Jr., the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur for Yemen, noted that Yemen had ratified a lot of the key international human rights instruments that worked well with the Convention to assure the rights and protections it was concerned with. The report also showed that Yemen was responding or attempting to respond substantively to the Committee’s previous concluding observations. He thought that over the course of the dialogue, however, it was important that Yemen focus with a bit more specificity on the things it had done to address particularly concerns raised by the Committee or that were specifically part of the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The request for the State party to provide updated data about the composition of its population including its various ethnic groups, their socio-economic status and their participation in public life, was an important one if the Committee were to do its work in a serious and effective way. Mr. Boyd stressed that they needed some real empirical data that gave them a provable, reliable and accurate understanding of what was going on in a State party’s territory. The fact that there might be cultural norms in the State party that made it more challenging to provide that information would not be an excuse.

While noting that Yemen’s population was overwhelmingly Arab speaking and Muslim, Mr. Boyd pointed out that it had a small Jewish population of some 5,000, but that it also had a growing African population mostly refugees from the Horn of Africa. Although that non-Muslim refugee population was now just 2 per cent of the Yemeni population as a whole, experts had predicted it was likely to grow. There was also a distinctive social group with a clear African admixture or with African heritage who were increasingly referred to as Blacks – the Al-Akhdam minority. They lived and worked in Yemen and performed almost exclusively manual labour. Some social scientists concluded that the class had the makings of a caste system.

Regarding incorporation of provisions of the Convention into domestic law, he would appreciate specific details on those measures. In that connection, Mr. Boyd said he would like to reiterate the questions regarding whether the State party had incorporated an explicit provision prohibiting discrimination in its domestic legislation.

The section in the report that discussed the so-called servant class denied that race or ethnicity played a role in the marginalization of those groups, Mr. Boyd noted. However, the Committee’s experience suggested that such was not the case for the marginalized groups they had encountered all over the world. The Committee had a policy to be sceptical about State party claims that there was no racial discrimination within its territory, and that though that was not quite was asserted here, it was something akin to it. The State party might be failing to realize the extent to which descent played in the marginalization of groups within their territory, and in particular with regard to the Al-Akhdam minority as well as for Somali refugees.

Mr. Boyd said he appreciated the social development plans and projects outlined in the report, indeed, it was laudable that Yemen had built an ambitious anti-poverty strategy, but he would like to have further information and details on them, in particular as they related particularly to racial discrimination. He noted that such strategies would not work for marginalized individuals if they continued to feel they were culturally and socially excluded.

Finally, what legal redress and recourse for claims of discrimination did individuals enjoy as a practical matter, in particular, for example, regarding claims by members of the Al-Akhdam minority, Mr. Boyd asked.

Other Committee Experts raised questions, made comments and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, the minority languages spoken in Yemen and their status; land rights of the Al-Akhdam minority; and whether there were any instances of discrimination against persons of African heritage. A number of Experts professed admiration for the efforts of the Yemeni Government, as evidenced in the report, in promoting human rights, in particular with regard to poverty alleviation and in the realm of civil and political rights.

An Expert, noting the assertion in the report that there were no racial groups in Yemen, noted that race, per se, was not usually the focus of the Committee’s concerns. The notion of race was a construct of a previous era when the Convention was drafted. The Committee had more generally focused on discrimination on the basis of ethnic or national origin, or sometimes with regard to colour or descent. Caste or caste-like groups had also been the focus of the Committee in recent years. Perhaps the Al-Akhdam group was such a group, he suggested. Another Expert added that it was important to recognize that marginalized groups were not formed passively or spontaneously but were the product of active forces. Without recognizing or understanding the mechanics of the formation of such classes it was not possible to help change their situation.

Response by Delegation to Oral Questions

The delegation noted that Yemen had accepted a great burden with regard to refugees. The country hosted large numbers of refugees because, despite the economic, social and health burden, the Government was committed to helping them as a humanitarian matter.

Concerning the servant class, the delegation stressed that that was a term that the Government did not allow. Indeed, they were not a minority at all – nor a racial group – they were Yemenis. He himself had grown up among them and had gone to school with them. One should not over-inflate that situation or listen to wrong or misleading information. Half of Yemenis were black, and the society was made of individuals of a wide range of colours. Those who were black were not labelled members of the servant class. He agreed that there were certain disparities in living conditions and certain characteristics of that group. The Government, however, was committed to a non-divisive approach and was combating poverty on all fronts.

Responding to calls for more detailed population statistics, the delegation pointed to the 2004 housing and population census. However, the delegation affirmed that the Yemeni society was one and indivisible and the Government opposed the keeping of statistics on the basis of race or ethnic background. Tolerance, solidarity and civilization were the hallmarks of Yemeni society.

Another member of the delegation clarified that the Government had imposed a penalty for using the term Al-Akhdam. The group was composed of some 100,000 to 500,000 persons. The Government was perfectly aware of their social, educational and other characteristics, and for that reason it was able to craft social programmes targeting them.

Regarding complaints brought by refugees, there were both judicial and administrative paths available. Refugees could bring their complaints to the Human Rights Ministry or lodge them through the Human Rights Committee within the House of Representatives. It was also possible to lodge a complaint directly with Office of the Presidency.

On the subject of land rights, the delegation affirmed that anyone with the financial means to do so had the right to buy land in Yemen.

Another delegation member, returning to the case of the Al-Akhdam, said that he wanted to clarify the history of those people and the origin of the term Al-Akhdam. In the past the Ethiopian Army had invaded the country and had brought their servants with them. Upon the army’s defeat, the servants, who were already labelled Al-Akhdam, were left behind. The Government had issued legislation to prohibit and penalize that nomenclature.

Yemen had been at a crossroads of many different cultures, the delegation noted – Arabs, Turks, Persians, all had come through. Yemenis had been a mix since the beginning, even with South Asians, and it was impossible to say what ethnic background citizens came from. They were simply Yemenis.

The refugees were not labelled negatively and were not discriminated against, the delegation asserted. While the population understood that they might be in the country for a long time, it was always expected that once things improved in their countries, they would return home.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks

RALPH BOYD, the Committee Expert who served as Country Rapporteur for Yemen, thanked the delegation. He was grateful for the seriousness with which they took the dialogue with the Committee, which boded well not just for the present dialogue, but for the Government’s work within the country to increase the physical and material well-being of Yemen’s citizens.

Mr. Boyd wished, however, to focus today on areas for improvement in Yemen. He noted that the delegation and the Government’s view was that Yemen’s society was largely homogeneous. It was State policy not to recognize racial groups, and not to collect data by race or descent. That, however, was juxtaposed with the delegation’s own acknowledgement that there were people within the population who were clearly black and who were marginalized, and their unique origins were obvious. The State’s policy made it very difficult to assess how effective the wide range of poverty alleviation programmes and efforts to increase educational opportunities, as well as to widen the social protection net, were doing in terms of helping those for whom race or descent was an aggravating factor in their deprivation.

Mr. Boyd said that yesterday he had been surprised at the high percentages of home ownership cited by the delegation for members of what were a marginalized group, especially as he had understood or heard from other reports that members of Al-Akhdam could not own property.

Mr. Boyd urged the delegation to take action on the behalf of this group, whatever the causes of their marginalization were. The fact of their deprivation and disenfranchisement alone should be enough to justify measures be taken, whether or not the State party was prepared to acknowledge the role that race or descent had in creating that situation. The State party should work systematically and diligently, including with civil society organizations, to put an end to the cultural condemnation and stereotyping of the Al-Akhdam and other marginalized groups from the mainstream of Yemeni society. They had to actively promote the notion of those people as being unquestionably included in the concept of citizen.

Turning to how discrimination complaints were lodged in the legal system, Mr. Boyd said that it would have been useful to have more information in the report. Details such as who were the complainants, what was the nature of the actual complaints, as well as the disposition of such cases and what relief had been given were necessary to assess whether the recourse provided was actually robust.

The object of anti-discrimination legislation was not merely to eliminate discriminatory provisions, Mr. Boyd observed, but also to give comprehensive, effective and accessible means of redress for victims of racial discrimination – regardless of the Government’s attitude about the extent to which such discrimination existed in Yemeni society.

In conclusion, Mr. Boyd voiced his continuing concern about the situation of refugees – despite what he acknowledged were the sometimes Herculean efforts of Yemen to deal with the increasing tide of refugees from the Horn of Africa – whether that be through legislation to address the rights and needs of refugees or the construction of new centres.

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