Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention. Spain.

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Seventy-eighth session.
April 8, 2011 - Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Other - International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. United Nations.
 Strands: Discrimination
Key Areas: Discrimination Statistics
Countries: Spain

Documents

    Committe on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination referring to the Spanish State:

  1. Reiterates its recommendation to the State party regarding the collection of statistical information on the ethnic and racial composition of its population and urges the State party to carry out a census of its population. The Committee reminds the State party that having this type of information is vital in order to identify and learn more about the ethnic and racial groups present in its territory, monitor forms of discrimination and possible trends in discrimination against those groups, and subsequently take measures to address such discrimination.
  2. Recommends that the State party take the necessary measures to ensure that the Council for the Promotion of Equal Treatment of All Persons without Discrimination on Grounds of Racial or Ethnic Origin has the required independence as set out in the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI). It also recommends that the State party undertake campaigns to increase public awareness of the existence of the Council.
  3. Urges the State party to take effective measures to eradicate the practice of identity checks based on ethnic or racial profiling.
  4. Reminds that the absence or small number of complaints, prosecutions and convictions relating to acts of racial discrimination should not be viewed as necessarily positive, since it could also be an indicator of, inter alia, the victims’ fear of social censure or reprisals, the lack of trust in the police and judicial authorities, or even that the authorities are insufficiently alert to or aware of complaints of acts of discrimination. The Committee recommends that the State party: 1.- Embark on regular and public collection of information on acts of racial discrimination from police, judicial and prison authorities and immigration services, while respecting standards of confidentiality, anonymity and protection of personal data; 2.- Include, in its next periodic report, comprehensive details on the number of complaints, prosecutions, convictions and sentences and on the reparation granted to victims
  5. Recommends the review the admission criteria and methodology used in public and private schools and that it take measures to effectively ensure an even distribution of pupils between schools. The Committee requests the State party to provide disaggregated statistical data in its next periodic report on the number of migrant, Gypsy and Spanish children enrolled in school.
  6. Urges, in order to ensure that unaccompanied minors are not classed as adults and that they enjoy the protection to which children are entitled, to consider different methods of determining the age of children, and to invest in the introduction of reliable and up-to-date tests which are not harmful to the physical integrity of minors.