Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Eighty-first session

Summary record of the 2170th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Wednesday, 8 August 2012, at 10 a.m.

Chairperson:Mr. Avtonomov

Contents

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention (continued)

Twentieth to twenty-second periodic reports of Ecuador (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention (continued)

Twentieth to twenty-second periodic reports of Ecuador (continued) (CERD/C/ECU/20-22; CERD/C/ECU/Q/20-22)

At the invitation of the Chairperson, the delegation of Ecuador took places at the Committee table.

Ms. Cob o (Ecuador) introduced the recommendations of the Ombudsman’s Office in the light of the action taken to follow up on the Committee’s 2008 concluding observations (CERD/C/ECU/CO/19). The Government should take steps to ensure that the National Development Plan included goals that took account of all the different ethnic and cultural groups in the country. In addition, the data-collection system used in the most recent census should be updated to include indicators on racial prejudice and discriminatory perceptions and practices. Account should also be taken of the link between ethnic and economic inequality as a development indicator, and data should be gathered on all the ethnic groups in the country, including the Roma.

With regard to legislation, the authorities should expedite consultations with civil society and the relevant institutions and politicians on the bill on the collective rights of the Black or Afro-Ecuadorian peoples and the preliminary draft Organic Act of the National Equality Councils. Those legislative instruments should result in a comprehensive system for the promotion and protection of rights based on their mainstreaming in public policies and programmes, with the relevant services provided by local and national authorities. The system for protecting and monitoring rights should ensure that there were appropriate linkages between the administration of justice and the Ombudsman’s Office. Likewise, the Ombudsman’s Office urged the Government to ensure that the preliminary bill on coordination and cooperation between indigenous and domestic courts and the draft Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code, which included crimes related to discrimination and hatred, were debated as widely as possible with civil society and the relevant institutions.

Significant progress had been made towards ensuring that the prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples was obtained before the natural resources on their lands were exploited. The Ombudsman’s Office called on the Government to prepare comprehensive legislation on the right to consultation and participation, taking account of the criteria drawn up by the Constitutional Court on 18 March 2010. Moreover, the Untouchable Zone of the Tagaeri-Taromenani should be extended in accordance with technical, legal and administrative criteria formulated by the relevant authorities, and the protection measures for those communities should be strengthened. The Zone and the communities living in it were under pressure from private individuals interested in oil exploration or in using the land for agricultural purposes, and also because of population growth. With regard to measures to end forcible eviction, specific criteria should be devised on the implementation of territorial constituencies, since the rural criterion was irrelevant to the Afro-Ecuadorian community, two thirds of whom lived in urban areas. There was a need for legislation, policies and protection systems for the communities, nationalities and peoples that were displaced as a result of both natural disasters and human activity.

While welcoming the improvements in the data collected on access to education, which were now disaggregated by ethnicity, she urged the authorities to include baseline indicators and to ensure that data on housing included basic services. Some 40 per cent of houses inhabited by the Afro-Ecuadorian community in Esmeraldas province were overcrowded and less than 44 per cent of the entire Afro-Ecuadorian community had access to sewage systems. There was also a need to recognize the linkages between education, access to employment and type of occupation; the groups that were traditionally excluded from university education were overrepresented in employment that amounted to servitude and in the security and service sectors. The indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian and Montubio peoples had the highest levels of illiteracy in the country. Only 4.9 per cent of the indigenous population, 9.2 per cent of Afro-Ecuadorians and 6.8 per cent of the Montubio people went into higher education, which clearly affected their subsequent employment opportunities. The authorities should take steps to ensure more equal access to education and employment. The Government should also promote the establishment of community-based media, run by the communities, nationalities and peoples. That would enable them to promote their cultures and intangible heritage and would also promote the democratization of mass media.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga (Ecuador), responding to questions asked by Committee members at the previous meeting, said that the broad definition of discrimination in the Constitution was important for his country, where there was a wide variety of manifestations of racism owing to the multicultural and plurinational nature of Ecuadorian society. Over 1 million Ecuadorian citizens had emigrated in 1998, when the country had suffered an economic crisis of similar proportions to that currently under way in Greece and other parts of Europe. Many of those migrants were now returning to Ecuador, fleeing the crisis in Europe. Ecuador was also a host country to many migrants from Colombia, Peru and elsewhere. Over 66,000 Colombian citizens had crossed the border into Ecuador and were welcomed throughout the country. While coca was not grown in Ecuador, drug trafficking was a huge problem for the country, as it suffered from the perverse effects of the high demand from the United States and Europe for cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru. The burden placed on his country by the arrival of between 1,200 and 1,500 refugees from Colombia every month would not be lightened until the demand for illegal drugs was significantly reduced.

The efforts being made to achieve a truly plurinational society in Ecuador were worthy of attention worldwide; many of the sectarian conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere were the result of a lack of dialogue and consultation between minorities and ethnic groups.

Turning to the question of promoting the participation of indigenous peoples in political parties, he noted that in 1998 Ecuador had ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Despite the difficulties caused by the economic crisis, the Government had been making progress in implementing the provisions of that instrument. While much remained to be done to eliminate inequalities in his country and further reduce poverty, almost 1 million Ecuadorians had been lifted out of poverty in the previous four years. The Pachakutik Movement and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) had been a part of the Ecuadorian political landscape for many years. Pachakutik was a long-standing component of Congress and the National Assembly. Those organizations had much experience and were highly effective in the struggle to ensure justice for the indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian communities.

Many important bills that had been proposed by the executive, particularly those concerning the media and water and land rights, had been stalled since the entry into force of the new Constitution in 2008. The Committee could rest assured that they would be the subject of lively democratic debate and would be passed as soon as consensus could be reached.

Ms. Viveros Padilla (Ecuador) said that, under the Constitution, peoples and nationalities enjoyed the same rights. Since the Government had begun recognizing the right to self-identification, the number of people and nationalities had increased. Nationalities were groups that maintained their own language, culture and land, while peoples maintained their identity in accordance with their traditions. There were, for example, 18 peoples within the Kichwa nationality. The Afro-Ecuadorian and Montubio peoples were also recognized under the 2008 Constitution. “Uncontacted” peoples were those that had freely chosen to have no contact with society and to live in voluntary isolation. They were migratory peoples. In compliance with the protection measures required by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Government had conducted a study on the migrations of those peoples and had established an Untouchable Zone, where all exploitation of natural resources was prohibited. Protection measures had been put in place and were monitored by an interministerial team.

The Constitution provided for the establishment of national equality councils. That new institutional structure would give entities such as the Council for the Advancement of the Nations and Peoples of Ecuador (CODENPE) and the Council for the Development of the Coastal Montubio People (CODEPMOC) broader mandates and access to increased funding. By law, the national equality councils must comprise an equal number of representatives of civil society and the Government. The preliminary draft Organic Act of the National Equality Councils had been submitted to the National Assembly on 30 May 2012, supported by documentation from indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian nationalities and peoples.

A budget of $1,300 million — 5 per cent of the total State budget — had been allocated to the elimination of discrimination against indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian nationalities and peoples in 2012. The Afro-Ecuadorian Development Corporation had devised a national development plan for Afro-Ecuadorians and submitted it to the National Secretariat of Planning and Development. The plan constituted a human development policy for Afro-Ecuadorians and included a series of practical steps to reduce poverty, marginalization, exclusion and discrimination affecting them.

While the Government supported the proposal for a decade of people of African descent, it would continue to focus on strengthening its actions to eliminate racial discrimination and ethnic and cultural exclusion and would include its plan against racism in the system of results-based management. Steps were being taken to monitor manifestations of racism in the media and a large-scale campaign was being launched to raise awareness of the fight against racism and to promote the plurinational and intercultural nature of Ecuadorian society. The Government was also strengthening the observatory against racism and forms of discrimination against indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian nationalities and peoples and was working to eliminate racism from commentaries on national and international sporting events.

Ms. Vinueza (Ecuador) said that as the Convention as a whole was an integral part of Ecuadorian law and its provisions were guaranteed by the Constitution they were directly applicable at the national level. Furthermore, the absence of legislation could not be cited as a justification for the violation of rights established under the Constitution. In addition, hate crimes were punishable under the Criminal Code by a term of imprisonment of up to 16 years in cases involving murder. All 323 complaints of racial discrimination filed since 2009 had undergone preliminary inquiries and charges had been brought in three cases. However, no sentences had been passed to date. As noted earlier, the Government was aware that the lack of convictions for offences involving racial discrimination pointed to the need to amend the Criminal Code.

With respect to guarantees of protection for indigenous peoples against the exploitation and commercialization of natural resources in indigenous territories, the Government made considerable efforts to consult the peoples concerned. There were currently two relevant bills before the National Assembly. In addition, regulations governing access to genetic resources had been drafted. Turning to the case of the Kichwa people of the Sarayaku community in central Ecuador, she said that the President had fully agreed with a recent ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and offered assurances that the State would comply with the decision, including the payment of the compensation awarded to the people affected. There was no forced displacement of people in Ecuador for the purpose of oil exploitation or other mining activities and Ecuador recognized the right of people to their ancestral lands.

The well-known lawsuit filed against the Texaco oil company, which had left toxic waste causing harm to residents of the Amazonian rain forest, including cancer, had prompted the Government to draft a plan for the social and environmental protection of the affected population. As the individuals concerned had no longer been able to reside in the polluted areas, efforts had been made to resettle them on a voluntary basis in a nearby area, with housing provided by the State. A national technical secretariat responsible for managing the payments that oil companies were required to make had been set up to provide the affected communities with compensation and promote their development. The Ministry for the Coordination of Social Development also provided for compensation of the communities and ensured adequate investment in infrastructure such as decent health-care facilities and schools.

Ecuador protected the right of persons to social protest provided that it was non-violent. No one in Ecuador had been deprived of liberty on the grounds of sabotage or terrorism. The authorities had carried out an extensive investigation into the death of Mr. Bosco Wisuma during protests by members of the Shuar indigenous community in 2009, in which police had allegedly used excessive force, and found that the victim had been shot with a hunting rifle, which was widely used by Shuar people. Furthermore, forensic ballistic analysis showed that the lethal bullet could not have been fired by the police. While an investigation had been conducted and some protesters had been accused, no one was currently remanded in custody in connection with the case, which was still pending. Another case involved the arrest of Mr. Marco Guatemal during violent protests in Imbabura province, in which he had lodged a complaint of abuse that had subsequently been dismissed. Furthermore, he had not been detained but had rather been placed on parole and had ultimately been found innocent.

Ms. Ortiz (Ecuador) said that the Government had adopted affirmative action measures under the Plurinational Plan for the elimination of racial discrimination and ethnic and cultural exclusion, which governed the reparation made to communities that had experienced such exclusion in the past. The Plan focused on the following areas: justice and legislation, education, communication and information, the universality of rights, citizen participation and institution-building. Bilingual intercultural education was provided for under the Constitution. Several initiatives had been launched, including the training of teachers who belonged to the communities where the children were taught. The teachers could thus provide a perspective on their own community to children and would be trained in the history of many other communities to ensure that the education was truly intercultural. Turning to citizen participation and institution-building, she said that the Plan itself had involved the participation of indigenous, Montubio and Afro-Ecuadorian groups. Moreover, the groups were monitoring the implementation of the Plan, and a national Afro-Ecuadorian commission had been established in 2011 for that purpose. Furthermore, all public institutions had been entrusted with the responsibility of following up, coordinating and carrying out the Plan.

Ms. Moreira (Ecuador), referring to the question raised concerning discrimination against refugees, said that the relevant laws applied to all persons, including foreigners, migrants and refugees, and punished any incitement to hatred or unlawful discrimination, regardless of ethnic or cultural origin. No cases involving discrimination against refugees had been brought before the courts. Several measures had been taken to protect asylum seekers, including access to financial services such as a current account, based on the principle of non-discrimination. The Government had established free, merit-based education and vocational training programmes for refugee populations. Refugee children had free access to the educational system without any discrimination. Free health care was also provided in health clinics and public hospitals throughout the country. More than $70 million had been allocated for such services in 2010/11. Unlawful stereotyping of refugee populations in the media was punished. Unfortunately, some media outlets had sought to link foreign communities, particularly Colombians, to crime. Nevertheless, the Government had provided figures that contradicted such stereotypes and the President himself had publicly refuted such links, which was a demonstration at the highest level of determination to tackle the problem. She recalled that the question of the Roma population had been dealt with in the report of the State party. In particular, it was prohibited under the Constitution to expel migrant groups such as the Roma. The Roma people had formed their own association, which was recognized by the Government. The Government in turn was currently drafting plans to address issues affecting the Roma community. There were no cases of racial or other kinds of discrimination against the group.

Turning to the questions raised concerning the Montubio community, she said that it was an organized group of people who had defined themselves as such and lived in the subtropical area of the country. They shared a common cultural identity and ancestral customs distinct from other groups. The Government had a flexible policy concerning the self-identification of ethnic groups.

Paragraph 4 of the report stated that the Constitution avoided the customary classification of rights by generation, which was intended to convey the universality and cross-cutting nature of all human rights under the Constitution without any particular hierarchy established. She regretted that the wording could give rise to misunderstanding. Lastly, the Constitution recognized that the right to ancestral lands was imprescriptible, inalienable and indivisible and that indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian and Montubio peoples could establish territorial constituencies.

Mr. Calí Tzay (Country Rapporteur) said that the sociodemographic figures provided in paragraph 13 of the State party’s report did not tally. He wondered how the 6 per cent of the population not accounted for was classified. Noting that article 171 of the Constitution clearly specified the jurisdiction of indigenous and domestic courts, he asked whether the bill on cooperation between indigenous and domestic courts referred to in paragraph 31 of the report suggested that there were problems in coordinating or enforcing indigenous justice. He asked whether indigenous midwives were taking part in the maternity services referred to in paragraph 75, whether cultural practices such as giving birth vertically were observed and whether indigenous peoples could use their own language in the health-care facilities. He was struck by the delegation’s statement that new peoples had emerged in the country and would like to know how such a phenomenon occurred. He noted with concern the people mentioned in the report who had not been contacted by the Government and had merely been referred to as tribes.

He further noted that only 13 out of a total of 323 complaints of racial discrimination filed since 2009 had reached the criminal investigation stage and that none of the accused had as yet been convicted. As the delegation itself recognized that there was a shortcoming in the judicial system, he asked whether any remedial action was being taken.

The Committee had been informed that Colombian refugees had been threatened with lynching and that one man had actually been lynched in Borbón in Esmeraldas province. He enquired about the reasons for such xenophobic conduct and asked whether the authorities were taking any type of preventive action.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga (Ecuador) expressed deep regret about the incident that had occurred in Borbón. He admitted that, according to the available data, there was a widespread fear on the part of Ecuadorian civilians living along the border with Colombia and elsewhere in the country of an inflow of weapon-wielding Colombians.

With regard to “uncontacted” peoples, he first wished to emphasize that the use of the word “tribe” did not have the same pejorative connotations in Ecuador as in the United States of America. He commended the decision by the Ecuadorian authorities to delimit boundaries in certain parts of the country out of respect for certain communities’ voluntary decision to remain isolated from Western society. A decision had been taken, for example, to refrain from exploiting the oil reserves that lay beneath Yasuní National Park, an area inhabited by “uncontacted” communities. The authorities’ lack of contact with them meant that there were no official statistics for the communities concerned. It was, in his view, a fascinating topic in ethnographic, anthropological and historical terms.

Ms. Vinueza (Ecuador), referring to the query about the sociodemographic data contained in paragraph 13 of the report, said that the figure for “others” had been omitted. A large number of people had been unable to identify with any of the categories listed.

The Constitution recognized both the ordinary and the indigenous judicial systems. Legislation was required to determine the areas of jurisdiction of indigenous courts. A bill that was currently before the National Assembly failed to establish a sufficiently clear distinction between the areas of competence of the two branches of justice. It was unclear, for example, how the judicial authorities should deal with cases in which a non-indigenous person committed an offence against an indigenous community. A further issue concerned the appeal procedures that were required to guarantee due process. For instance, should a decision by an indigenous court of first instance be appealed to an ordinary court or to an indigenous court?

Strong action had been taken in support of intercultural medical services. For example, the Ministry of Health was taking steps to ensure integrated treatment for sickle-cell disease, which tended to affect Afro-Ecuadorians. Action was being taken to facilitate coordination between indigenous midwives and health-care centres located close to their communities. Services were also being provided in indigenous languages. There were plans to undertake an assessment of progress to date in the intercultural midwifery system. Regulations had been developed and Ministry of Health officials were being informed of the cultural significance of vertical delivery.

Although “uncontacted” Ecuadorians were constantly on the move, a study had been undertaken of their regular routes, for instance through hunting grounds, and their halting sites. The Untouchable Zone, in which the exploitation of resources was prohibited, had been established on that basis.

The characterization of hate-based offences was controversial because many judges considered that the relevant provisions penalized thoughts rather than acts. They regarded hate crimes as crimes of intent. It had therefore been suggested that the Criminal Code should be amended to clarify the concept.

Ms. Viveros Padilla (Ecuador) said that the provision for self-identification of peoples was based on the Charter of the United Nations, core human rights treaties and several General Assembly resolutions. The right to self-identification was the right of a group to decide on its own forms of governance, to seek economic, social and cultural development, and to organize itself freely without outside interference and in conformity with the principle of equality. In Ecuador the indigenous nationalities and peoples had identified themselves, inter alia, on the basis of their territory, language and cultural practices.

Ms. Moreira (Ecuador) said that the words “Tagaeri-Taromenani tribes” in paragraph 38 of the report should be amended to read “Tagaeri-Taromenani peoples”.

The delegation would seek further information regarding the incident in Borbón in Esmeraldas province and forward it to the Committee.

Mr. Murillo Martínez welcomed the information concerning peoples living in voluntary isolation, especially the indigenous peoples of the Amazon region, and expressed concern about the actions of certain foreign companies involved in hydrocarbon production. He wished to know whether the Government planned to extend the Untouchable Zone.

He asked how much land had been allotted to people of African descent by way of redress and whether it was owned collectively.

He welcomed the progress that had been made in respect of plant genetic resources, which was of major strategic importance for indigenous peoples and people of African descent.

Domestic workers, who were frequently of African or indigenous origin, tended to earn less than the minimum wage. He therefore asked whether Ecuador intended to ratify the ILO Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).

Mr. de Gouttes said that, according to paragraph 13 of the report, 71.9 per cent of the population of Ecuador identified themselves as mestizos. He requested more details of the definition of a mestizo and asked whether there were any subcategories. Moreover, 7.4 per cent of the population were Montubios. They therefore exceeded the number of Afro-Ecuadorian and indigenous members of the population. Despite the delegation’s clarifications, he still found the definition of a Montubio to be imprecise. For instance, how did the ancestral customs of that group differ from those of indigenous peoples?

With regard to the separate areas of jurisdiction of indigenous and ordinary courts, he understood that the relevant bill was still being discussed in the National Assembly. He wished to know, however, which areas of law were currently within the purview of indigenous justice.

Mr. Espinosa Salas (Ecuador) said that, pursuant to article 9 of the Constitution, foreigners employed in Ecuador, including domestic workers, enjoyed the same rights as Ecuadorians and were equal before the law. Ecuador had also ratified the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families in February 2002. Employers of domestic workers were required to pay social security coverage for their employees. The people had decided, in a referendum held in 2009, that employers who failed to do so should be liable to financial penalties or even criminal prosecution. On 16 March 2010 the Ministry of Labour Relations had launched a campaign to promote decent conditions for domestic workers, which had achieved very positive results. The number of domestic workers enjoying social security coverage had increased from 36,941 in 2007 to 69,932 in 2012. Ecuador intended to ratify ILO Convention No. 189, but he pointed out that the rights currently enjoyed by domestic workers exceeded those guaranteed by the Convention.

Montubios were peasants living exclusively in coastal areas. They differed from other groups in terms of cultural characteristics, means of expression, dress and housing.

Ms. Vinueza (Ecuador) said that there was currently no consensus about the areas of jurisdiction of the indigenous and ordinary justice systems. The trend was towards confining indigenous justice to areas of civil law and assigning criminal jurisdiction to the ordinary courts.

Self-identification was the basic criterion for defining a mestizo. Most Ecuadorians regarded themselves as mestizos. In school they were taught about the Spanish conquest and the subsequent interaction between the immigrants and the indigenous population. Most people considered that they were descended from a mixture of the two. Mestizos were not divided into subcategories, since the basic aim was unity within diversity.

The genetic resources issue called for the implementation of resolution 3/91 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with a view to preventing biopiracy. A few years previously, doctors had travelled to Ecuador from the United States on the pretext of assisting with health care and had taken blood samples from a community. The Ombudsman’s Office had taken up the case in 2011 because the resulting cells and DNA had been sold by an institute. It was essential to prevent a recurrence of such practices.

The Untouchable Zone had been established on the basis of the movements of the “uncontacted” peoples. There was a monitoring station in the Zone which was run by four ministries. Patrols were organized to ensure that no timber or oil company entered the Zone to exploit its resources. In the light of the results to date, it had not been considered necessary to increase the area designated as “untouchable”.

She was unable to provide data concerning the amount of land allotted to Afro-Ecuadorians. A major property registration programme was currently being implemented, but no disaggregated data were yet available.

Ms. Vinueza (Ecuador) said that territorial constituencies were provided for under article 257 of the Constitution and were a priority of the Plurinational Plan for the elimination of racial discrimination and ethnic and cultural exclusion (2009–2012). Territorial constituencies for Afro-Ecuadorians were being drawn up on the basis of collective rights. Self-identification by mestizos related to aspects of culture and custom, and the latest census had defined nine possible categories of ethnic identification.

Ms. Moreira (Ecuador) said that the Montubio people were not an ancestral or indigenous people, but rather the product of intermingling. They were nonetheless a separate group from the mestizos, owing to their very different culture, language and customs. All population groups were protected under the Constitution.

Mr. Vázquez expressed his concern that the very broad definition of discriminatory content and the punitive or disciplinary sanctions provided for in the draft communications law could infringe on freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and recalled that the Committee espoused education and awareness-raising as a more productive means of combating racial discrimination.

Mr. Amir asked what was meant by mobility in reference to uncontacted indigenous peoples, particularly whether that mobility was within or outside of their recognized territory.

Mr. Thornberry asked for further explanation of the distinction the State party made between the terms “dignified” and “decent”, especially in relation to work, and who decided what was or was not dignified. He drew the delegation’s attention to the Committee’s general recommendation No. 8 on identification with a particular racial or ethnic group for guidance on self-identification practices.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga (Ecuador) said that awareness-raising was not only the role of Government, but required the support of a variety of actors, including international organizations. A certain degree of regulation was necessary in order to curb the use of stereotypes in the media, which caused and perpetuated discriminatory behaviour.

Ms. Moreira (Ecuador) said that the 2008 Constitution was quite avant-garde in recognizing not only individual rights but environmental rights as well. The Constitution guaranteed freedom of movement within and out of Ecuador, and all individuals and communities were entitled to that right, including uncontacted indigenous peoples. The movement patterns of uncontacted indigenous peoples were studied with a view to protecting them and mapping their territory.

Mr. Espinosa Salas (Ecuador) said that the word “decent” in Spanish had a moral connotation, which could lead to the categorization of certain jobs as indecent, thereby prejudicing individuals who held such jobs. Ecuador advocated that persons employed in what some might consider indecent activities, such as sex workers, should be respected and allowed to live in dignity, hence the choice of the qualifier “dignified” over “decent”.

Mr. Calí Tzay thanked the delegation for its openness to dialogue, but said that some concerns remained, particularly the ill-defined competence of the State legal system in relation to the indigenous legal system, the status of Roma communities, the non-receptiveness of judges to complaints by indigenous persons and Afro-Ecuadorians and the lack of information on trials for acts of discrimination, especially those committed by public officials.

Mr. Gallegos Chiriboga (Ecuador) thanked the Committee and said that Ecuador was committed to its process of democratization and the goal of social peace.

The meeting rose at 12.55 p.m.