Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Eighty-fo u rth session

3–21 February 2014

Item 6 of the provisional agenda

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

List of themes in relation to the combined initial and second to fifth periodic reports of Honduras (CERD/C/HND/1-5)

Note by the Country Rapporteur

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decided at its seventy-sixth session (A/65/18, para. 85) that the Country Rapporteur would send to the State party concerned a short list of themes with a view to guiding and focusing the dialogue between the State party’s delegation and the Committee during the consideration of the State party’s report. This document contains a list of such themes. This is not an exhaustive list; other issues may also be raised in the course of the dialogue. No written replies are required.

1.The legal, institutional and public policy framework for combating racial discrimination (arts. 2, 4, 6 and 7)

(a)The definition of racial discrimination and the preliminary bill to amend article 321 and other articles of the Criminal Code (CERD/C/HND/1-5, paras. 15 and 17);

(b)Information on constitutional initiatives focusing on the recognition of the country’s ethnic and cultural diversity;

(c)Information on the operation and activities of the Ministry for Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Peoples and of the National Commission against Racism (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 33);

(d)Information on the implementation and funding of the Strategic Plan for the Comprehensive Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Honduras (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 207), the National Plan of Action against Racism and Racial Discrimination and the National Action Plan on Human Rights and information on their impact on indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples (CERD/C/HND/1-5, paras. 75 and 76);

(e)Information on the status of the special bill for the promotion of the comprehensive development of the indigenous peoples and peoples of African descent of Honduras;

(f)Information on the implementation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), particularly with respect to the right to prior informed consultation (CERD/C/HND/1-5, paras. 192 and 193);

(g)Information on the mandate, activities, independence and funding allocations of the National Commissioner for Human Rights and on the steps taken by the Commissioner to combat racial discrimination;

(h)Information on the implementation of the Declaration and Plan of Action of the First World Summit of Afro-Descendants, held in La Ceiba.

2.Situation of indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples and communities (arts. 1–7)

(a)Results of the 2013 national census, including disaggregated statistics on indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples and communities (English-speaking and otherwise), which can serve as a basis for a more accurate evaluation of the status of these peoples and communities and of the use of a self-identification question in that census;

(b)Information on the measures adopted to safeguard indigenous peoples’ right to their ancestral lands and the steps taken to resolve existing land disputes;

(c)Information on the operation of the Intersectoral Commission on Certification, Enlargement, Disencumbrance and Protection of the Lands of the Garífuna and Miskito Communities of Honduras;

(d)Information on poverty and extreme poverty in indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities whose members lack access to basic services and exhibit high levels of undernourishment, with these levels being particularly high among children;

(e)The right to education and differentials in illiteracy rates for indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples;

(f)Information on the implementation and outputs of the National Programme of Education for Indigenous Ethnic and Afro-Antillean Groups in Honduras (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 304);

(g)The right to work, differentials between the nationwide labour-force participation rate and the labour-force participation rate for indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples, and the measures put in place to close this gap;

(h)The extent to which indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples have more limited access to water and sanitation and to decent housing than the national average;

(i)The status of the Miskito peoples and particularly of the disabled divers among them.

3.The participation of indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples in political affairs and public life (arts. 2, 5 and 6)

(a)Effective mechanisms to promote participation by indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples in all areas of government and, in particular, the status of the bill on political and electoral participation (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 197);

(b)Information on the work of the Special Liaison Committee for the Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Peoples in the National Congress (A/HRC/WG.6/9/HND/1, para. 119).

4.Human rights defenders (art. 5)

Steps taken to protect indigenous human rights defenders who are threatened or persecuted and mechanisms in place for investigating incidents of this sort.

5.The justice system as a means of combating racial discrimination (arts. 5 and 6)

(a)Steps taken to help members of vulnerable groups, including indigenous peoples, migrant workers, Afro-Hondurans and other minorities, to obtain genuine access to justice;

(b)The mandate and work of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 63) and the steps taken to document and process complaints and reports of racial discrimination against indigenous peoples and Afro-Honduran communities.

6.Indigenous and Afro-Honduran women (arts. 2 and 5)

(a)Information on the development of a gender equity and equality policy focusing on indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 104);

(b)Implementation by the labour ministries of activities under the Programme for Working Women focusing specifically on indigenous and Afro-Honduran women (CERD/C/HND/1-5, para. 344).