A/69/318 groups and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Fourteenth session (31 March to 4 April 2014) 9. Discussions during the fourteenth session focused on the theme “People of African descent: access to justice”. The Working Group emphasized the importance of access to justice and noted that despite guarantees in international and national law, the prevalence of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance uniquely affected persons of African descent, to the point that many of them were still unable to obtain remedies for wro ngful acts through their domestic institutions. 10. It was noted that structural discrimination occurred at all stages and levels of the administration of justice, including in legislation, law enforcement, courts and tribunals. One of the most important challenges that people of African descent faced was discriminatory treatment by the very institutions that were supposed to administer justice. 11. The Working Group underscored that both judicial and law enforcement bodies, which should be primary forces in opposing and preventing racism, failed to uphold justice and equality, and instead mirrored the prejudices of the society they served. In some cases, even if the law was not discriminatory, people of African descent were denied the right to a fair trial, which put them at an increased risk of harsh punishments, including, in some countries, the death penalty. 12. The Working Group expressed its concern about the prevalence of impunity and the lack of accountability in addressing discrimination against people of African descent in public and private spheres under the guise of freedom of expression. It recognized that the failure to provide appropriate education and training for young people of African descent often resulted in aimlessness and unemploymen t and left them vulnerable to social and police profiling, consequently resulting in their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system. 13. It urged States to adopt national action plans against racial discrimination, which should include special measures, based on disaggregated data, as appropriate, to address structural discrimination against people of African descent, taking into account general recommendation No. 32 (2009) of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Working Group also reiterated its recommendation that its draft programme of action be the basis for the practical activities to be developed at the national, regional and international levels during the International Decade for People of African Descent. 14. A full account of the session and the recommendations made by the Working Group on access to justice is contained in the annual report of the Working Group submitted to the Human Rights Council for its twenty-seventh session (A/HRC/27/68). 14-59293 5/22