E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.3 page 11 these banks point to the lower level of qualification as the reason for such disparity, the study revealed that black employees have a higher level of education, but lower salaries and a slower career progression. There are almost no Blacks in managerial positions, while some white directors have no university degree. 31. The integration programmes proposed by the labour public prosecution office were accepted by some banks, but there have been no concrete results to date. The office then proposed a quota system, and all banks refused. Therefore, conciliation having failed, the office started collective legal actions against the banks, the first of its kind, on behalf of a collectivity. While these banks have hired the most expensive lawyers for these legal suits, the labour public prosecution office will continue its fight and plans to extend those actions to other sectors of the economy. 32. The State Attorney of Pernambuco pointed out how entrenched racism is in his State: slavery impacted the society and its prejudices still persist in today’s mentalities. The main manifestations of racism are the exploitation of black labour, especially black women, as well as the assassinations of young Blacks and economic and social disparities. As a result, the State Attorney’s office created a Working Group on Racism, composed of seven prosecutors who train other colleagues on legislation against racism and give more visibility to the issue. This work is done in close partnership with the Unified Black Movement (MNU). In collaboration with MNU, the Working Group also sensitizes the judiciary, which is not very aware of these issues. Cases that the specialized prosecutors identify as racism are seen by judges as simple defamation cases. III. PRESENTATION OF THEIR SITUATION BY THE COMMUNITIES CONCERNED A. Afro-Brazilian communities 33. Africans were brought to Brazil as enslaved black people. Many interlocutors, including a number of NGOs and university professors, indicated that slavery still continues today: although it was abolished in 1888, the discrimination, exploitation and marginalization that characterized this system continues today through other means. Slaves, who had all their possessions taken away, were freed without being compensated or given the means to start a decent life. As a matter of fact, today 47 per cent of Blacks live below the poverty line, as opposed to 22 per cent of Whites.3 The entire society, including institutions, is organized from a racist perspective: Blacks are excluded from all sectors of society and confined to the difficult jobs and the lowest salaries, with their basic rights, including the right to life, being violated. Furthermore, their humanity and culture are yet to be fully recognized. 34. Thanks to the persistent efforts of MNU, at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Brazil recognized for the first time that it was a racist country: it recognized the fundamental rights of the black population and committed to affirmative action projects. However, such positive commitment, followed by the creation of SEPPIR and the adoption of various laws, have not yet been translated into concrete changes: one of the reasons is the lack of sufficient funds allocated for the implementation of such policies.