A/HRC/22/27
to accelerating the realization of substantive equality. To combat trafficking, the State was
urged to increase efforts to improve the economic situation of women and girls, in
particular Roma women, to eliminate their vulnerability to exploitation
(CEDAW/C/BGR/CO/4-7).
55.
In its concluding observations on Indonesia, the Committee expressed the need for
the State to use all available means to eliminate discrimination and violence, including
sexual violence and intimidation, against women belonging to religious minorities, such as
Ahmaddiyah, Christians, Buddhists and Baha’is, and to ensure their security and enhance
their enjoyment of human rights (CEDAW/C/IDN/CO/6-7). With regard to the reports
submitted by New Zealand, the Committee encouraged the State party to address the
deteriorating mental health situation of young girls, to prevent and combat the abuse of
alcohol and use of drugs, and to prevent girls’ suicide, especially among girls from migrant
and minority communities (CEDAW/C/NZL/CO/7).
5.
Committee against Torture
Forty-eighth session (7 May – 1 June 2012)
56.
In its concluding observations on the report of Greece, the Committee against
Torture encouraged the Government to take effective measures to prevent discrimination
against and ensure protection of all minorities, recognized or not (CAT/C/GRC/CO/5-6,
para. 12). The State party should also engage with the Albanian authorities regarding the
missing Albanian Roma street children, in order to create an effective mechanism for the
investigation of the cases (ibid., para. 27). Correspondingly, in reviewing the report of
Albania, the Committee urged the State party to immediately engage with the Greek
authorities in order to promptly create an effective mechanism to investigate the cases and
establish the whereabouts of 502 missing Albanian Roma street children
(CAT/C/ALB/CO/2, para. 24).
57.
The Committee recommended that the Czech Republic protect its Roma citizens and
their property through enhanced monitoring and preventative measures, and investigate and
prosecute all acts of anti-Roma violence and discrimination (CAT/C/CZE/CO/4-5, para. 11
(a)). The Anti-discrimination Act and all written materials relating to sterilization of women
should be translated into the Roma language, and Roma children should be admitted to
mainstream education (ibid., paras. 11 (b) and 12).
6.
Committee on the Rights of the Child
Sixtieth session (29 May – 15 June 2012)
58.
Regarding the report of Algeria, the Committee on the Rights of the Child
recommended that the State ensure full respect for the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion of the child, and take all necessary measures to end all forms of
violence and harassment of religious minorities (CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4, para. 42). In its
concluding observations on the report of Cyprus, the Committee urged the Government to
collect data disaggregated by ethnicity, allocate resources to ensure that Turkish Cypriot
children were provided with the option of receiving bilingual education, and ensure that
religious education was optional (CRC/C/CYP/CO/3-4, paras. 18 and 45).
59.
In its consideration of the report of Greece, the Committee encouraged the State to
develop and implement, in collaboration with the Roma community, policies and programmes
aimed at ensuring equal access to essential services, especially health and education
(CRC/C/GRC/CO/2-3, para. 72). Greece should also ensure that children from the Muslim
community of Thrace, children of Turkish origin and children from groups identifying
themselves as belonging to the Macedonian minority should have equal access to health and
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