E/CN.4/2004/21 page 3 Introduction 1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its third session from 29 September to 10 October 2003, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This is a report of the meetings of that session. I. ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION A. Attendance 2. The Working Group held 15 public meetings and 3 private meetings during its third session. 3. The session was attended by the following members: Peter Lesa Kasanda (Chairperson-Rapporteur), Joseph Frans, Georges Nicolas Jabbour, Roberto Borges Martins and Irina Moroianu-Zlătescu. 4. The third session of the Working Group was attended by observers for 52 States, 11 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 1 intergovernmental organization, 2 United Nations offices and 1 national institution. The list of participants is contained in annex II. B. Documentation 5. The documents before the Working Group at this session are listed in annex III. All working papers submitted are available from the secretariat or can be found at http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/mafrican.htm. C. Organization of work 6. At the first meeting of the third session, on 29 September 2003, the Working Group, in accordance with its mandate, adopted its agenda (annex I). II. SUBSTANTIVE SUMMARY OF THE THIRD SESSION OF THE WORKING GROUP OF EXPERTS ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT 7. The United Nations Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, opened the session. He greeted all participants and warmly welcomed the appointment of Joe Frans (Sweden) as the fifth expert member of the Working Group. He reminded participants of the objectives of the Group: “to study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent living in the diaspora” and to propose specific measures and provide recommendations on improving the human rights situation of people of African descent. He urged all participants to bear in mind the “pains of those who experienced slavery and their descendants” all over the world. He introduced the three key themes of the third session: the administration of justice, the media, and the topics of access to education and information technology. He encouraged States, United Nations agencies, NGOs and other actors to