E/CN.4/2004/21 page 4 participate actively in the work of the Working Group and expressed confidence that the recommendations of the Working Group would make an important contribution in guiding the future work and thinking of the Commission on Human Rights on the human rights issues affecting people of African descent. 8. At the first meeting, the Chairperson-Rapporteur, Mr. Kasanda, made some introductory remarks about the third session and discussed the provisional programme of work. He expressed satisfaction at the appointment of the fifth expert, Mr. Frans, who, owing to prior commitments, would join the Group as of 1 October 2003. 9. Mr. Kasanda informed participants that a number of invited panellists would make presentations and lead the discussions of the Working Group on the three thematic topics mentioned by the Acting High Commissioner. He reiterated that people of African descent were not a homogenous group and expressed the belief that the more we learned from each other, the better we could work for the human rights of this specific group. He expressed the hope that the 10 coming days would be a forum for learning and exchange of experience and knowledge from all over the world. 10. Mr. Kasanda welcomed His Excellency Mr. Charles, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations Office at Geneva, to the meeting. Ambassador Charles reminded participants that 2004 was the bicentennial commemoration of the abolition of slavery in and the independence of Haiti. He explained that the human rights principles of freedom and dignity underlying the Haitian revolution in the eighteenth century was reflected in the spirit of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the Working Group on People of African Descent. He introduced historian Dr. Oruno D. Lara, Director of the Centre de recherches caraïbes-amériques (CERCAM), in Paris, who made the keynote address at the opening session. 11. Dr. Lara presented his paper, entitled “La révolution haïtienne et la conquête des droits des descendants des victimes de la traite négrière, du système esclavagiste et du système colonial aux caraïbes-amériques”, by stating that it contained a complex and little-known history of the Haitian slave revolution of 1804. There was a three-fold process of destruction in the revolution: of the system of slavery, of the slave trade, and of the colonial system. This destruction resulted in the deportation of slaves who rebelled, and it sparked slave rebellions in other Caribbean countries. Many of the deported slaves became the founders of Afro-descendant communities in Latin America (such as the Garifuna) and the Caribbean (Guadeloupe). 12. In asserting that slavery was contrary to mankind and human rights, the slave revolutions also helped spread the notions of human rights and freedom in the region. Emancipated slaves and “freedom fighters” were not only involved in an armed rebellion, but also took part in the printing of translations of declarations of human rights. In this period, Haiti became a sanctuary for all oppressed people of African descent in the Caribbean. These “cries for freedom” also became the roots of an “early pan-Africanism” as Haitian intellectuals began thinking of how to rehabilitate Africa. In concluding his historical presentation, Dr. Lara asked the Working Group to recommend that knowledge about this history be encouraged, especially so that disadvantaged people of African descent could learn about their history.