A/HRC/10/38 page 4 access to all ethnic and religious minorities. The Committee also discussed the situation of Roma in Italy (CERD/C/ITA/CO/15) and Latinos and African Americans in the United States of America (CERD/C/USA/CO/6) in relation to police brutality, violence, abuse, Medicare and issues related to sexual and reproductive health. 10. At its seventy-third session, held from 28 July to 15 August 2008, in its concluding observations to the report of Ecuador (CERD/C/ECU/CO/18), while it took note of a ministerial decision guaranteeing the Romani people the right to free association for peaceful purposes, the Committee expressed concern at the constitutional failure to grant legal recognition to the Romani people as an ethnic minority. While noting with appreciation that the Travellers and Yenish have been recognized by Switzerland as a national cultural minority, the Committee remained concerned that Travellers and Roma are still subjected to numerous disadvantages and forms of discrimination, and noted with regret the lack of substantial progress made by Switzerland in combating racist and xenophobic attitudes towards minorities (CERD/C/CHE/CO/6). It noted with appreciation the efforts by Sweden (CERD/C/SWE/CO/18) to promote the rights of the Romani minority and recommended that it strengthen its efforts to increase the level of education of members of Romani communities by raising awareness about the possibility for Romani children to receive instruction in their mother tongue. The Committee welcomed the creation of the German Secretariat for Minorities and the enactment of the law on promotion of the Friesian language in public life, adopted in 2004. However, while noting that the State party recognized German Roma and Sinti as national minorities, the Committee expressed concern that many Roma and Sinti continue to experience discrimination in the fields of education, employment and housing (CERD/C/DEU/CO/18). 11. The Committee also expressed concern about the distinction made between autochthonous minorities and other minority groups in Austria, inter alia, the Slovene minority in Carinthia and the Romani and Croat minorities in Burgenland, and individuals who do not reside in those areas. The Committee further expressed concerns about the frequent denial of access to places intended for use by the general public to persons of African and Latin American origin and to Roma (CERD/C/AUT/CO/17). It encouraged Namibia to revise its electoral laws with a view to broadening their appeal to ethnic minorities and to include a minimum proportion of candidates from these groups. The Committee also expressed concerns about the high incidence of rape of San women by members of other communities, which seems to be caused by negative stereotypes (CERD/C/NAM/CO/12). Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women 12. At its fortieth session, held from 14 January to 1 February 2008, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women pointed out that the State report by Saudi Arabia did not provide information regarding women belonging to ethnic, religious or other minorities (CEDAW/C/SAU/CO/2). It also urged the Government of Sweden to take effective measures to eliminate discrimination against immigrants, refugees and minority women (CEDAW/C/SWE/CO/7). 13. At its forty-first session, held from 30 June to 18 July 2008, in its concluding observations to the report of Finland (CEDAW/C/FIN/CO/6), the Committee noted the lack of statistics on the participation of minority women in political and public life and in academia, and encouraged Finland to be proactive in its measures to prevent discrimination against Romani women. While