UNITED NATIONS CERD International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination Distr. GENERAL CERD/C/65/CO/5* 10 December 2004 Original: ENGLISH COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Sixty-fifth session 2 - 22 August 2004 CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination MAURITANIA 1. The Committee considered the sixth and seventh periodic reports of Mauritania, due respectively in 2000 and 2002, submitted as one document (CERD/C/421/Add.1), at its 1652nd and 1653rd meetings (CERD/C/SR.1652 and 1653), held on 6 and 9 August 2004, and adopted at its 1667th and 1668th meetings (CERD/C/SR.1667 and 1668), held on 18 August 2004, the following conclusions. A. Introduction 2. The Committee welcomes the report of Mauritania and the opportunity thus afforded to pursue its dialogue with the State party. It also welcomes the fact that the State party was represented by a high-ranking delegation and notes with interest the replies given by the delegation to the questions put to it. 3. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by the State party to comply with the Committee’s guidelines for the preparation of reports, but regrets that the report does not contain sufficient information regarding the practical application of the Convention and does not fully respond to the requests for information made by the Committee in its previous conclusions. 4. Noting that the report was more than three years overdue when submitted, the Committee invites the State party to comply with the deadline set for the submission of its next reports. * Reissued for technical reasons GE.04-45262