A/51/536 English Page 24 C. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 91. While the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination does not contain any specific articles aimed at the promotion and protection of the rights of minorities, article 2 (2) is of relevance to ethnic or racial groups as it imposes an obligation on States parties to undertake affirmative action in respect of groups which have suffered from discriminatory practices. According to article 2 (2), States must take affirmative action "when the circumstances so warrant". In respect of the applicability of this article in situations where the Government concerned denies the identity or existence of a particular group, it seems that the practice of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination tends towards the applicability of broad criteria of assessment. Forty-eighth session 92. At its forty-eighth session, the Committee had before it the following reports: Colombia (CERD/C/257/Add.1), Denmark (CERD/C/280/Add.1), Zimbabwe (CERD/C/217/Add.1), Russian Federation (CERD/C/263/Add.9), Madagascar (CERD/C/149/Add.19), Finland (CERD/C/240/Add.2), Spain (CERD/C/263/Add.5) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (CERD/C/263/Add.7). 93. In its concluding observations on Colombia (CERD/C/304/Add.1), the Committee noted the persistence of structural discriminatory attitudes towards the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, relating inter alia to the rights to political participation, and educational and occupational possibilities. 94. In its concluding observations on Denmark (CERD/C/304/Add.2), the Committee welcomed the establishment of the Board for Ethnic Equality, but expressed concern that the attempts of municipalities to prevent undue concentrations of ethnic minority families in "socially burdened" urban neighbourhoods should not be discriminatory in effect. 95. In its concluding observations on Hungary (CERD/C/304/Add.4), the Committee commended the State party for its new policy regarding minorities, based on the principles of preservation of their self-identity, special preference treatment and cultural autonomy; and for the creation in 1990 of the Office for National and Ethnic Minorities; the establishment of the post of Ombudsman for National and Ethnic Minority Rights, effective from mid-1995; and the signing of agreements with neighbouring countries in connection with minority rights issues. The Committee, however, expressed grave concern at the persistence of expressions of racial hatred and acts of violence towards persons belonging to minorities, especially Gypsies, Jews and people of African or Asian origin; at apparent harassment and use of excessive force by the police against Gypsies; and at the fact that, according to the Act of 1993, for an ethnic group to be recognized as a minority, it must have lived on Hungarian soil for at least a century. 96. In its concluding observations on the Russian Federation (CERD/C/304/Add.5), the Committee noted with satisfaction that a parliamentary group had been mandated to investigate human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the Chechen conflict. Concern was expressed, /...