A/HRC/44/58
El Salvador
6.
The Government of El Salvador highlighted various constitutional provisions aimed
at preventing racial discrimination. Article 3, in particular, entitled all Salvadorans to equal
enjoyment of rights, and no restrictions could be established on the basis of nationality,
race, sex or religion. The Constitution, as amended in 2014, recognized the rights of
indigenous people (art. 63), and the Government affirmed that it planned to adopt policies
to enforce the provision accordingly.
7.
The Government noted that its Penal Code stipulated the punishment of offences
relating to freedom of religion. Article 296 of the Penal Code criminalized acts causing
interruption or disruption to the exercise of freedom of religion, or destruction of or damage
to objects for worship. The Act on Culture of 2016 (art. 30) guaranteed indigenous people
the right to freedom, equality, dignity and life free from discrimination based on the
grounds of ethnicity, sex, religion, customs, language or any other conditions. At the local
level, six municipalities had adopted ordinances to promote the principle of equality and
non-discrimination. One example was the municipal ordinance of Panchimalco that referred
to protection against racial discrimination.
Honduras
8.
The Government of Honduras stated that it had taken measures to fight racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and all other related intolerance. The Constitution
prohibited all forms of discrimination (art. 60) and guaranteed the exercise of all religions
without prejudice (art. 77, para. 1). The Penal Code stipulated that discriminatory acts
based on sex, race, age, class, religion, partisan or political association, or disability
constituted criminal offences, punishable by prison time and administrative penalties.
Amendments to the Penal Code that would come into effect in May 2020 had been made to
strengthen protections against discrimination with respect to employment and the public
sector. Discriminatory denial of public service or disqualification from employment was
punishable by law and disqualified the convicted person from holding public office.
9.
The Government reported that in 2017, it had created the Secretariat for Human
Rights as the lead agency to implement public policies related to human rights. 2 It
highlighted the Public Policy against Racism and Racial Discrimination for the
Comprehensive Development of Indigenous and Afro-Honduran Peoples (2016–2022),
approved in 2016, which enabled indigenous and Afro-Honduran peoples to exercise their
rights and maintain their identity and diversity. The National Institute of Migration had
created a unit on human rights and migrant care management to safeguard migrants. The
purpose of the Institute was to promote the human rights of migrants by providing them
with immediate and adequate assistance.
10.
The Government also reported that its Congress had begun discussions on a draft
national law on cybersecurity and protection against acts of hatred and discrimination on
the Internet and social networks, in which it intended to include protections against online
antisemitism and other racism and intolerance.
Israel
11.
The Government of Israel stated that victims of all forms of racism suffer from
hostility, dehumanization, prejudice and stereotypes, which lead to discrimination and
violence. To combat racism, the deconstruction of racial, cultural and religious prejudices
should be at the centre of combating all forms of hatred. In respect of the commonalities of
antisemitism and other forms of racism, the Government highlighted that both were often
associated with white supremacy, white nationalism, neo-Nazi ideology and related
violence. Perpetrators of recent antisemitic terrorist attacks3 all shared a white supremacist
2
3
4
Executive Decree No. PCM-055-2017.
The Government referred to the shootings at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, United States of America; at
a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand; at a synagogue in Poway, California, United States; in El
Paso, United States; at a synagogue in Halle Germany; and in Hanau, Germany.