CERD/C/ECU/CO/19
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of the Convention (CERD/C/2007/1). In that context, the Committee requests the
State party to include in its next periodic report disaggregated statistics on the
composition of the population.
10. While the Committee takes note of the fact that the draft Constitution guarantees the
enjoyment of the collective rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-Ecuadorians, the Committee
expresses its concern at the obstacles in the National Assembly impeding the adoption of specific
laws guaranteeing the realization of the collective rights of the indigenous peoples and
Afro-Ecuadorians, such as the bill on the collective rights of the Black or Afro-Ecuadorian
peoples (art. 2).
The Committee urges the State party to continue its efforts to secure the adoption of
specific legislation fully guaranteeing the collective rights of indigenous peoples and
Afro-Ecuadorians. The Committee calls on the State party to include detailed
information in this regard in its next report.
11. While the Committee takes note of Ministerial Decision No. 2467 guaranteeing the Roma
people the right to free association for peaceful purposes, the Committee is concerned at the
failure of the State party’s draft Constitution to grant legal recognition to the Roma people as an
ethnic minority (art. 2).
The Committee reminds the State party of its general recommendation 27 (2000) on
discrimination against Roma and encourages the State party to adopt and put into
effect national strategies and programmes and display resolute political will to
improve the situation of the Roma and protect them against discrimination by State
agencies, as well as by all persons and organizations.
12. While the Committee welcomes with satisfaction the fact that the current Constitution
recognizes the right of indigenous peoples and Afro-Ecuadorian communities to administer
justice in keeping with their cultures and traditions, it expresses concern that this legal
recognition has not been reflected in practice in a model of administration of justice which
applies indigenous law (art. 5 (a)).
The Committee reminds the State party of its general recommendation 31 (2005) on
the prevention of racial discrimination in the administration and functioning of the
criminal justice system (sect. B, para. 5 (e)) and urges the State party to ensure
respect for and recognition of the traditional systems of justice of the indigenous
peoples, in conformity with international human rights law. In that regard, the
Committee encourages the State party to expedite the process of adoption of the bill
to harmonize and allocate responsibilities for the administration of justice, whose
principal objective is to ensure compatibility between the functions of the system of
justice of the indigenous peoples and those of the national system of justice.
13. The Committee is concerned that indigenous women continue to experience double
discrimination based both on their ethnic origin and on their sex, and particularly the murdering
of indigenous women (art. 5 (b)).