A/HRC/25/69 convince the public. She emphasized that improved purchasing power and decreased poverty did not eradicate racial discrimination and exclusion, as it was also a deep exclusion of people of African descent and indigenous peoples. 8. The delegate of the European Union shared recent developments with regard to assistance to victims in EU countries. She noted that in October 2012, Directive 2012/29 was adopted establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. It was a significant step forward in the level of protection of victims throughout the Union, in particular within the framework of criminal proceedings. The individual protection needs of victims are taken into account as well as the nature or circumstances of the crime. This Directive is part of a horizontal package of measures where any victim can rely on the same basic level of rights. Some of the elements in the Directive include access to support in accordance with victims’ needs, special protection measures, assessment of vulnerability to secondary and repeat victimisation. It also takes into consideration the higher vulnerability of children. She noted that particular attention is to be paid to victims of hate crimes. Information about their case is to be provided to victims and privacy of victims and their family should be respected. The Directive contains more rights for victims, concrete steps that should take place and the deadline for its implementation is November 2015. She asked Ms. Gomes whether there is more room for the improved implementation of existing laws and policies. 9. The delegate of the Czech Republic highlighted the importance of implementation. She stated that if laws are not sufficient to eradicate racism, then more laws were unlikely to be the answer. She thanked Ms. Gomes for her presentation and expressed appreciation for the openness of the discussions during that meeting but regretted that while there was more information provided on some regions of the world, the Committee had not heard from other regions. She noted the need for greater geographic balance in the presentations and exchange of information during the sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee. Welcoming the concreteness of the presentation, she noted that challenges with respect to xenophobia and racial discrimination, i.e. on data collection and educational curriculum, coincide across regions.. She emphasized that the limited number of responses to the questionnaire did not reveal a universal interest in the subject matter and it did not provide sufficient information for the Committee’s work 10. The delegate of Argentina pointed out that his Government had created a national human rights institution and adopted a national action plan, following up the World Conference against Racism in Durban in 2001. In addition, Argentina and Brazil had recently commenced bilateral and regional cooperation on policies with regard to people of African descent. He highlighted specialized programmes, such as an internet and television awareness-raising campaign on people of African descent. 11. The delegate of Angola said that given the large Angolan population in Brazil, it found Ms. Gomes’ presentation especially interesting. He noted that Angola had several legal provisions in its criminal and civil laws and procedures addressing discrimination, noting that victims could file complaints and that police could take actions, including investigations. The Angolan Constitution also prohibited discrimination. He noted that the population of his country was diverse and that people were well integrated. He inquired about a public case of an Angolan student killed by a group in Brazil the previous year. 12. The delegate of the United States of America welcomed the presenter’s frankness and openness and the focus on the victims. . He noted that there were similarities between the situation in Brazil and the United States of America with respect to a past history of slavery and colonialization. Similarly, affirmative action was also a subject of debate in the United States, and racially motivated crimes presented a challenge to Governments. He noted that it was important to acknowledge problems; however, it was also important to recognize that progress has been made. He highlighted a joint action plan with Brazil to address racism and discrimination. He also pointed out that if existing laws and insitutions 22