A/HRC/42/59/Add.3 I. Introduction 1. The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium welcomes this opportunity to respond to the report of the Working Group of Experts of People of African Descent [hereunder referred to as ‘the Working Group’] on its mission to Belgium in February 2019. 2. As illustrated by the standing invitation addressed to the Special Procedures since March 2001, Belgium is and will remain a firm supporter of the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, which it considers as the eyes and ears of the Council. 3. The Government welcomes nuanced and thorough reports to complement its analysis of the topic at hand. The Government considers that such reports of the Special Procedures are important to provide an outside perspective on the human rights situation in the country and thus considers those reports and recommendations carefully. Belgium therefore thanks the Working Group for its visit and its report. II. General remarks 4. The report highlights concrete issues of discrimination that people of African descent face. Belgium acknowledges the existence of these contemporary forms of racial discrimination, including against people of African descent, particularly in the field of housing, employment and education. All governments concerned are undertaking continuous efforts to address these issues, taking into account their complex and multifaceted nature. Time constraints 5. The time foreseen in the program to meet with representatives from federal and federated Ministers, administrations or other representatives was very limited. We understand that the Working Group wanted to meet as many institutions and civil society representatives as possible. However, the very limited time reserved to meet with multiple officials concerned on the topic left little time for exchange of views and to address a number issues deemed important by the authorities. Methodology 6. From the way the visit has been conducted, it is not clear that it concerned a followup visit. Indeed, the report focuses on the colonial past, while the report of the first visit only mentioned Belgium’s colonial past in the margins, which leads to some confusion. 7. From a methodological perspective, the report brings forward a number of very strong general statements, for which the base or the source is not always clearly mentioned. 8. The report states, for instance, that “there is clear evidence that racial discrimination is endemic in institutions in Belgium” and that “inequalities are deeply entrenched because of structural barriers…”. There is no mention of statistics or other references on which these statements are based. Belgium would value more precise and evidence-based references in order to be able to address some issues mentioned in the report. Another example of a generalization is the fact that the colonial past in Central Africa is presented as the sole explanation for the persistence of contemporary forms of discrimination in Belgium. This is an oversimplification and a generalization that is particularly lacking in nuance (see more details below). 9. Furthermore, the report contains inconsistencies. For example, in §24 and §66 (unspecified), the report mentions that there is “clear evidence that racial discrimination is endemic in institutions in Belgium”, while §105 states that “a racial equity audit within its public institutions…” should be conducted, “to look for systemic bias and discrimination within the regular and routine operation of business”. 2