A/HRC/31/27
take all effective measures to reduce disparities in the enjoyment of rights by children
belonging to minority groups, and to pay particular attention to standards of living, health
and education, and the enjoyment of their own culture, religion and language. In the case of
Mexico, the Committee was concerned that indigenous and Afro-Mexican children
continued to face discrimination and violence, and remained the most affected by extreme
poverty, malnutrition, maternal and child mortality, early marriages, adolescent
pregnancies, environmental contamination and lack of access to quality education and civil
registration services. The Committee recommended that the State party should adopt
comprehensive measures to ensure that indigenous and Afro-Mexican children enjoyed all
their rights in practice, in particular in the areas of health, education, nutrition and access to
justice and civil registration services.
B.
General comments and general recommendations
40.
In its general recommendation No. 33 on women’s access to justice
(CEDAW/C/GC/33), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
noted that discrimination against women was compounded by intersecting factors,
including ethnicity/race, indigenous or minority status, colour, socioeconomic status and/or
caste, language, religion or belief, political opinion, national origin, marital and/or maternal
status, age, urban/rural location, health status, disability, property ownership and identity as
a lesbian, bisexual, transgender woman or intersex person, and that these factors made it
more difficult for women from those groups to gain access to justice. The Committee
recommended that States parties should, inter alia, develop targeted outreach activities and
distribute, through specific units or desks for women, information about the justice
mechanisms, procedures and remedies available, in various formats and also in community
languages. It also recommended that such activities and information should be appropriate
for all ethnic and minority groups in the population and designed in close cooperation with
women from these groups and, especially, women’s and other relevant organizations.
V. Special procedures
41.
In March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues presented her annual
thematic report to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-eighth session, on the theme of
hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media (A/HRC/28/64). In her
report, the Special Rapporteur identified a number of factors that lead to hate speech and
incitement to hatred in the media, and highlighted a number of positive measures and
initiatives implemented by a broad range of actors, including international organizations,
States, civil society and individuals, to contest hateful speech and incitement to hatred in
the media.
42.
Also in March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
presented his annual thematic report to the Human Rights Council, on the theme of violence
committed in the name of religion (A/HRC/28/66). According to the Special Rapporteur,
violence in the name of religion should not be perceived as a natural outbreak of collective
acts of aggression supposedly reflecting long-standing sectarian hostilities; it rather
originated from contemporary factors and actors, including political circumstances. The
Special Rapporteur recommended concerted action by all stakeholders, including States,
religious communities, interreligious dialogue initiatives, civil society organizations and
media representatives, in order to contain and eventually eliminate the scourge of violence
committed in the name of religion.
43.
In March 2015, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
presented her report on human rights developments in Myanmar to the Human Rights
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