A/HRC/42/59/Add.1 mentioned in a research context, and they seem to be poorly understood in society, even though Belgium shares a long common history with Africa. As part of its programme on integration and migration, the King Baudouin Foundation asked researchers to meet with people from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and other countries in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. This survey, the first of its kind in Belgium, involved a representative sample of 805 people from throughout the country’s three regions. The resulting portrait is nuanced and is intended to contribute to an informed debate. This process is all the more important as people of African descent appear to be more and more permanently established in Belgium and are experiencing high levels of demographic growth.6 III. Legal framework and steps taken for the protection of the human rights of people of African descent A. Legal framework 13. Belgium has ratified all major international human rights treaties. 7 Belgium has promoted the implementation of human rights at the international, European and bilateral levels. Belgium has stated publicly that it is essential to apply these universal principles at the national level and that it remains committed to fulfilling its human rights obligations. 14. The protection of human rights and the prohibition of discrimination are enshrined in the Constitution. It is stated in article 10 that “Belgians are equal before the law … Equality between women and men is guaranteed.” It is stated in article 11 that the “enjoyment of the rights and freedoms recognized for Belgians must be provided without discrimination. To this end, laws and federate laws guarantee among others the rights and freedoms of ideological and philosophical minorities.” 15. In 2007, three new anti-discrimination laws were enacted in Belgium in order to comply with a number of European Union directives regarding discrimination: the Racism Law, which modifies the 1981 Law to Punish Certain Acts Initiated by Racism or Xenophobia; the Gender Law, which is aimed at eliminating discrimination between men and women; and the Anti-Discrimination Law, which is aimed at eliminating certain forms of discrimination. The Racism Law forbids discrimination on the basis of race, skin colour, nationality, descent and national or ethnic origin. With the exception of matters falling within the competence of the communities and regions, this law applies to all employment (both public and private), the offering of goods and services, social security, medical care, and participation in economic, social, cultural and political activities open to the public. The communities and regions have developed their own laws, which generally implement the European Union directives on anti-discrimination. 16. The three federal anti-discrimination laws impose criminal penalties for incitement to discrimination, segregation, hatred or violence against a person based on a protected criterion. This applies to speech or conduct that occurs in public, in a non-public place where people are entitled to meet, in the presence of an offended person and before witnesses, or in documents that have been disseminated to several people. Perpetrators of discrimination are punishable by a fine or imprisonment. The Anti-Discrimination Law also recognizes hate crimes as an aggravating factor of underlying misconduct, and allows the courts either to double the minimum penalty or to add two years of prison time in cases where the crime was motivated by bias. In addition, the Criminal Code recognizes the distinct crime of interfering in religious practice through violence, threats, destruction of property and other acts of disruption. Perpetrators may be punished by a fine or up to three months’ imprisonment. If the offence has caused serious physical harm, the offender may receive up to five years’ imprisonment. 6 7 King Baudouin Foundation, “Zoom: Research among Belgo-Congolese, Belgo-Rwandans and BelgoBurundians: a nuanced portrait of fellow citizens with African roots”, 2017. See A/HRC/WG.6/24/BEL/2. 5