OEA/Ser.GCP/ACTA 2061/1629 marzo 2016

ACTA

DE LA SESIÓN ORDINARIA

CELEBRADA

EL 29 DE MARZO DE 2016

Aprobada en la sesión del 6 de febrero de 2019

ÍNDICE

Página

Nómina de los miembros que asistieron a la sesión .......................................................................................1

Expresión de solidaridad con Bélgica, Irak y Pakistán ante losrecientes atentados terroristas....................................................................................................................14

Aprobación del proyecto de orden del día.......................................................................................................2

Presentación del señor Danny Glover, Embajador de Buena Voluntad del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF) sobre “Reparaciones por la esclavitud y el genocidio de las poblaciones nativas”....................................................................................................................................3

Consideración y aprobación del proyecto de resolución “Lugar y fecha de laDécimo Séptima Reunión Ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la ConvenciónInteramericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), convocadapor las resoluciones AG/RES.2866 (XLII-O/14) y AG/RES.2873 (XLV-O/15)”......................................32[Aprobación del proyecto de resolución]...................................................................................................33

Informe de la Presidencia de la Comisión sobre Gestión de CumbresInteramericanas y Participación de la Sociedad Civil en las Actividadesde la OEA sobre las solicitudes de registro de nueve organizaciones de la sociedad civil.........................33

Aprobación de acta.......................................................................................................................................34

Jornada Internacional de la Francofonía........................................................................................................34

ANEXO

RESOLUCIÓN APROBADA:

CP/RES.1060 (2061/16), Lugar y fecha de la Décimo Séptima Reunión Ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), convocada por las resoluciones AG/RES.2866 (XLII-O/14) y AG/RES.2873 (XLV-O/15)”................................................................................................................37

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DOCUMENTOS CONSIDERADOS EN LA SESIÓN(SE PUBLICAN POR SEPARADO)

CP/INF.7347/16, Nota enviada por las Misiones Permanentes de Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, San Vicente y las Granadinas y Venezuela solicitando la inclusión del tema “Reparaciones por la esclavitud y el genocidio de las poblaciones nativas” en el proyecto de orden del día de la sesión ordinaria prevista para el próximo 29 de marzo a las 2:30 p.m.

CP/doc.5176/16, Nota de la Presidencia de la Comisión de Seguridad Hemisférica remitiendo, para la consideración y aprobación del Consejo Permanente en su próxima sesión ordinaria, el proyecto de resolución “Lugar y fecha de la Décimo Séptima Reunión Ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), convocada por las resoluciones AG/RES.2866 (XLII-O/14) y AG/RES.2873 (XLV-O/15)”

CP/CISC-820/16, Informe del Presidente de la CISC mediante el cual transmite al Consejo Permanente las recomendaciones de la Comisión respecto de solicitudes de organizaciones de la sociedad civil para ingresar al registro de la OEA y participar en las actividades de la Organización

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CONSEJO PERMANENTE DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS

ACTA DE LA SESIÓN ORDINARIACELEBRADA EL 29 DE MARZO DE 2016

En la ciudad de Washington, D. C., a las dos y cuarenta y tres de la tarde del martes 29 de marzo de 2016, celebró sesión ordinaria el Consejo Permanente de la Organización de los Estados Americanos. Presidió la sesión el Embajador Ronald Sanders, Representante Permanente de Antigua y Barbuda y Presidente del Consejo Permanente. Asistieron los siguientes miembros:

Embajador Jesús Sierra Victoria, Representante Permanente de Panamá yVicepresidente del Consejo Permanente

Embajador Bayney R. Karran, Representante Permanente de GuyanaEmbajador Diego Pary, Representante Permanente de BoliviaEmbajador Andrés González Díaz, Representante Permanente de ColombiaEmbajador Emilio Rabasa Gamboa, Representante Permanente de MéxicoEmbajadora Elisa Ruiz Díaz Bareiro, Representante Permanente del Paraguay Embajador Marco Vinicio Albuja Martínez, Representante Permanente del EcuadorEmbajador Juan Pablo Lira, Representante Permanente de ChileEmbajador Bocchit Edmond, Representante Permanente de HaitíEmbajador Hugo Cayrús Maurín, Representante Permanente del UruguayEmbajador Patrick Andrews, Representante Permanente de BelizeEmbajador Ralph Samuel Thomas, Representante Permanente de JamaicaEmbajador Luis Raúl Estévez, Representante Permanente de GuatemalaEmbajador Bernardo Álvarez Herrera, Representante Permanente de VenezuelaConsejero Colin Michael Connelly, Representante Interino de Trinidad and TobagoMinistro Consejero Omari Seitu Williams, Representante Interino de San Vicente y

las GranadinasEmbajadora Lilian Elena Godoy de Cardoza, Representante Interina de El SalvadorPrimera Secretaria Sachi Antrieka Soekhoe-Ramlal, Representante Interina de SurinameMinistro Julio César Ayala, Representante Interino de la ArgentinaMinistro Gino Giorffino, Representante Interino del PerúMinistro Consejero Luís Exequiel Alvarado Ramírez, Representante Interino de NicaraguaEmbajadora Rita María Hernández Bolaños, Representante Interina de Costa Rica Judith-Anne Rolle, Representante Alterna del Commonwealth de DominicaEmbajador Edward Aníbal Pérez Reyes, Representante Alterno de la República DominicanaConsejera Gillian Ingrid Joseph, Representante Alterna de Antigua y BarbudaMinistro Consejero Luis Fernando Cordero Montoya, Representante Alterno de HondurasJustin Kareem Hawley, Representante Alterno de Saint Kitts y NevisPrimera Secretaria Angela Mary Patricia Kinch, Representante Alterna de BarbadosConsejera Maria Angélica Ikeda, Representante Alterna del BrasilConsejera Genevieve Libonati, Representante Alterna de los Estados UnidosConsejero Sebastien Sigouin, Representante Alterno del CanadáMinistra Consejera Clenie Martina Jacinta Greer, Representante Alterna de Santa Lucía

También estuvieron presentes el Secretario General de la Organización, señor Luis Almagro Lemes, y el Secretario General Adjunto, Embajador Nestor Mendez, Secretario del Consejo Permanente.

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EXPRESIÓN DE SOLIDARIDAD CON BÉLGICA, IRAK Y PAKISTÁN ANTE LOSRECIENTES ATENTADOS TERRORISTAS

El PRESIDENTE: Good afternoon, colleagues! I am pleased to call to order this regular meeting of the Permanent Council.

Now, before considering the matters contained in the draft order of business for today, on behalf of this Permanent Council, I express our deepest and sincerest condolences to the governments and peoples of Belgium, Iraq, and Pakistan for the recent tragedies caused by terrorist atrocities in Brussels, Al-Iskandariya, and Lahore. We extend our sympathy to the families of those whose lives were lost and to the surviving injured victims. Their lives will never be the same.

We note that such is the indiscriminate reach of terrorism that even though these three events occurred far from the shores of our Americas, several of our citizens were among the victims of these barbarities. As the oldest multilateral regional organization in the world, the Organization of American States and its member states are committed to peace and security in the world. In this context, I am certain that I speak for this Permanent Council as a whole in firmly and unequivocally condemning these despicable and contemptible acts of wanton brutality, wherever they occur.

I would now like to invite the Permanent Council to stand in a moment of silence to honor the victims of these tragic attacks.

[El Consejo, de pie, observa un minute de silencio.]

APROBACIÓN DEL PROYECTO DE ORDEN DEL DÍA

El PRESIDENTE: Now let us proceed with the approval of the draft order of business for today’s meeting as contained in document CP/OD.2061/16.

[El proyecto de orden del día contiene los siguientes puntos:

1. Aprobación del orden del día (CP/OD.2061/16)

2. Reparaciones por la esclavitud y el genocidio de las poblaciones nativas, a cargo del señor Danny Glover, Embajador de Buena Voluntad del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF)

Nota de las Misiones Permanentes de Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, San Vicente y las Granadinas y Venezuela

3. Consideración y aprobación del proyecto de resolución “Lugar y fecha de la décimo séptima reunión ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), convocada por las resoluciones AG/RES.2866 (XLII-O/14) y AG/RES.2873 (XLV-O/15)”

Nota de la Presidencia de la Comisión de Seguridad Hemisférica

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4. Informe de la Presidencia de la Comisión sobre Gestión de Cumbres Interamericanas y Participación de la Sociedad Civil en las Actividades de la OEA sobre las solicitudes de registro de nueve organizaciones de la sociedad civil

5. Aprobación de la siguiente acta de una sesión del Consejo Permanente:

CP/ACTA 2038/15 (sesión ordinaria del 15 de octubre)

6. Otros asuntos.]

If there are no objections to the order of business as proposed, we shall proceed to approve it. I see no objections; approved.

PRESENTACIÓN DEL SEÑOR DANNY GLOVER, EMBAJADOR DE BUENA VOLUNTAD DELFONDO DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS PARA LA INFANCIA (UNICEF) SOBRE

“REPARACIONES POR LA ESCLAVITUD Y EL GENOCIDIO DE LAS POBLACIONES NATIVAS”

El PRESIDENTE: Distinguished colleagues, the next item on our order of business is a presentation on “Reparations for Slavery and the Genocide of Native Peoples”. This topic was included in today’s order of business at the request of the permanent missions of Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Venezuela.

The subject, of course, is of great interest to every nation in the Western Hemisphere. As the Honorable Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said when he addressed this Council last November: “Our quest for reparations is about repairing the legacies of underdevelopment which exist today and which are undeniably traced to native genocide and African slavery.”

In this connection, on behalf of the Permanent Council, I warmly welcome to our Council Mr. Danny Glover, who will make a presentation to us on this subject, which has cast a long shadow over our nations.

Mr. Glover is well known around the world as an actor and film producer. He has played important roles in films, such as The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, and the blockbuster series Lethal Weapon, but beyond all of that, Mr. Glover is an outstanding humanitarian who has been involved in courageous and inspiring work to promote economic justice and social improvement for the poor, the vulnerable, and marginalized minority communities in the United States and Africa.

He served as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from 1998 to 2004 and currently serves as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador and as an Ambassador of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent.

He brings to us today not only the wealth of his experience and knowledge but also his deep commitment to the goals of achieving human equality, not only institutionally but, importantly, in the minds of all mankind.

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Mr. Glover, you are most welcome to this House of the Americas and our Organization of American States, and I invite you, sir, to speak to us.

El SEÑOR DANNY GLOVER, EMBAJADOR DE BUENA VOLUNTAD DEL FONDO DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS PARA LA INFANCIA: Chairman Sanders, ambassadors, good afternoon! Before I begin, I want to acknowledge my friend, Dr. Ron Daniels, President of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) and the convener of the National African-American Reparations Commission (NAARC).

I am grateful to Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the Organization of American States, for inviting me to address representatives of the OAS member states to implore you to action on reparatory justice as a human rights policy consideration and a moral, democratic imperative.

When Ambassador Álvarez first requested that I speak to the OAS about reparative justice, I recalled my many fruitful exchanges with the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez about the historic plight of afro-descendants in our hemisphere. We talked about the heroism and the invaluable contributions made by people of African descent to the founding and development of republics throughout the Americas.

Shortly after we began our first meeting, President Chávez spoke about his own African ancestry. Without prompting, he reflected critically that racial equity had not been a central part of Venezuela’s affirmative action policy considerations, as it should have been, in that country’s 1999 Constitution, and that afro-Venezuelans had been largely excluded from various initiatives. As he addressed the TransAfrica Forum board members who accompanied me, he looked to his staff and without hesitation concluded that Venezuela needed to rectify its failure to specifically address race in public policy and to earnestly collaborate with afro-Venezuelans to improve their lives and to advance their capacities to contribute to national development.

I had similar positive exchanges with several global political leaders about the crimes against humanity committed against Africans during the transatlantic slave trade and about the subsequent institutionalization of racism against afro-descendants that persists to the present. Among the political leaders with whom I discussed the imperative of achieving restorative justice for people of African descent are:

The late South African President Nelson Mandela;

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva;

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an eloquent and persuasive advocate for reparative justice;

Congressman John Conyers, author of U.S. Congressional House Representative Bill H.R.40, “Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act”; and

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, who I met in November 2015 in Havana to discuss the UN International Decade for People of African Descent.

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This is a momentous occasion for me, and for hundreds of millions of African descendants, as I address this august body that represents all of the countries of the Americas. Of the nearly one billion citizens of the Americas, approximately 200 million are African descendants, the prodigy of enslaved Africans who were forced, without compensation, to contribute their intellectual and physical labor for the enrichment of European colonies.

For centuries, those colonies physically and psychologically exploited African descendants and Native American people and subjected them to the brutal inhumanity of rape, incarceration, and murder. This uncomfortable shared history of afro-descendants in the Americas belongs to all of us as citizens of the American continental republics. It has unfolded over the centuries and, despite heroic democratic advances, has given rise to structural, economic, social, and cultural racism, leaving behind a legacy of broad discrimination against afro-descendants in the Americas in the 21st century. This discrimination often takes the forms of disproportionate poverty, disease, lack of educational opportunities, massive incarceration, rampant sexual exploitation, and inadequate participation in political decision-making.

Through my travels and ongoing communication with people of African descent throughout the Hemisphere, I am aware that some nations have been more progressive and productive than others in acknowledging slavery as a crime against humanity and in implementing public policies to eradicate the scourge of injustice, persistent racism, and discrimination in our societies. Nevertheless, we are still confronted by the harsh realities of life for afro-descendants in the Americas, the majority of whom live among the culturally diverse populations of the Caribbean and Latin America. They comprise 30 percent or more of the region’s population; yet, they account for more than half of its identified poor.

In my country, the United States of America, which is the richest and arguably the most developed country in the world, there are 40 million African descendants, many of Caribbean and Latin American heritage. On a daily basis, U.S. news is inundated with disturbing and saddening stories of black men and women, particularly the young, being killed by law enforcement officers and vigilantes or being incarcerated; of young black people facing high rates of underemployment and poverty, lack of access to education and health care, and, consequently, succumbing to high rates of illness and death.

The current state of democracy, justice, and socioeconomic development for afro-descendants in the United States is disappointing and tragic. Sadly, these negative social and political indicators characterize and mark the lives and justice struggles of the majority of afro-descendants throughout the Americas, despite national, cultural, linguistic, political, ideological, religious, and economic differences.

Rich and diverse historical legacies of struggle for freedom, justice, equality, and development have propelled African descendants over the centuries to act in solidarity across national identities. I am but one afro-descendant within a long and continuous historical tradition of advocacy for people of African descent who have sought to enlist the support of national and multilateral policy organizations to achieve reparatory justice.

Those of you who are students of history would know that news of the 1804 Haitian Revolution, a successful revolt against slavery and oppression by French colonialists, spread widely among the enslaved afro-descendant population throughout the Americas, highlighting their common plight against the terror and inhumanity of colonialism, enslavement, and racism. You would be among the educated few who know that Haiti not only represents a victorious, organic revolt by the

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lowest sectors of society, but it also inspired subsequent struggles in Latin America and gave rise to a group of new, independent Caribbean and Latin American nations that emerged by ousting their European colonizers.

The Haitian Revolution was a watershed moment in history that many citizens in the Americas have not always celebrated, and it harkens to a history of African rebellion against slavery in the Americas that continues until today.

The historical recognition, cultural affinity, and political development projects of people of African descent in the Americas achieved a major victory with respect to democratic inclusion through planning, coordinating, and organizing their attendance at and participation in the 2001 United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), held in Durban, South Africa.

In fact, the term “afro-descendant” was formulated and gained widespread currency in the policymaking circles at the 2000 preparatory meetings for Durban that were held in Santiago, Chile. The planning delegation in Santiago coined the term “afro-descendants” to give form to its policy proposals and demands to state government representatives who would convene the following year at the WCAR in Durban.

Hundreds of people of African descent from across the Americas, speaking Spanish, English, Creole, and French and representing various African religions, as well as Christianity, gathered in Santiago to advocate for ideals that encompassed Pan-Africanism, socialism, and capitalism. Diverse in their nationalities and cultural expression but still united in the common struggle for human rights, they recognized their shared interest in counteracting the structural racism and discrimination that began with the transatlantic slave trade and produced populations, such as afro-Brazilians, palenqueros in Colombia, Haitians, afro-Cubans, and mulattos.

This, honorable ladies and gentlemen, representatives to the Organization of American States, is our America, an America that far too many of our citizens and policymakers, including heads of state, refuse to fully acknowledge and fail to engage with in a democratic mandate to deliver justice, equality, and equitable national and regional development.

You might reasonably inquire why I, Danny Glover, well-known citizen artist of the United States, have come to speak to the OAS about reparatory justice. I come to you today with full and proud recognition and embracing the fact that I am a descendant of enslaved Africans who were transported against their will to the so-called New World. This unprecedented global project of European colonial expansion through the pillage, rape, and genocide of native peoples shaped the nations and humanity we have become today.

I am one of the not-so-many afro-descendants who have been relatively successful out of the roughly 200 million African descendants in our American hemisphere and who, with the help of less fortunate African descendant family members and communities, were educated about the histories and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora in the creation of American colonies and American republics. Through this education, I was guided to form connections with my afro-descendant sisters and brothers across the continent, from Canada to Uruguay and everywhere in between. I am also happily married to an afro-Brazilian woman.

It is true that some afro-descendants have, like me, been relatively successful against great historical odds, contemporary challenges, and structural racism, which casts a long shadow across

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class lines and individual achievements of many people of African descent. I have been fortunate to be counseled and supported by women and men of African descent across the United States, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe, who today continue to live their lives as social individuals connected to the cultural legacies and daily life struggles and accomplishments of ordinary citizens.

So, I address you today about reparative justice for afro-descendants. I speak to you in the spirit of Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois, the great twentieth century afro-descendant father of U.S. socialism, Pan-African social justice activism, and founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). I quote: “I am bone of bone and flesh of flesh to them that live within the veil.”

Living within the veil is a haunting metaphor that speaks to the partition and concealed world of black skin of humanity, a humanity lived by tens of millions of afro-descendants in our hemisphere, 40 million in the U.S. alone, that is invisible and inaudible to so many but that is vibrant and complex for us who, with pride and dignity, proclaim universal human rights and justice for all.

At the national level, we generally fall far short of public apology and provisions for just recompense to the millions of afro-descendants still hemmed in by this structural racism and systemic economic inequality, descendants of slaves who built great towns, cities, and countries that provided luxuries that so many of us enjoy today.

In a 2016 article published by the Poverty and Race Research Action Council titled “Forging Equitable Communities: Creating Structures of Opportunity,” Gary L. Cunningham, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association of Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota, concluded that “the majority of African American people still live wrapped up, largely out of sight, in the vicissitudes of poverty.” He goes on to say: “When the fundamental opportunities structures go unchallenged, the living conditions of low-income African-American people remain the same.”

My direct experience with afro-descendants and indigenous communities within the United States and the communities throughout this Hemisphere, without exception, is that Mr. Cunningham’s description of the United States holds true to our entire continent. The majority of afro-descendants still live wrapped up, largely out of sight, in the vicissitudes of poverty and the opportunities structures in our society have not been sufficiently or consistently responsive.

I speak to you as one of many social individuals who work in collaboration for the millions who are still behind the contemporary veils of poverty, exclusion, incarceration, discrimination, and official displacement and violence. I call upon you today as policy representatives and socially conscious citizens, public servants of our countries guided by personal ethics, religion, faith, and/or oath of office, to avow a commitment to democracy, justice, equality, and human rights.

The call today for reparatory justice for afro-descendants is an imperative for expanded democracy and spiritual and material well-being. It is a test case for human decency that conforms to the accepted standards of morality. The call for reparatory justice is a marker of the outstanding balance on atonement and adjudicating our past wrongs against fellow citizens who continue to be shut out, marginalized, and discriminated against.

The negative consequences of inattention or of insufficient attention to the legitimate demands of afro-descendants in all of our societies for official, national apologies and recognition of enslavement of Africans as a historically significant crime against humanity requires emotional, psychological, and material repair and reflection. The case for reparatory justice must be formulated

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and implemented in collaboration with afro-descendants as they proactively envision and construct their futures as full citizens with both self-interest and common interest with other citizens, not as immobilized, pitiful victims.

Official recognition by public policy-makers of the absence or inadequacy of policies to overcome the inhumane, negative racialization in which most afro-descendants live today is a major step towards positive public ownership of the past—not guilt. It is a pathway to lifting the veil of ignorance, frustration, intolerance, and inaction that divides so many among our community.

I speak to you today as a citizen artist of the United States and as the official Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Ambassador for the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. The justification for the Decade, which focuses on recognition, justice, and development, succinctly states: “In proclaiming this Decade, the international community is recognizing that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected.”

I highlight the phrase “recognizing that people of African descent represent a distinct group whose human rights must be promoted and protected,” not to separate them from fellow citizens of other racial, cultural, or ethnic backgrounds. I highlight that phrase to draw special attention to the distinct concerns of afro-descendants and of indigenous peoples who have suffered and continue to suffer racial and skin-color discrimination, as well as the related cultural and economic inequalities of our society and governance systems.

Approximately 200 million people who identify as afro-descendants live in the Americas. Many millions more live in other parts of the world outside of the African continent.

My colleague, James Early, a longtime participant in social justice struggles with afro-descendants across our Americas, has criticized some representatives to the OAS for cavalierly rejecting the terminology of afro-descendants, posing it as confusing and saying that we are all afro-descendants because Africa is the cradle of civilization. I agree that such responses are, at the least, inconsiderate of the widespread, color-coded, racial discrimination documented in claims by afro-descendants from across the Hemisphere, in all countries, and in stark contrast to official documentation by multilevel bodies like the United Nations and the OAS.

In regard to the significance of reparatory justice as a fundamental element of public and regional policy in the Americas, I especially recommend to the members of the OAS the guidance expressed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who says: “We must remember that people of African descent are among those most affected by racism. Too often, they face denial of basic rights, such as access to quality health service and education.” The Secretary-General’s declaration about the negative human consequences of current racism and its connection to the denial of basic human rights speaks to the blight on all of our democracies that calls for special policy attention and dedicated human and budgetary resources.

Most importantly, the pernicious racism and discrimination in our societies against afro-descendants and indigenous people require leadership to productively guide our societies toward acknowledging the past and apologizing for it. Apologizing for slavery is an act of honesty, courage, and contrition that can and will strengthen us as citizens to draw upon the virtues our nations have relied upon to make significant contributions to humanity.

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Within the call for reparatory justice for afro-descendants and indigenous communities and nations is a complex, five-century narrative that cannot be rewritten in a decade or a few decades. In fact, distinct national histories are replete with well-intended determinations and at times small but significant gains. What is obvious about the negative life conditions and the strong, continuous demands of afro-descendants and indigenous communities in all of our nations is the urgent need to make a major, long-term commitment of human will and budgetary resources to work with these communities to repair the damage done to them.

The UN International Decade for People of African Descent is an invitation, a call, and a demand that we rededicate ourselves to righting this historical wrong that continues to plague and impede the humanistic and material development of our citizens and nations today. To affirmatively embrace and actively support reparatory justice is in all of our best interests.

The progress that has been achieved in our respective nations in terms of the three elements of the Decade—respect, justice, and development––is not difficult to build upon. However, it is imperative that we exercise leadership and willpower in being forthright, creative, and collaborative with afro-descendants and all other sectors of our societies to utilize this decade to evaluate the state of the fundamental problems that give rise to social, cultural, and economic structures of racism and discrimination and, at the same time, evaluate existing policies in order to be more effective. Taking this approach, we must judiciously set forth new, realistic, and achievable projects while being especially cognizant of the synergies that can be obtained by integrating public policy approaches designed for each of our nations and regions.

As an example of this integrated policy approach that I am proposing, reparatory justice could be a special affirmative framework for implementing the extended UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) project, which has been shown to be successful in lowering poverty.

There are additional recommendations about basic orientation points and frameworks that could lead to productive integration of the three themes of the Decade—respect, justice, and development—that I would like to share.

Respect

Respect for afro-descendants is not a mere formal expression of mea culpa for the inhumanity of slavery and colonization. It is neither personal atonement for the internationally inflicted exploitation and misery of the past nor is it rhetorical public self-criticism. None of us living today were architects of past crimes against humanity. We weren’t there. Our racial, cultural, and ethnic bloodlines do not speak or act, although they may convey cultural and material inherences that we in the present, and entering the future, should assume responsibility for re-inscribing with respect, justice, and mutual benefit.

The respect of which I speak is a necessary social proclamation, especially through the policy actions of government leaders and public policy-makers at national and regional levels. The Organization of American States should be a model of productive engagement with afro-descendants toward highlighting their intrinsic human worth, demonstrated by their equality and achievements. In doing so, the sins and crimes against humanity committed in the past are not eradicated or forgotten; however, the consequent burden of shame, hatred, division, and socioeconomic inequality we have inherited are honestly and straightforwardly confronted and addressed with consistent and effective policy. Only then can afro-descendants fully actualize their creativity and develop sustainable, self-sufficient lives to become more deeply engaged citizens, contributing to the whole of their societies and nations.

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Respect is a word and a deed. It can uplift us all with regard to the feelings, wishes, human rights, and traditions of afro-descendants.

Justice

The UN’s call for justice for afro-descendants requires more than just the now common constitutional or legal proclamation of virtually all nations to be fair, inclusive, and equal in treatment and opportunities for all citizens. Justice must be restorative. It must be evidenced in fair and equitable treatment of afro-descendants and verified, not in the philosophical declaration but in the empirically documentable public policy indicators that illustrate sustained progress in the quality of life and participation of afro-descendants. Justice must also reflect sociological engagement with afro-descendants’ cultural, social, and economic proposals and initiatives to improve the quality of their lives and to advance and deepen their citizenship participation in the direction and development of their nations.

But justice must also include discarding institutional practices that discriminate and punishing those individuals, civic organizations, business corporations, and government institutions that continue to discriminate. The International Decade for People of African Descent is an opportunity to establish a justice index in our countries to straightforwardly identify our national strengths and weaknesses with respect to our afro-descendant citizens. Justice linked with respect for afro-descendants is a rubric to discard ineffective ideas and policies, to reinforce policies that work, and to carefully outline and implement new national and regional policies that can lead to repair for the crimes of history and the current forms of discrimination.

Development

Development must encompass the preceding two themes of respect and justice because without recognition of or respect for the importance of any social group––people of African descent in this case––we fail to understand, embrace, and advance the benefit to the whole of society, our citizens, our nations, and our humanity. Development and justice must go hand in hand with the humanistic and philosophical underpinning of our common code of civility, legal protection, and punitive response to violations of all our basic human rights.

Development must mean more than social and economic statistics about quantitative growth and cross-sector comparisons among our diverse populations along the road to national growth. We know all too well that the mathematical indicators of development do not automatically translate into quality-of-life improvement for the most vulnerable in our nations or to an advancement of our common humanity. Thus, development must encompass improved material quality of life; respect for all lives; and fairness, equality, and r justice for all.

The poor quality of life of afro-descendants and the impediments of racism and discrimination to their self-determination and ability to advance their own individual and collective interests is evidence that restorative respect, restorative justice, and restorative development must be integrated across policy sectors.

The United Nations is clear in its guidance to nations and multilateral policy bodies. It asserts that:

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Consistent with the Declaration on the Right to Development, States must adopt measures aimed at guaranteeing active, free and meaningful participation by all individuals, including people of African descent, in development and decision-making related thereto and in the fair distribution of benefits resulting therefrom.

The UN also outlines development categories to include affirmative attention to people of African descent with respect to poverty, education, employment, health, and housing. I urge you to add the category of participatory democracy, which places people of African descent in a catalytic and proactive role and avoids treating them as hapless victims or helpless subjects requiring the sympathy or the charity offerings of others, no matter their good intentions.

We need a radically new approach to and sustainable outcome for developmental projects. In 21st-century development, the people of African descent and all sectors of our nations must be a part of a full, respectful, and human endeavor. Its achievement must include the imagination, creativity, and production of people of African descent in their many cultural and national identities across the whole of the Americas.

In conclusion, I recommend that development, in the first and final analysis, must be understood and undertaken by afro-descendants and by other committed citizens and their stewards. They must be the architects of public policy that respects the human rights of all people and be social and economic justice engineers in a holistic, transnational project that requires repair and restitution for the damage done to afro-descendants. This is indispensable nourishment for the health and stability of our common work and for full, consistent, universal human rights.

Thank you.

[Aplausos.]

El PRESIDENTE: Mr. Glover, thank you very much for your presentation on this important issue of reparatory justice with its elements of respect, restorative justice, participatory democracy, and development. I suspect that, in the fullness of time, your presentation will be regarded in this Organization of American States as historic. It’s been a pleasure listening to you. Thank you very much, again.

Now I’d like to invite interventions from representatives of member states, and I have first Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

El REPRESENTANTE INTERINO DE SAN VICENTE Y LAS GRANADINAS: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

His Excellency Luis Almagro, Secretary General; His Excellency Nestor Mendez, Assistant Secretary General; distinguished excellencies, alternate representatives, and permanent observers; ladies and gentlemen: good afternoon!

Mr. Chairman, please permit me to extend on behalf of my delegation sincerest appreciation to Mr. Danny Glover, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador, for taking the opportunity to grace these hallowed halls of our esteemed Organization of American States and deliver a magnificent presentation on a topical issue for countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in the 21st century: reparations for slavery and genocide of native peoples. Please accept, sir, Mr. Glover, our gratitude for your solidarity and invaluable support.

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Amazing graceHow sweet the soundThat saved a wretch like me!I once was lost but now I’m foundWas blind, but now I see.

These are the words that resonated throughout this edifice as my Prime Minister, Dr. the Honorable Ralph E. Gonsalves, concluded his address to this august body last November on this critical subject. Undoubtedly, it is befitting of my delegation to continue on the same premise and to reaffirm to this Organization my delegation’s view that there is a fundamental need for reparations for native genocide and African slavery for our Caribbean region, as well as for disenfranchised people throughout the world who have been battling on in their pursuit of appropriate correctives against inhumane atrocities.

Mr. Chairman, in 2011, the international community decided to recognize that year as the International Year for People of African Descent. Resolution 68/237 of the UN General Assembly establishes that the period 2015 to 2024 shall be observed as the International Decade for People of African Descent, and last month was celebrated in the United States and in some other quarters as Black History Month. Activities were even realized within the framework of the afro-descendant theme in the policies and programs of this Organization. These efforts, along with many others, which include but are not limited to signing various international agreements, are considered essential in recognizing people of African descent in our region and around the world.

But why, Mr. Chairman? Since the abolition of slavery, the majority of the estimated 200 million people of African descent in our hemisphere, descendants of the victims of the greatest scourge of modern life and grotesque crimes against humanity, as well as native groups, deserve special attention and recognition. Is it the mere fact that these people constitute some of the poorest marginalized groups in our region?

Mr. Chairman, a deafening affirmative response will satisfy this question.

African descendants need recognition, but it must not be surmised on a falsified history or an inherited fallacy. We believe that our underlying truth is essential in our recognition. For this, my country, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, together with CARICOM, is not requesting or beseeching simple compensation. We do not believe recompense will just be given to us; were it so, we would have had it centuries ago. No! We are demanding and claiming reparatory justice for historic wrongs against us, particularly native genocide and African slavery. To this effect, my delegation is calling for a mature conversation with those European nations that have exploited our countries, thus engendering legacies of underdevelopment throughout our region.

The philosophical, economic, moral, and legal claims for reparations outlined by my Prime Minister last year are legitimate, and the studies that have been conducted are well written, voluminous, and detailed. In this regard, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and CARICOM are committed to undertaking the necessary procedures to guarantee that this vital matter is adjudicated within the framework of international law. That is the ideal juncture at which to repair the damages inflicted upon our ancestors.

The claim for reparations must be involved in the post-2015 development dialogues. While the skeptics and cynics query the validity of the rhetoric for reparations and the environment and

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moment in which this argument is being generated, my delegation asks: does crime have an expiration date, and if not now, then when?

Native genocide, the transatlantic slave trade, and a racialized system of chattel slavery are unparalleled phenomena in our history that have resulted in intergenerational transmission of trauma and multigenerational oppression of its descendants over the years, while unjustly enriching European nations and prejudicially impoverishing our Caribbean nations. Since the unfathomable, egregious acts orchestrated on our people, we are yet to receive officially an apology expressed in words or in actions. Meanwhile, the colonial legacy remains and continues to erode the socioeconomic fabric of our society.

Mr. Chairman, there are many counter-arguments from those who pretend to empathize and sympathize with our demand for atonement, repudiating our claims as unsubstantiated. History, however, provides us with clear evidence to justify our demand.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in keeping with its Education Revolution Policy, continues to realize its informative program on reparations by spreading the message of the CARICOM Reparations Commission’s (CRC) 10-Point Program for Reparations for African Slavery, which highlights broad aspects of the Caribbean condition that are a direct result of these crimes and that should be the focus of reparatory dialogue and action. Our program envisions the need for ideal compensation, distinct and isolated from the grant aid offered diplomatically at the bilateral level or within the confines of multilateral forums.

The seriousness of our discourse must not be demerited by the concept and assumption that we are on a quest for financial payment, which distorts and diminishes our objective. Undeniably, a quantification of our claim must be properly determined; however, the essence of our demand is grounded in the call for former slave-owning nations of Europe to engage Caribbean governments in reparatory dialogue to address the living legacies of these crimes.

Mr. Chairman, I ask the question: didn’t Haiti repay for reparations?

Mr. Chairman, in considering our demand for reparations, my delegation reflects on the following questions:

1. Are descendants of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade, African slavery, and native genocide in our region suffering from permeated social, psychological, economic, and cultural deprivation and disenfranchisement that have debilitated their society?

2. Can we undo slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, native genocide, and ill-gotten gains accomplished from these atrocious and barbaric phenomena?

Mr. Chairman, my delegation reiterates the call for right-thinking persons in the Caribbean, Britain, France, Holland, France, Africa, the Americas, and the entire world to embrace reparations for slavery and native genocide as just. We were never colonial empires or hegemons that ravished the wealth of other nations; yet, our people continue to suffer as a result of diabolic activities of the former colonialists.

Although the transatlantic slave trade was eliminated, its derivatives remain at the heart of profound social and economic inequalities, injustice, racism, intolerance, hatred, and prejudice that

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continue to affect people of African descent throughout the world. For this, my delegation claims reparations and calls for a concerted effort to frontally tackle these issues in keeping with the Durban Declaration.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, in commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, celebrated on March 25, and in pursuit of our endeavors for reparations, my delegation is eternally grateful for Haitian leaders, such as Toussaint L’Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe, and others, who led the first successful resistance of the enslaved. We also find solace in the humble words of the famous “Redemption Song” by renowned Jamaican reggae artist Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley, who chanted ––I’m not going to sing; I’m just going to quote him [Risas.]:

Old pirates, yes, they rob ISold I to the merchant shipsMinutes after they took IFrom the bottomless pit.But my hand was made strongBy the hand of the Almighty.We forward in this generationTriumphantly.

Won’t you help to singThese songs of freedom?‘Cause all I ever have:Redemption songs;Redemption songs.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[Aplausos.]

El PRESIDENTE: I should just say that the Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was very fortunate that in his last few seconds, he was quoting one of my favorite singers. [Risas.] I now give the floor to Antigua and Barbuda.

La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DE ANTIGUA Y BARBUDA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Distinguished excellencies, representatives, Mr. Danny Glover: good afternoon!

Mr. Chairman, Antigua and Barbuda thanks the delegations that proposed this topic for today’s discussion. In particular, we thank Mr. Glover for his insightful analysis of the issue, which has received only lip service by those nations that were its perpetrators.

Many, if not all, of our member states bear the scars of the genocide of indigenous people and of slavery. The scars are reflected today in the significant underdevelopment of several countries of the Americas and of communities within rich states of the Americas. These conditions continue to disadvantage these areas and communities today.

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When slavery was abolished in the English-speaking Caribbean in 1838, British slave owners received US$17.8 billion in today’s value as compensation for the emancipation of their property. Their property was 655,780 human beings of African descent who had been enslaved, brutalized, and exploited. The freed slaves, by comparison, received nothing in recompense for their dehumanization, their cruel treatment, the abuse of their labor, and the plain injustice of their enslavement.

The benefit of these monies still exists in Britain today. They are the foundations of Barclays Bank, Lloyds Bank, and the Royal Bank of Scotland, but they are also the basis of wealth of many leading British and Scottish families; among them, the Hogg family, two members of which became Lord Chancellors in the British Government.

But it was not individual families alone who helped to create African slavery and benefited from it; it was the British state as a whole. Its successive governments provided subsidies for the trade, adopted legislation that facilitated it, and were complicit with the governments of the colonies in adopting laws that designated African slaves as real estate, people stripped of human identity, including life, and therefore fit to be treated like land, houses, and buildings.

Exploitation of people in the Caribbean did not start or end with the enslavement of Africans. The systematic elimination of the Kalinago, the original people of the Eastern Caribbean islands, was the first act of genocide in the Western Hemisphere, and it was executed with the full knowledge and approval of European authorities. The vast majority of the original people of the Kalinago were extinguished, forcing into submission the brutalized handful who remained.

When slavery was abolished, with no recompense to the Africans for the deprivation of their liberty, the people of the Caribbean were left destitute, deprived, and disadvantaged. That today, the people of the Caribbean have built modern societies, despite the conditions they were handed at slavery’s abolition, is a tribute to the resilience, the capabilities, and the high quality of human beings that Europeans considered chattel and real estate. That they have produced Nobel Prize winners; great athletes; and fine intellectual thinkers who have commanded high positions in the international community in business, medicine, law, and technology is testimony to the wrongness of the white supremacist doctrine. Their achievements reinforce the position that their enslavement, their servitude, and the infamous acts of violence against them were wrong, and it cannot be right that those who were the principal perpetrators of those wrongs benefited while they were left as nothing more than a human catastrophe.

The Caribbean would today have been much further along the road of social and economic development if even half of the compensation given to slave owners had been given to slavery victims 178 years ago.

There is a compelling case for reparations to the nations of the Caribbean on behalf of the people who were the victims of slavery. Antigua and Barbuda is working with its sister states in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to examine all possibilities in pursuing this matter of reparations, and we will continue to do so.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Antigua and Barbuda. I give the floor to Dominica.

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La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DE DOMINICA: Mr. Chair, having listened to the intervention by the Delegation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, I will be brief.

His Excellency Luis Almagro, Secretary General; Assistant Secretary General, Nestor Mendez; distinguished ambassadors; alternate representatives; ladies and gentlemen:

This delegation wishes to join in extending a warm welcome to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador, Mr. Danny Glover, and in thanking him for his timely presentation.

Mr. Chairman, the topic of reparations is an important and extensively discussed one for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states, which have demonstrated their commitment to the establishment of the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), led by Sir Hilary Beckles, one of our region’s distinguished scholars. The injustices of the slave trade are widely accepted on humane grounds, as well as from the perspective of the asymmetrical economic systems it has engendered. We therefore strongly support the 10-Point Program for Reparations for African Slavery adopted by CARICOM heads of government.

I thank you.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Dominica. I now give the floor to Haiti.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE HAITÍ: Merci Monsieur le Président.

Monsieur le Secrétaire général, Monsieur le Secrétaire général adjoint, Monsieur Danny Glover, distingués Collègues, et Suppléants, Observateurs permanents, Mesdames et Messieurs,

Tout d’abord je tiens à remercier de manière vive la présence de notre ami, de l’ami d’Haïti, Monsieur Danny Glover, ici à l’enceinte du Conseil permanent pour parler sur cette question de réparation, cette question que nous croyons d’une extrême importance et que nous devons donner davantage de considération.

Je tiens aussi à remercier les Etats membres qui ont soumis à notre appréciation cette question, notamment la Délégation du Venezuela qui a déjà invité récemment le Premier Ministre de Saint-Vincent-et-les Grenadines, Docteur Ralph Gonçalves, et aujourd’hui notre cher ami, Danny Glover, qui est l’Ambassadeur itinérant de l’UNICEF.

Mesdames, Messieurs, la question de réparation, je crois, je peux dire étant un citoyen haïtien, nous intéresse au premier chef. Comme vous le savez et comme Monsieur Glover l’a si bien mentionné dans son intervention, Haïti, après sa révolution, la révolution des esclaves noirs, l’unique révolution qui a pu aboutir avec succès, car un groupe d’esclaves avait décidé de rompre avec le système esclavagiste. Et vous savez la suite, Haïti, pendant plusieurs années, a dû payer le fait d’avoir osé à questionner et à rompre avec le système esclavagiste.

Je crois que dans une intervention précédente que j’avais entendu le montant qu’Haïti a payé, a versé comme dette de l’Indépendance. Une dette qui faisait partie pendant plusieurs années de notre budget national. Mais c’est pourquoi je suis convaincu que l’initiative de ce groupe de pays des Caraïbes pour parler de réparation est louable. Nous devons l’encourager parce que l’esclavage en lui-même, comme beaucoup de théoriciens et beaucoup de grands hommes qui ont fait beaucoup de recherches en cette matière ont accepté que l’esclavage a été un crime contre l’humanité.

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Mais nous autres, la position de la République d’Haïti nous savons, nous ne voulons pas, de manière ou du moins sous une forme de confrontation, parler de cette histoire de réparation mais nous croyons qu’il est tellement important de l’aborder et aussi de le discuter entre amis sur cette question car nous croyons qu’il est extrêmement important pour la justice elle-même il est extrêmement important de poser la question de réparation et de le discuter et de trouver avec nos anciennes métropoles comment y arriver.

C’est pourquoi je dois réitérer l’appui de la République à l’initiative de la CARICOM. Je dois aussi profiter de cette occasion, Monsieur le Président, comme je l’avais fait le mois dernier lors de la célébration de l’Histoire des noirs, ici à l’OEA, la contribution de l’Afrique, ou du moins des Africains, des afro-descendants à cette région d’Amérique est extrêmement importante. Et c’est pourquoi je dirais l’unique contribution, la contribution importante que nous avons apporté à cette région c’est la liberté.

Car avec la révolution haïtienne et l’appui de cette révolution à la lutte de libération de cette région a été extraordinaire et a été une contribution historique. Je ne voudrais pas non plus terminer sans mentionner, sans du moins rappeler ma requête au Secrétaire général de l’OEA et au Secrétaire général adjoint, la nécessité de voir, d’initier cette campagne auprès des différents États membres et je pense que ce serait une meilleure façon de considérer l’apport des afro-descendants à cette région c’est de voir comment encourager les différents États qui n’ont pas encore ratifié ou du moins signé les deux Conventions interaméricaines sur toutes les formes de discrimination et de formes connexes qui ont été adoptées à l’Assemblée générale de Guatemala.

Je pense que ce serait une meilleure façon d’apprécier ou de considérer l’apport des afro-descendants à la région, c’est d’encourager ces États membres, les différents États membres qui n’ont pas encore fait à le considérer car je pense que ce serait une forme de contribution ou du moins une forme d’expression de considération de la région à la contribution de l’afro-descendant.

Et je voulais terminer pour rappeler le rôle notamment des héros haïtiens comme Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines et vous n’êtes pas sans savoir que Monsieur Danny Glover a personnifié dans son rôle de Toussaint Louverture le fameux film Toussaint Louverture qui a été un hommage à ce grand homme d’État haïtien et que les Français disent que c’est un général français mais nous croyons que cela a été un hommage mérité et c’est pourquoi nous considérons toujours, nous croyons toujours à Danny Glover comme un ami d’Haïti et je le remercie infiniment d’avoir voulu accepter, à venir au Conseil permanent pour apporter sa contribution et ses recommandations.

Et comme vous l’avez si bien dit Monsieur le Président, je crois que cette intervention, ce discours de Monsieur Glover sera gravé ici dans les archives de l’OEA et je pense que sa contribution a été une contribution énorme à ce grand débat et surtout dans le cadre de cette décennie des personnes de descendance africaine des Nations Unies.

Encore une fois Monsieur le Président, je vous remercie et Monsieur Danny Glover, je vous remercie de votre présence et merci à vous tous qui allez contribuer notamment les États membres qui n’ont pas encore pensé à la signature et à la ratification des deux Conventions interaméricaines sur toutes les formes de discrimination raciale. Merci Monsieur le Président.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Haiti. I now give the floor to Trinidad and Tobago.

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El REPRESENTANTE INTERINO DE TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon!

Secretary General; Assistant Secretary General; permanent, interim, and alternate representatives; ladies and gentlemen:

Mr. Danny Glover, we are fortunate and honored to have you present here today. Where you once sought and dispensed justice in your movies, today you are assisting us in an even higher order in seeking justice for people who were disenfranchised many hundreds of years ago.

I wish to thank the relevant delegations for bringing this topic for discussion at the Organization of American States, as it reflects one of the terms of reference of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission (CRC); that is, “to develop and recommend diplomatic strategies to advance the case for reparation in multilateral institutions and with other supportive governments.”

The presentation by Mr. Glover is important because it will help to keep in perspective an issue that has been too long dormant, silent, and relegated as a footnote of history. Notwithstanding the fact that the repercussions of slavery and genocide of native peoples continue to resonate today, it is to the future that we need to look to ensure that there is no repetition of these dark days of history.

The Caribbean has long had a history of resistance to slavery and colonialism. From the 15th century, with the arrival of Europe in the region, native peoples––and, subsequently, African peoples––have been known to put up fierce opposition to a régime of forced labor that existed for over 300 years, depending on which authority you ask. That their populations have been decimated or forcibly removed through the transportation of millions of people remains one of the darkest chapters of human history. This is one context in which the reparations discussion should be seen: an historical acknowledgement that a great wrong was done, a commitment to ensuring that such history never repeats itself, and righting the wrong that remains ever present today.

Another context in which we can look at this discussion about reparations is the developmental role of history. It is a fact of life that history plays an indelible role in the development of a nation. The success of many developed nations can be traced not only to their technological, human, geographical, and natural resources; such countries have sought to preserve their history so that their people have an identity and an understanding of their origin. They do not neglect their history. In fact, they glorify and embrace their history, whether it is a strong military tradition, whether it is heroic in the form of resisting or combating nature, or whether it is rising from the ashes of world wars in which peoples have fought for their survival. We, too, must seek to address our history in a manner that benefits our people of the region. Information is knowledge, and knowledge is power.

Today, reparatory justice is about the development of the Caribbean region. As Professor Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CRC, noted:

. . . it is about public health, education, poverty eradication, institutional and cultural racism, debt relief, . . . and support for development programs for First Nation peoples. The cost of these development programs should be supported by European nations within the context of a reformed development paradigm. Reparative justice is not about handouts and dependency.

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Professor Beckles went on to say that the adverse historical conditions that prevailed on the ground in the early 1960s when Caribbean nations began to achieve independence resulted in “heavy expenditure in social policy, creating huge fiscal deficits in most instances. Colonial powers should be sharing the burden and partnering in our heroic efforts to create sustainable nations out of the rubble of colonialism.”

Caribbean nations today are proudly independent, are a model of democratic governance, are historically replete with some of the soundest minds and bodies, and continue to build their societies despite constraints of size, limited natural resources, and small economies of scale. Reparatory justice would complement the work being done to grow our societies by securing a better future for us, the descendants of First Peoples, slavery, and colonialism.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Trinidad and Tobago, and I now give the floor to Guyana.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE GUYANA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the delegations that requested the inclusion of this item on the order of business of today’s Council meeting, and I thank the illustrious Mr. Danny Glover for the excellent exposition he has made on the issue of reparatory justice for slavery and genocide of native peoples.

There is no doubt, Mr. Chairman, that the dehumanization, the barbarities, and the racism engendered by the slave trade represent a blot on the face of humanity. From the Haitian Revolution to the American Civil War, the consequences of slavery have visited our region with unbelievable horror and carnage before the eventual abolition of slavery. The genocide of native peoples has been similarly outrageous and depressing.

Today native peoples and afro-descendants in our region enjoy equal constitutional and civil rights with all citizens. However, afro-descendants and native peoples systematically inhabit the poorest areas with the most precarious infrastructure and are even more exposed to crime and violence. Furthermore, they habitually encounter serious obstacles regarding access to health and education services, as well as in obtaining housing and employment, especially at the managerial and upper levels. Afro-descendants and native peoples continue to face major obstacles to the exercise and guarantee of their civil and political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

Heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed to the establishment of a National Reparations Committee in each member state, with the chair of each committee sitting on the CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC). Guyana has been in the forefront of these issues, and we shall not relent until the cause of justice is served. We have a preference for negotiations but will reserve all of our options.

Reparatory justice is an element of CARICOM’s development strategy because the legacy of slavery and colonialism in the Caribbean severely impaired the region’s development options. There is no doubt as to the role played by some members of the international community in this despicable system. Justice demands that there be responsibility for these crimes and that appropriate forms of atonement be considered, accepted, and implemented.

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What kind of justice is there in the world, Mr. Chairman, if there are reparations for some kinds of holocausts but not for others?

I congratulate Mr. Glover for his humanitarianism and for being a UN Goodwill Ambassador on this issue, and I thank him again for his moving and incisive presentation.

Thank you.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Guyana. Colombia, you have the floor.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE COLOMBIA: Muchas gracias, señor Presidente. Gracias a los países que han propiciado esta reunión y gracias por las expresiones y las reflexiones presentadas por el señor Danny Glover.

Señor Presidente, la Organización de los Estados Americanos ha venido dando pasos importantes en un tema que, como éste, suscita la mayor importancia y la mejor actitud. El Embajador de Haití recordaba cómo, en esta Organización, después de grandes debates y mucho tiempo de trabajo, logramos sacar adelante la convención contra todas las formas de discriminación. Este es uno de los grandes logros de la OEA que para ello invierte, fundamentalmente, en reflexiones hacia buenas políticas públicas. Pero desde luego ese camino, aún falta por recorrer.

Recientemente la Organización, a través de la resolución AG/RES. 2824 (XLIV-O/14) presentada por la Delegación de Colombia y copatrocinada por las Delegaciones de Antigua y Barbuda, Brasil, Dominica, Ecuador, Haití, Nicaragua y Panamá, en general con el apoyo de los colegas, acogió el “Reconocimiento del Decenio Internacional de los Afrodescendientes”, reconoció el derecho internacional de los afrodescendientes proclamado por la Organización de las Naciones Unidas y encomendó al Consejo Permanente la realización de una sesión especial para celebrar el inicio del Decenio Internacional de los Afrodescendientes con el objetivo de intercambiar ideas para la posible elaboración de un Plan de Acción de la OEA en el marco de dicho Decenio.

En efecto, en noviembre del 2015 la Comisión de Asuntos Jurídicos y Políticos del Consejo Permanente de la OEA aprobó la creación del Grupo de Trabajo encargado de Elaborar un Plan de Acción para conmemorar el Decenio Internacional de las personas Afrodescendientes. Este Plan está actualmente en proceso de negociación y será un espacio privilegiado para el debate, para la reflexión acerca de políticas, programas y proyectos dentro de la OEA. Así como para lineamientos de cooperación con otras organizaciones regionales y nacionales para el reconocimiento y promoción de los derechos de las y de los afrodescendientes.

Señor Presidente, tanto para los seres humanos como para las naciones, las grandes crisis –los dolores– exigen tratamiento para continuar viviendo con un sentido positivo y de optimismo. Por eso las grandes transiciones históricas y en los grandes dolores siempre se acude hoy a principios básicos como el de la verdad, de la justicia, el de no repetición. Y esos principios básicos serán orientadores en todas las labores que hagamos en esta Organización bajo un imperativo sustancial y es el de inclusión. De inclusión en un Continente en el cual, como se ha mencionado, hay más de doscientos millones de personas que hacen parte de este colectivo al cual tienen derechos en forma igualmente colectiva. Por eso llamamos a la participación importante en este espacio de reflexión que se adelanta en el citado Grupo de Trabajo.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Colombia.

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Now, we lost the order of speakers, so I will just tell you the order in which I will now take them: Bolivia, United States, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, Mexico, and lastly Venezuela, which was one of the proposers of this draft resolution, so I thought I would give them the last word.

Bolivia, you have the floor, sir; Venezuela has agreed. You have the floor.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE BOLIVIA: Muchas gracias, Presidente. Muy buenas tardes a todos y todas.

Presidente, inicialmente permítame expresar la solidaridad del pueblo y del Gobierno de Bolivia a Bélgica, a Pakistán e Irak. Como usted lo ha expresado al inicio de este Consejo, expresamos nuestra solidaridad con estos hermanos países pero, además, condenamos todo tipo de terrorismo que perturbe la paz y la convivencia de nuestros pueblos.

Señor Presidente, quiero agradecer al señor Danny Glover, Embajador de Buena Voluntad del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF) y activista por los derechos de los afrodescendientes y de las minorías en los Estados Unidos. Reconocemos los importantes y el valiente esfuerzo realizado en la temática por San Vicente y las Granadinas, a la cabeza de su Primer Ministro Ralph Gonsalves, así como a todos los países hermanos del Caribe, Venezuela y todos los que acompañaron esta convocatoria.

Este Consejo Permanente por segunda oportunidad está abordando este importante tema en relación con las reparaciones por la esclavitud y el genocidio de los nativos, lo cual hace que el tema se constituya en la Organización de los Estados Americanos como un tema de importancia, por lo cual Bolivia considera que nuestra Organización debería promoverlo y apoyarlo de manera mucho más comprometida. Cuando hablamos de la esclavitud y el genocidio de las poblaciones nativas todos nos remontamos al pasado y recordamos aquella historia contada por la diversa bibliografía universal. Una historia de invasiones, colonizaciones, de explotación, que a su paso fue dejando muerte y dolor a los pueblos del hemisferio americano.

Han pasado muchos años desde aquellos oscuros siglos, cuando los afrodescendientes e indígenas fueron esclavizados; desde que los pueblos indígenas fueron despojados de sus tierras y de sus hábitats. Si bien no podemos desconocer los grandes avances logrados, no podemos ocultar las graves consecuencias que ha dejado y que a la fecha se encuentran vigentes en nuestras sociedades.

De manera muy elocuente nuestro invitado del día de hoy ha destacado que la discriminación, el racismo, la explotación, la desigualdad económica sistemática aún siguen presentes y ello nos muestra que aún quedan resabios del pasado sobre los que tenemos responsabilidades.

Previo a concluir permítame poner en su conocimiento, Presidente, que al territorio hoy llamado Bolivia arribaron miles y miles de personas en calidad de esclavos para la explotación de las minas, quienes sobrevivieron y con el tiempo conformaron una importante comunidad afroboliviana, que convivió junto a las comunidades indígenas, incluso aprendiendo su idioma, su cultura; aprendiendo el aymara, el quechua. Hoy, con un Gobierno indígena encabezado por el Presidente Morales, gozan de los mismos derechos y las mismas libertades que los pueblos indígenas.

Finalmente, permítame retomar el mensaje central de nuestra sesión del día de hoy y ratificar el compromiso de Bolivia con esta temática. Como ya lo expresamos en la “Declaración Especial sobre la Cuestión de las Reparaciones por la Esclavitud y el Genocidio de las Poblaciones Nativas”, aprobadas por las Jefes y los Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de América Latina y el Caribe en ocasión

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de la Segunda Cumbre de la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) en el año 2014, que de manera textual reconoce que la esclavitud y la trata de esclavos, en particular la trata trasatlántica, fueron tragedias atroces en la historia de la humanidad, no solo por su aborrecible barbarie sino también por su magnitud, su carácter organizado y, especialmente, por la negación de la esencia de las víctimas. Reconoce, asimismo, que la esclavitud y la trata de esclavos, especialmente la trata trasatlántica de esclavos, constituyen un crimen de lesa humanidad y son una de las principales fuentes y manifestaciones de racismo, discriminación racial, xenofobia y formas conexas de intolerancia y que los africanos y afrodescendientes, los asiáticos y las personas de origen asiático y los pueblos indígenas fueron víctimas de esos actos y continúan siéndolo de sus consecuencias.

Por todo lo mencionado, Presidente, Bolivia comprometida con los pueblos, comprometida con la lucha de los pueblos indígenas, de los pueblos afrodescendientes apoya la iniciativa del Caribe para la reparación por parte de las potencias mundiales para que la misma sea una obligación moral en busca de justicia y la construcción de una democracia verdadera.

Gracias, Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Bolivia. The United States, you have the floor.

La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS: Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, my delegation joins others today in welcoming Mr. Danny Glover to this Permanent Council as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). We appreciate the chance to hear his perspectives and views on an issue of interest to many of our nations.

Today, the United States is honored to pay tribute to the memory of the millions and men and women, girls and boys, robbed of their fundamental freedom and lives through the impact of slavery and, especially, the transatlantic slave trade. Let me be clear: the horrors of slavery are a collective stain on our history. Whole families were destroyed, entire communities divided.

My delegation fully observes that there is no greater blemish in the history of the United States of America than that of slavery of the kind defined by freedom denied. The stories of transatlantic slavery and its abolition, along with the stories of heroes like Harriet Tubman, who helped free slaves through the Underground Railroad, are woven into the very fabric of our nation. As a nation, the United States recognizes the enduring impact of the wounds of slavery and, collectively, we must strive to heal.

The United States is a multicultural society and one of the best ways for us to honor those who were enslaved is to spread awareness of their struggle, recognize the contributions made by people of African descent to build and develop this country, and celebrate the culture and traditions of the African diaspora.

The story of African Americans in the United States is one of how courageous yet ordinary men and women had the strength and determination to right a wrong, to make it right. As President Obama noted at the ground breaking for the soon-to-be-opened Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, just down the street from here, I quote:

I want my daughters to see the shackles that bound slaves on their voyage across the ocean and the shards of glass that flew from the 16th Street Baptist Church and understand

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that injustice and evil exist in the world. But I also want them to hear Louis Armstrong’s horn and learn about the Negro League and read the poems of Phyllis Wheatley. And I want them to appreciate this museum, not just as a record of tragedy but as a celebration of life.

Mr. Chairman, although slavery existed in different periods of history and in different civilizations, the transatlantic slave trade, because of its magnitude and impact here within the Americas, remains a unique event in modern history. Its abolition in 1807 marked the beginning of an important development that, in truth, is still ongoing. The ideology that has underpinned slavery has not been completely eradicated. Racism, discrimination based on the belief of a hierarchy of races and colors, is unfortunately still present today. That is why we must continue to debate and discuss its impact, both domestically and internationally. It is also why we must continue to support institutions of the Organization of American States, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which help each of our countries promote and implement corresponding change at the local and domestic levels.

Mr. Chairman, let me also observe that today’s discussion occurs during the second year of the International Decade for People of African Descent. The United States comes to this decade with a full and robust commitment to ensuring the rights of persons of African descent and to combatting racism and discrimination against them. That is also our commitment to members of all groups.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said that injustice anywhere was a threat to justice everywhere. Similarly, injustice committed in the past against the dignity of slaves and indigenous people and the discrimination that people of African and indigenous descent may face today remain an injustice against mankind.

With these points in mind, Mr. Chairman, we remember the victims of the transatlantic slave trade and fully recommit to act in accordance with our international and domestic obligations to do the same for modern slavery.

Thank you very much.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, United States, and I now give the floor to Nicaragua.

El REPRESENTANTE INTERINO DE NICARAGUA: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

En primer lugar quiero agradecer al distinguido Embajador Álvarez, de Venezuela, por su acertada iniciativa de convocar a nuestro distinguido invitado el señor Danny Glover a participar en este evento que ha revestido de gala a este Consejo Permanente.

Igualmente, quiero reconocer la presencia del Secretario General, el Secretario General Adjunto y agradecer a Danny Glover por la excelente presentación. Me recordaba, precisamente, los discursos de los grandes estadistas de nuestros países; entre ellos, el propio presidente de mi país.

Señor Presidente, Nicaragua igualmente se suma a las expresiones realizadas por los que me han precedido en el uso de la palabra y queremos también honrar a todas las víctimas de la esclavitud en esta reunión. Sabemos que los afrodescendientes representan entre el 20 y 30 por ciento de la población de América Latina; estamos hablando de alrededor de unos doscientos millones de personas, como el señor Glover señalaba, personas que experimentan niveles desproporcionadamente

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bajos de pobreza, exclusión social, y continúan enfrentando una severa discriminación en todos los órdenes.

A pesar de la existencia de marcos legales nacionales y la declaración de diversas instituciones para asegurar el ejercicio de los derechos de las poblaciones afrodescendientes, la aplicación de la ley y posiciones constituye un reto para los países del Hemisferio y queda mucho por hacer en este sentido en la región.

En particular falta profundizar al reconocimiento político y cultural de sus valores, sus aspiraciones, y sus modos de vida para dejar atrás una invisibilidad cultural que potencia la exclusión socioeconómica, creando más desigualdad, más segmentación social. Se trata de alguna manera de un cambio en el paradigma, un cambio de paradigma en el tratamiento de nuestros hermanos afrodescendientes. Es por ello que es importante recordar la historia, los sucesos, cómo acontecieron, cómo se originaron, para corregir el presente y asegurar un futuro mejor para las personas afrodescendientes.

Tanto la conferencia de Santiago y la conferencia mundial de Durham a las que se refirió el señor Glover, señalaban que la población afrodescendiente en toda América Latina es una de las más vulnerables, excluida y pobre del Continente, careciendo, viviendo en desventaja con respecto al resto de la población en los ámbitos de educación, trabajo, salud, vivienda, seguridad social, acceso a los servicios públicos. Son excluidos de los servicios públicos que les son prácticamente inaccesibles, al igual que lo son para los pueblos indígenas. Es decir, sufren en esta misma proporción, pese a sus profundas raíces históricas y culturales que, de alguna manera, han nutrido también a los pueblos de la región. Todo ello como consecuencia del racismo y la discriminación racial estructural.

Ese es otro de los elementos y los cambios de paradigma que debemos hacer en cuanto a las estructuras culturales que tenemos conformadas. Son diversas las manifestaciones de racismo: las limitaciones, restricciones y deformaciones de los derechos humanos; tales como el derecho a la vida, la amenaza a su existencia colectiva mediante actos de genocidio, etnocidio, ecocidio; la intolerancia respecto a sus prácticas culturales y espirituales, a su economía y su forma de vida tradicionales, el ataque a su patrimonio cultural e intelectual del que forman parte sus lugares sagrados e históricos, sus prácticas de salud, sus conocimientos de medicinas importantes –medicina natural–, el racismo institucionalizado y la acción estatal en el combate a sus diversas manifestaciones.

Todo esto tiende a perpetuar y legitimar comportamientos discriminatorios y tiene que ir cambiando. El desarrollo de procesos de asimilación basados en ideas de superioridad de un grupo o de una cultura sobre otro lo que busca es hacer desaparecer la identidad diferenciada por considerarla inferior. El desplazamiento, la reubicación forzada como consecuencia de conflictos armados, la inequidad en la prestación de servicios de salud y el acceso a la vivienda, el empleo, la formación, la capacitación y educación en todos los niveles. Todo esto origina realmente una exclusión. Una exclusión de esta población.

Para el Gobierno de reconciliación y unidad nacional que preside el Comandante Daniel Ortega Saavedra, la reivindicación de los derechos de los afrodescendientes de nuestro país constituye un aspecto de primordial importancia. El Estado de Nicaragua, consciente de la importancia de este sistema normativo ha adoptado políticas públicas encaminadas precisamente a ir reivindicando todos estos derechos. Su derecho a la salud, a la educación, a participar en la vida política, social y cultural del país. También, a la par de ello, hemos adoptado un sistema normativo internacional que constituye el componente esencial para la protección de los derechos de todas las personas y hemos

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ratificado numerosos instrumentos internacionales de protección a los derechos de los afrodescendientes.

De esta forma estas políticas del Estado inspiradas en esta orientación han beneficiado a la población afrodescendiente que coexiste en las regiones autónomas de la Costa Caribe de nuestro país, en el que son identificadas las poblaciones garífunas creoles. Estos pueblos comparten territorios, prácticas productivas, relaciones culturales y lingüísticas y habitan en las zonas de mayor diversidad, biodiversidad y áreas protegidas del país. Algunos pueblos, incluso, mantienen relaciones intrafronterizas con el Caribe insular y todos estos grupos coexisten, incluso con población mestiza. Lo importante de ello es que realizan un gran aporte a la vida económica, política, social y cultural del país en la que participan de manera plena y efectiva.

Comparto lo expresado por el señor Glover en el sentido de que hay que tener sinergias en el diseño de las políticas públicas que realicen los Estados para integrar todos estos elementos en la creación de un marco afirmativo que creemos que es importante y retomar las iniciativas del milenio encaminadas precisamente a la restitución, a lo que tiene que ver con la justicia restaurativa y al desarrollo.

Creemos importante que los Estados tomemos conciencia de que hay que corregir una serie de situaciones para lo cual es necesario retomar los mecanismos necesarios, algunos de ellos ya expresados en el llamado de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas en su propia declaración, a fin de que las practicas institucionales, incluso de la empresa privada, contribuyan a ir disminuyendo los niveles de racismo existente en nuestros países.

Creemos importante que todo tipo de esfuerzo que podamos realizar como Estados en esta dirección va a permitir a que la población afrodescendiente tenga mejores niveles de vida, un mejor nivel de desarrollo y no hay que dejar de recordar que de pequeños pasos proceden cambios grandes.

Así que el Gobierno de Nicaragua sigue comprometido con el esfuerzo de seguir reivindicando todos los derechos de la población afrodescendiente en nuestro país y seguiremos impulsando todas las políticas públicas que reivindiquen todos los derechos de nuestra población afrodescendiente.

Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Nicaragua. I now give the floor to Ecuador.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DEL ECUADOR: Muchas gracias, señor Presidente. El Ecuador se une al agradecimiento que esta Sala ha realizado al Embajador de Buena Voluntad del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia, el señor Danny Glover.

Señor Presidente, a la llegada de los colonizadores a las Américas habitaban en este continente alrededor de cien millones de indígenas de distintos pueblos, nacionalidades y culturas. Varios siglos después y como resultado de un proceso sistemático de exterminio, injusticia, vejaciones y otros tratos crueles, inhumanos y degradantes esta población disminuyó dramáticamente a unos cuantos millones; incluso en algunos países las poblaciones indígenas desaparecieron completamente.

Así el colonialismo, en el caso de los pueblos originarios en las Américas, en el Áfricam, no solo es culpable de genocidio, entendido como la destrucción deliberada total o parcial de un grupo

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humano nacional étnico o religioso, sino que realizó conscientemente un genocidio cultural ya que se quiso aniquilar su cultura, su religión, se invisibilizó sus conocimientos, se marginalizó su arte y se trató de extinguir idiomas y lenguas nativas.

Es entonces uno de los más atroces crímenes contra la humanidad –la esclavitud– y el desarraigo criminal de las poblaciones africanas. Las redes de tráfico de esclavos desde ese Continente hacia Europa y hacia las Américas es un acto de mercantilismo incomprensible. En ese período inhumano de nuestra historia se perdieron millones de vidas, se separaron a millones de familias, se torturó, se masacró y se violentó los derechos de millones de seres humanos a quienes se les despojó de su humanidad.

La esclavitud es una de las heridas abiertas de las Américas y es una cuenta pendiente de la justicia y la memoria. Hoy, señor Presidente, es fundamental lograr un cambio de nuestros estándares mentales y culturales. La eliminación de toda forma de racismo es básicamente un compromiso de ver la vida de una forma distinta. La eliminación del racismo no se logra solamente con leyes ni con políticas públicas. El elemento central debe ser el cambio de valores en cada ser humano.

Señor Presidente, el derecho a la reparación y a la justicia no es un enunciado vacío del derecho internacional. Es una aspiración y más que nada un derecho en sí mismo, per se, que en el caso de los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes se traduce en lograr el reconocimiento, la justicia y el desarrollo humano y social.

Señor Presidente, finalmente quisiera decir que la prosperidad y el desarrollo en las Américas solo será posible con lo que hemos hablado el día de hoy: la reparación, la justicia y la eliminación total de la intolerancia, la discriminación, la violencia y el fomento a una sociedad más justa, solidaria, equitativa y participativa.

Gracias.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Ecuador, for that very important statement, and now I’d like to give the floor to Brazil.

La REPRESENTANTE ALTERNA DEL BRASIL: Muito obrigada, Senhor Presidente.

Gostaria de iniciar minha intervenção saudando a presença do Secretário-Geral, Luis Almagro, e do Secretário-Geral Adjunto, Nestor Mendez.

Gostaria muito de agradecer ao Senhor Danny Glover sua apresentação. Acredito até que possa estar me compreendendo em português sem precisar de interpretação. Muito obrigada pela sua apresentação e pelas ideias que trouxe ao nosso Conselho Permanente.

Gostaria de agradecer a iniciativa dos países que propuseram esta importantíssima discussão. O Brasil apoia a ideia de que as reparações, de fato, são necessárias, pelas razões que já foram trazidas aqui pelas Delegações e também sua apresentação.

Gostaria de recordar que a Conferência Regional da Década Internacional dos Afrodescendentes, da Comunidade de Estados Latino-americanos e Caribenhos (CELAC), em dezembro de 2015, expressou seu apoio à iniciativa da Comunidade do Caribe (CARICOM) sobre reparações. E justamente por esta razão, nós acompanhamos, o Brasil acompanha com muito interesse o desenvolvimento dessa iniciativa e das demais que surjam a respeito desse tema.

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Acreditamos que realmente devemos aprovar e implementar, efetivamente, políticas e programas que possam corrigir as desigualdades trazidas pelo racismo e pela discriminação.

A própria Conferência Regional da CELAC abordou esses temas e disse que “o direito à igualdade e a não discriminação é a base para o gozo de todos os demais direitos humanos”. A Declaração ainda reconhece que todos nós, todos os seres humanos, nascem livres e iguais e merecem ser tratados da mesma forma digna.

É isso que nós estamos tentando fazer no Brasil. Nós temos um Ministério que é dedicado à igualdade racial, às mulheres e aos direitos humanos e que vem buscando cumprir este papel.

O Governo tem adotado medidas de diversas naturezas e, sobre isso, nós temos falado no nosso Grupo de Trabalho, aqui na OEA, Encarregado de Elaborar o Plano de Ação da Década Internacional dos Afrodescendentes das América. Uma das medidas recentes que já mencionei neste Grupo, por exemplo, é o fato de que nós temos agora uma cota de 20% para os afrodescendentes em todos os concursos públicos destinados a preencher vagas na Administração Pública Federal.

Estamos engajados na elaboração do Plano de Ação da OEA e gostaríamos de agradecer ao Embaixador Andrés Gonzáles, Representante Permanente da Colômbia, pela condução dos trabalhos do Grupo de Trabalho, de que acreditamos todos deveriam participar, para trazerem suas visões e suas contribuições.

Por último, não poderia deixar de realizar um chamado para que todos os Estados membros da OEA que ainda não o tenham feito possam assinar a Convenção Interamericana contra o Racismo, a Discriminação Racial e Formas Correlatas de Intolerância, que acredito ser uma das mais importantes contribuições na luta desta Organização contra o racismo.

Muito obrigada.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Brazil. I now give the floor to the distinguished Ambassador of Mexico.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE MÉXICO: Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

México agradece y saluda la presencia del Embajador de Buena Voluntad del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia, señor Danny Glover y también agradece a las Delegaciones de Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, San Vicente y las Granadinas y Venezuela por promover esta presentación.

México, señor Presidente, ha mantenido invariablemente una política antiesclavista desde el bando de Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, padre de la independencia, que abolió la esclavitud y que fue recogido en las sucesivas constituciones de 1824, 1857 y la vigente de 1917.

De la misma manera, la Constitución reconoce la pluriculturalidad de los pueblos nativos que habitan en el territorio como la base y fundamento de nuestra nacionalidad, de donde se desprende todo un marco jurídico, político, económico y social en contra de la discriminación. Por todo ello recibimos con sumo interés la idea del señor Danny Glover sobre la justicia reparativa que recogemos con mucha simpatía. Un concepto ampliamente traducido en políticas públicas reparadoras en mi país.

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Le expreso a usted, señor Glover, a todo el Caribe y países hermanos con población afrodescendiente nuestra invariable solidaridad.

Gracias, señor Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Mexico. I now give the floor to one of the leading proposers of this initiative, the distinguished Ambassador of Venezuela.

El REPRESENTANTE PERMANENTE DE VENEZUELA: Señor Presidente, señor Secretario, señor Secretario Adjunto, en primer lugar deseo agradecer al hermano, amigo, Danny Glover, por esta excelente presentación. Traté de tomar algunas notas, pero me di cuenta que era preferible escuchar el discurso y luego leerlo. Y creo, como dijo el señor Presidente del Consejo, que va a ser un documento histórico por la profundidad que tiene.

Por otro lado, es la segunda oportunidad en donde nosotros promovemos este tema en el Consejo Permanente. Y la gente nos preguntará ¿por qué? Porque nosotros pensamos que esto no puede ser una batalla y una pelea que se quede solamente en la Comunidad del Caribe (CARICOM) y que tiene que venir a todas las instancias en donde estemos todos los países reunidos. Porque si no se resuelve ese problema tampoco se resolverá el problema de la justicia, de la democracia, de la igualdad en nuestro hemisferio, en nuestro continente.

Creo además que más allá del tema específico de las reparaciones que nosotros vamos a consultarlo con algunos países y vamos a presentar algún documento, algún proyecto de resolución o declaración para llevar a la reunión de la Asamblea de la Organización de los Estados Americanos en junio, en la República Dominicana, para que haya un documento formal de la Organización sobre este tema. Pero más allá de eso, creo que la reflexión de Danny Glover nos permite a nosotros ver el presente y entender que si no afrontamos esta situación –que es parte de la reparación, pero que va mucho más allá– no vamos nunca a tener una democracia verdadera. Y eso es aplicable a todos los países, no solo a nuestros compañeros caribeños en donde muchos de ellos, por supuesto, vamos a decir que el color de la piel predominante es el moreno, o el negro, no, sino que nos afecta a todos.

Hace unos años, el tema de la afrodescendencia para la América Latina era un poco como de un tema de minorías; que no tenía mucho impacto. Pero cuando vinimos a los Estados Unidos nos dimos cuenta con el señor Glover que había un amplio sector progresista en los Estados Unidos que tenía una relación con el Caribe y a partir del Caribe, una relación con el África pero que era necesario hacer la conexión también con la América Latina; la no caribeña. Y empezamos nosotros a darnos cuenta de la importancia de ese nuevo espacio que se ha creado en donde se une América del Norte, el Caribe, América del Sur y América Latina y África, en un espacio político, cultural extraordinario.

Creemos que ahí está un poco la idea de futuro. Por eso las reparaciones tienen que ser el paso para una mejor democracia. Como decía el señor Glover, una democracia participativa. Porque solo si desechamos la democracia de élites, que es la que ha prevalecido en las relaciones interamericanas, solo si hacemos eso podemos llegar realmente a un proceso de reparación, de justicia, y de desarrollo en sociedades multiétnicas y pluriculturales.

Entonces creo que es una excelente oportunidad que hemos tenido, como segunda oportunidad después del Primer Ministro Ralph Gonsalves. Y vamos a consultar con los Estados y los

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Gobiernos para llevar algún proyecto de resolución importante a la Asamblea en la República Dominicana. Y veo que hay una buena disposición.

Y para terminar quería simplemente referirme a esto de las fechas. El 31 de marzo de este año se cumplen doscientos años que desde Haití salió un barco para ayudar a la independencia venezolana, donde el Presidente Pétion permitió a cuidadanos haitianos, con armamento, provisiones y fuerza militar, que fueron a la libertad de Venezuela. Y el día 2 de junio de hace doscientos años, el 2 de junio de 1816, el Libertador Simón Bolívar declaró la liberación de los esclavos en la ciudad de Carúpano que, para los que conozcen Venezuela, es una ciudad donde hay un amplísimo espacio de afrodescendencia.

Creo que me siento muy complacido por que hayamos podido tener aquí a nuestro querido amigo. Déjenme decirles que tuvo que volar unas cuantas horas, casi no pudo dormir; viene de Europa, del África y recién llegó esta madrugada. Pero, bueno, él tenía mucho interés en traer este tema a la Organización de los Estados Americanos y creo que todos debemos aprovechar su presencia para darle un impulso al tema y ver si la Organización puede manifestarse con fuerza y con firmeza apoyando a nuestros hermanos del Caribe en una lucha que, les vuelvo a repetir, no es solo la lucha del Caribe; es la lucha de todos nosotros.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Venezuela, and now I give the floor to the Secretary General.

El SECRETARIO GENERAL: Gracias señor Presidente. Es un honor para mí poder dirigir unas palabras en esta sesión del Consejo Permanente, en particular porque considero que los países de la América y la Organización de los Estados Americanos tienen una deuda pendiente con los pueblos indígenas y las poblaciones afrodescendientes.

Los conceptos de respeto, justicia, reparación que han sido mencionados son muy importantes en la dimensión histórica de nuestro continente. Se pergeñó aquí un crimen de lesa humanidad contra la población afrodescendiente, el cual nunca fue reparado y el cual nunca fue considerado en las variables de memoria, verdad, justicia y no repetición.

Todos estos conceptos son fundamentales para la memoria, porque tenemos que tener presente hoy que todavía persiste la discriminación contra la población afrodescendiente en el Continente y que es necesario dar pasos sustanciales de cooperación entre nuestros países, fortalecer los trabajos de la Organización de los Estados Americanos para hacer posible la eliminación de esta forma de discriminación.

El concepto de justicia que nunca llegó a la población afrodescendiente y que todavía la sufre. Se sufre todavía la impunidad de los crímenes contra afrodescendientes en el Continente. Se sufre todavía la impunidad contra la discriminación afrodescendiente y contra la discriminación en general en nuestro continente. Nos falta absorber demasiada verdad histórica. No hemos sido capaces de asumir estas responsabilidades y estas culpas en el Continente.

Tenemos en la puerta de la Organización de los Estados Americanos una estatua de una reina de un país europeo. No tenemos nada, nada, ningún monumento, ninguna estatua, nada, en la puerta de la Organización de los Estados Americanos que recuerde esa enorme afrenta que sufrió la población afrodescendiente.

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El racismo y la discriminación racial son parte de la vida hoy de nuestras poblaciones afrodescendientes. El denominado descubrimiento de América trajo estos flagelos, los que sufrió la población indígena y los que sufrió la población afrodescendiente. La ruta trasatlántica legal e ilegal tenía un serio problema: era un crimen de lesa humanidad; constituía definitivamente una afrenta a la dignidad humana, a la esencia de las personas. Las condiciones de traslado, el hacinamiento, falta de comida, falta de higiene, las enfermedades –los que tuvieron la suerte de llegar, porque muchos murieron en el camino– torturas, violaciones, humillaciones, nunca nos hemos hecho cargo de esta deuda histórica.

Las y los sobrevivientes de la travesía de la muerte y sus descendientes aportaron definitivamente y significativamente a la construcción de todos los Estados americanos. Hemos utilizado su inteligencia, su fuerza, su cultura en diversos campos de expertise como la arquitectura, la ingeniería, la medicina, la minería, la agricultura, la ganadería, entre otros.

Estamos atrasados todavía en llevar las cosas del papel a los hechos. Nos falta salir del campo de las grandes declaraciones para hacer realidad efectiva en nuestro continente esto que definitivamente constituye una afrenta enorme a la dignidad humana. Definitivamente tenemos que pensar en formas de reparación y no podemos dejar a los países del Caribe solos al respecto, como decía el Embajador Bernardo Álvarez.

La forma de esa reparación tenemos que discutirla, tenemos que evaluarla y tenemos que ponerla sobre la mesa como una solución para los países del Caribe, como una solución para cada afrodescendiente, en todas las Américas.

No va a corregir el daño económico, cultural y político infligido a las comunidades y pueblos afectados, pero sí es absolutamente necesario que lo hagamos. Es absolutamente necesario que lo realicemos. Tenemos que ser conscientes que este no es un trabajo de la Organización de los Estados Americanos solamente. La Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR), la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC), el Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR), la Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB), el Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), todos debemos ser conscientes de que debemos trabajar juntos para impulsar este Decenio Internacional para los Afrodescendiente y para que definitivamente su Plan de Acción tenga una ejecución que signifique diferencias notorias, diferencias reales en materia de acceso a derechos y equidad por parte de la población afrodescendiente.

La presentación del señor Danny Glover en este Consejo Permanente, al igual que otros ilustres afrodescendientes que nos han acompañado anteriormente, nos muestra lo fundamental de la incorporación de la población afrodescendiente en la historia oficial de los países de las Américas. Todas y todos los ciudadanos de la región debemos ser conscientes de sus contribuciones, revalorar la riqueza de la diversidad y generar espacios de justicia social que resuelvan la variable de discriminación que todavía existe en nuestro continente.

Trabajamos por más derechos para más personas. Esta labor definitivamente es incompleta si no resolvemos la situación de millones de personas afrodescendientes e indígenas para que tengan más derechos, para sacarlos de la pobreza, de esa pobreza estructural a la que los han sometido todos nuestros países. Y esto tiene doscientos años de historia; de historia de vida independiente. Tiene también una definitiva herencia colonial.

El trabajo conjunto que podemos hacer para que todos firmemos, ratifiquemos e implementemos la Convención Interamericana contra el Racismo, la Discriminación Racial y Formas

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Conexas de Intolerancia. La OEA debe contribuir a la prevención, eliminación y sanción del racismo y la discriminación racial en las Américas así como el reconocimiento a la justicia, al respeto a millones de personas en la región.

El PRESIDENTE: Well, colleagues, I think you will all agree that that statement from the Secretary General of the Organization of American States is very important. It is a progressive vision for this Organization and one, sir, for which I congratulate you and thank you.

If I may, I would like to ask that you distribute that speech through the Secretariat to delegations here so that we can all have the chance to read it and absorb it. Similarly, I’d like to ask you, Mr. Glover, whether it would be possible for your presentation to be made available to us for circulation. That, I think, would be very useful.

Now, there are no other requests for the floor and I propose that the Permanent Council take note of the important, inspirational, and informative presentation made by Mr. Danny Glover and further notes the interventions made by delegations, as well as the important statement made by the Secretary General. If there are no objections, I will rule that it is so agreed. Agreed.

Mr. Glover, on behalf of this Permanent Council, I thank you once again for joining us today and for the insights that you have provided into the subject that corresponds to our principal Charter: that social justice and social security are the basis of lasting peace. I thank you very much. I give you the floor once again.

El SEÑOR DANNY GLOVER, EMBAJADOR DE BUENA VOLUNTAD DEL FONDO DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS PARA LA INFANCIA: I want to once again express what an honor it is to be here at the invitation of my good friend, Bernado, but also at the invitation of the extraordinary men and women of the region—all of you.

I want to tell a little story so that you have some sort of understanding about who and where I am. My mother, absolutely the greatest woman I’ve ever met, was from a small place in Louisville, Georgia, and she was part of my moral underpinning as a child. My mother would always say: “I will be eternally grateful for my mother and father because I did not pick cotton in September; I went to school in September”––a paradigm shift.

My great-grandmother, Mary Brown, who I had the opportunity of meeting as a child, at two or three years old, was born in 1853. Mary Brown was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. That’s the continuum that I’m a part of, so when I sit here among these extraordinary delegations, I stand on their shoulders.

As I began my career as an actor and she would have friends around, my mother would always say: “My son is an actor,” because she had accumulated a new word. And her friends would say: “Well, what has he done?” And before they could finish the statement, she would say: “He hasn’t done anything yet but one day, he’s going to do something important.”

My mother and Mary Brown, my grandmother, are looking down on me right now and saying: this is the moment when he did something important.

Thank you very much.

[Aplausos.]

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El PRESIDENTE: I prevail on everyone to stay in the hall while we say goodbye to Mr. Glover.

[El señor Danny Glover se retira de la Sala. Pausa.]

CONSIDERACIÓN Y APROBACIÓN DEL PROYECTO DE RESOLUCIÓN“LUGAR Y FECHA DE LA DÉCIMO SÉPTIMA REUNIÓN ORDINARIA DEL

COMITÉ CONSULTIVO DE LA CONVENCIÓN INTERAMERICANA CONTRA LAFABRICACIÓN Y EL TRÁFICO ILÍCITOS DE ARMAS DE FUEGO,

MUNICIONES, EXPLOSIVOS Y OTROS MATERIALES RELACIONADOS (CIFTA),CONVOCADA POR LAS RESOLUCIONES AG/RES. 2866 (XLII-O/14) Y

AG/RES. 2873 (XLV-O/15)”

El PRESIDENTE: Colleagues, we’ll now proceed to the next item on the order of business; namely, the consideration of the draft resolution titled “Venue and Date of the Seventeenth Regular Meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), Convened by Resolutions AG/RES.2866 (XLIV-O/14) and AG/RES.2873 (XLV/15).”

This draft resolution was agreed by the Committee on Hemispheric Security (CHS) and sent to the Permanent Council for consideration and approval by the Chair of that committee in document CP/doc.5176/16. In this regard, I invite the Chair of the CHS, Ambassador Marco Albuja Martínez, Permanent Representative of Ecuador, to introduce the draft resolution. Ambassador Albuja, you have the floor.

El PRESIDENTE DE LA COMISIÓN DE SEGURIDAD HEMISFÉRICA: Gracias, señor Presidente.

La Delegación del Ecuador, en su condición de Presidente de la Comisión de Seguridad Hemisférica, se permite presentar a este Consejo Permanente el proyecto de resolución titulado “Lugar y fecha de la décimo séptima reunión ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), convocada por las resoluciones de la Asamblea General de 2014 y 2015”. Esperamos la correspondiente consideración y aprobación por parte del Consejo Permanente conforme al procedimiento establecido.

Tal vez sí añado que este proyecto de resolución, ya acordado en el marco de la Comisión de Seguridad Hemisférica, propone como fecha de la decimoséptima reunión ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la CIFTA el 2 de mayo de 2016 y como lugar esta sede. Al ser este un tema de procedimiento, mi Delegación solicita a los Estados Miembros su apoyo para la aprobación del mismo.

Gracias.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much.

The draft resolution is now submitted for the consideration of member states. I invite comments from any delegations that might wish to speak. I have no requests for the floor; I therefore

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thank Ecuador for that presentation and, there being no further requests, I suggest that the draft resolution before us be approved. It is so approved.1/

INFORME DE LA PRESIDENCIA DE LA COMISIÓN SOBRE GESTIÓN DECUMBRES INTERAMERICANAS Y PARTICIPACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL

EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE LA OEA SOBRE LAS SOLICITUDES DE REGISTRO DENUEVE ORGANIZACIONES DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL

El PRESIDENTE: We will now receive the report of the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities. (CISC). Panama, you have the floor.

El PRESIDENTE DE LA COMISIÓN SOBRE GESTIÓN DE CUMBRES INTERAMERICANAS Y PARTICIPACIÓN DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL EN LAS ACTIVIDADES DE LA OEA: Gracias.

Señor Presidente, señor Secretario General, estimados colegas: en la reunión de la Comisión sobre Gestión de Cumbres Interamericanas y Participación de la Sociedad Civil en las Actividades de la OEA que se llevó a cabo el 23 de febrero del 2016, y luego de escuchar la recomendación de la Sección de Relaciones con la Sociedad Civil de la Secretaría de Acceso a Derechos y Equidad, la Comisión acordó elevar a consideración de este Consejo Permanente las solicitudes de nueve organizaciones de la sociedad civil para ser incluidas en el registro de la Organización de los Estados Americanos.

En el informe que fue distribuido a las delegaciones como documento CP/CISC-820/16 se incluye la clasificación de los documentos de análisis de las nueve organizaciones, es por eso que me limitaré a mencionar sus nombres y el país:

Colombia:

Asociación Unitaria de Servidores Públicos del Sistema Penitenciario y Carcelario Colombiano;

Asociación Colombiana de Oficiales en Retiro de las Fuerzas Militares (ACORE).

Estados Unidos:

Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER);

USA Refugees & Immigrants;

Equality Now;

Ipas, Inc.;

World Wide Web Foundation.

1. Resolución CP/RES.1060 (2061/16), anexa.

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Guatemala:

Asociación La Familia Importa (AFI);

Reino Unido:

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).

De conformidad con el punto 6 de las directrices y en cumplimiento del artículo 22, literal b) del Reglamento del Consejo Permanente y demás disposiciones concordantes, me complace presentar a consideración del Consejo Permanente la recomendación de la Comisión para que el Consejo apruebe la participación de las nueve organizaciones anteriormente mencionadas en las actividades de la OEA y que las mismas sean inscritas en el registro de las organizaciones de la sociedad civil de la OEA.

Gracias, señor Presidente.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Ambassador of Panama.

Now, I’m inviting comments from any member states that may wish to speak to this proposition. Okay, having heard the presentation by Ambassador Sierra, I propose that the Permanent Council approve the recommendations presented by the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in OAS Activities. (CISC) to register with the Organization of American States the nine civil society organizations identified in document CP/CISC-820/16. I am seeing no objections; I regard that as agreed.

APROBACIÓN DE ACTAS

El PRESIDENTE: Now the fifth item on the order of business is the approval of the following minutes: CP/ACTA 2038/15, regular meeting of October 15. If there are no objections, we will proceed to approve those minutes. I see no objection. Approved.

JORNADA INTERNACIONAL DE LA FRANCOFONÍA

El PRESIDENTE: Distinguished representatives, this concludes the order of business of today’s meeting. We will now proceed to “Other business.” I offer the floor to delegations that might wish to bring any significant matter to the attention of the Council. I see that Canada has something of significance. Canada.

El REPRESENTANTE ALTERNO DEL CANADÁ: Merci Monsieur le Président. L’importance est toujours relative, j’aimerais quelques secondes pour inviter toutes les Délégations à un événement que le Canada organisera la semaine prochaine, le 7 avril, à 2 heures dans le Hall des Amériques.

Il s’agit d’un événement qui vise à célébrer la Journée internationale de la francophonie. Cet événement sera constitué d’une table ronde sur la question du changement climatique dans les Amériques, suivi d’une réception et aussi d’une présentation musicale d’un groupe francophone de jazz.

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Le but de cet événement est premièrement de célébrer la contribution de la francophonie dans les Amériques tant au niveau culturel que politique. Cet événement vise aussi à renforcer l’entente entre l’OEA et l’Organisation internationale de la francophonie qui ont signé un Mémoire d’entente en 2012.

Le Canada est fier de commanditer cet événement avec le Secrétariat des affaires continentales et les autres membres de la francophonie. Nous avons travaillé de près avec la Délégation du Mexique, celle de l’Uruguay pour organiser cet événement. Nous tenons particulièrement à remercier les Délégations de la France et d’Haïti pour leur contribution.

Nous espérons que vous vous joindrez à nous en grand nombre à cet événement. Merci.

El PRESIDENTE: Thank you very much, Canada.

Well, I see no further requests for the floor, in which case the business of this meeting is over. I thank you all very much, and I declare the meeting adjourned.

[Se levanta la sesión a las 5:15 p.m.]

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ANEXO

RESOLUCIÓN APROBADA

OEA/Ser. GCP/RES. 1060 (2061/16)29 marzo 2016Original: español

CP/RES. 1060 (2061/16)

LUGAR Y FECHA DE LA DÉCIMO SÉPTIMA REUNIÓN ORDINARIA DEL COMITÉ CONSULTIVO DE LA CONVENCIÓN INTERAMERICANA CONTRA LA FABRICACIÓN Y

EL TRÁFICO ILÍCITO DE ARMAS DE FUEGO, MUNICIONES, EXPLOSIVOS Y OTROS MATERIALES RELACIONADOS (CIFTA), CONVOCADA POR LAS RESOLUCIONES

AG/RES. 2866 (XLIV-O/14) Y AG/RES. 2873 (XLV-O/15)

(Aprobada por el Consejo Permanente en la sesión celebrada el 29 de marzo de 2016)

EL CONSEJO PERMANENTE DE LA ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS,

DESTACANDO la importancia de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA) para avanzar en el fortalecimiento de la seguridad pública en las Américas;

TENIENDO PRESENTE la importancia de continuar desarrollando el intercambio de experiencias, la cooperación y la asistencia técnica para facilitar la plena implementación de la CIFTA;

CONSIDERANDO que la Asamblea General, mediante la resolución AG/RES. 2866 (XLIV-O/14) aprobada en el cuadragésimo cuarto período ordinario de sesiones, resolvió convocar la Décimo Sexta Reunión Ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la CIFTA2/, de conformidad con el Artículo XXI de la Convención;

RECORDANDO que la Asamblea General, mediante la resolución AG/RES. 2873 (XLV-O/15) aprobada en el cuadragésimo quinto período ordinario de sesiones, encomendó al Consejo Permanente … y a los demás Órganos comprendidos en el art. 53 de la Carta, que continúen trabajando en la implementación de los mandatos pertinentes, y

RECORDANDO ADEMÁS que en dicha resolución, la Asamblea General autorizó al Consejo Permanente y al CIDI a que, en el marco de sus respectivas funciones, convoquen las reuniones de alto nivel y foros establecidos en convenciones y otros instrumentos internacionales actualmente en vigor, así como en las resoluciones aprobadas por la Asamblea General.

2. La Reunión se celebró en la sede de la Secretaría General de la OEA el 6 de mayo de 2015 y una vez concluida, se emitieron el Informe de la Reunión: CIFTA/CC-XVI/doc.13/15 y el Informe de la Secretaría pro témpore CIFTA/CC-XVI/doc.12/15 .

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RESUELVE:

1. Establecer el 2 de mayo, 2016 como fecha de la Décimo Séptima Reunión Ordinaria del Comité Consultivo de la Convención Interamericana contra la Fabricación y el Tráfico Ilícitos de Armas de Fuego, Municiones, Explosivos y Otros Materiales Relacionados (CIFTA), a celebrarse en la sede de la Secretaría General de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA).

2. Solicitar a la Secretaría General que preste el apoyo técnico y administrativo necesario para preparar dicha reunión y que se encargue de los arreglos pertinentes para que se lleve a cabo, sujetándose a la disponibilidad de recursos asignados en el programa presupuesto de la Organización y otros recursos para 2016.

document.doc

document.doc

ISBN 978-0-8270-6833-9