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1. The Committee notes the Government's reports and the information they contain in reply to its previous observation.

2. With reference to its previous comments relating to the application of Article 2 of the Convention in respect of linguistic and ethnic minorities in the country, the Committee recalls that this provision prescribes the formulation and application of a national policy to promote equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of employment and occupation and that, to implement the Convention, the legislative provisions in force must be accompanied by specific action, set forth in a precise manner, for implementing the principles of equality. The Committee notes that the Government restricts itself to repeating the legislative provisions in force and gives no indication on their practical application. It therefore requests the Government, once again, to supply detailed information on the application of a national policy on promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment in employment.

3. The Committee particularly requested information on the application of Article 2 of the Convention in respect of citizens belonging to the country's ethnic and linguistic minorities, such as the Kurdish and Turkoman minorities. It requested the Government to provide information on the extent to which these citizens were included in a national policy of promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment, noting that this issue had also been discussed by other bodies within the United Nations system, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In 1993, the Conference Committee had expressed deep concern about these minorities and asked the Government to provide information on their situation in practice and on how they were guaranteed equality of opportunity and treatment. Since then, the Government has not sent sufficiently precise and specific information to allow the Committee to form an opinion on the situation. Furthermore, it notes that at its 45th Session in August 1996, the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities adopted a resolution deploring the situation prevailing in the Kurdish and Shiah regions of the country.

4. The Committee notes that in its most recent report the Government mentions again the constitutional and legislative texts guaranteeing equality to all citizens, and the application of policies designed to implement these texts, without further details. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply detailed information concerning these policies and the measures taken, their nature and the results obtained in guaranteeing equality of opportunity and treatment to the Kurdish and Turkoman minorities. It also requests it to provide information on how the Convention is applied to other minorities such as the Shiah and Assyrian minorities.

5. As regards the employment of women, the Committee recalls that resolution No. 480 of 1989 concerning the employment of qualified women in the state administration and the socialist and mixed sectors, which prohibits certain occupations for women, was suspended by Decision No. 76 of 2 May 1993, of which the Government sent a copy with its most recent report. The Committee notes that pursuant to this text, another resolution will decide on the fate of resolution No. 480, namely, whether it will be repealed or reinstated. The Committee requests the Government to inform it of the ultimate status of this resolution which prohibits access by women to certain occupations.

6. With regard to the statistics requested on distribution of men and women in employment, the Committee notes the tables transmitted by the Government on the vocational training courses held in 1994 by the General Federation of Iraqi Women and the people's training centres. The Committee also requests the Government to provide tables showing the proportion of men to women on these courses as well as statistics on the number of women occupying posts of responsibility in the public sector, in proportion to men, and their classifications. It also requests the Government to indicate whether programmes designed to promote employment of women have been implemented or are envisaged, and whether concrete results have been obtained in this direction.