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The Committee notes the report sent by the Government and the attachments thereto. It also notes the comments made by the Trade Union of Workers of Guatemala (UNSITRAGUA) on 25 August 2003 containing information on gender discrimination and on the requirements for admission to employment and working conditions. The Committee forwarded these observations to the Government for its comments. The Committee will deal with the two sets of comments jointly.

1. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that a reform of the Labour Code is under way and that it will add to the grounds of discrimination in work centres those of sex, age, sexual orientation, ethnic group and disability. The Committee notes that the reform leaves out other grounds laid down in the Convention - colour, national extraction and social origin - to which the Committee has been referring in its comments for more than ten years. It requests the Government to envisage the possibility of amending section 14bis of the Labour Code so as to prohibit discrimination on grounds of colour, national extraction and social origin as well.

2. The Committee noted in its previous comments the information supplied by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) of 28 January 2002 indicating that discrimination against women in employment is common in Guatemala, particularly in the export-processing sector, where working conditions are very poor. The ICFTU also observed that sexual harassment and physical abuse are common and that women workers are not as a rule unionized because of intimidation and threats of reprisals on the part of employers if they join unions. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that the most common causes of violations of women’s rights at work in the export-processing sector have to do with dismissals during pregnancy or during the nursing period; ill treatment; unlawful suspension; unlawful reductions of wages; lack of holidays and massive dismissals. The Committee again points out to the Government that the situations described by the ICFTU and by the Government itself are intimately related to the points raised by the Committee in previous comments. In view of the seriousness of the abovementioned violations, the Committee trusts that the Government will be in a position to provide information in its next report on the concrete results achieved by the measures adopted or envisaged to prevent and combat discrimination against women in the labour market.

3. The Committee noted in its previous comments that, according to the ICFTU, the average length of schooling for indigenous minors is 1.3 years as compared to 2.3 years for non-indigenous minors. In its comments on the Government’s report on the application of the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), the Committee noted that a law on the promotion of education against discrimination (Decree No. 81-2002) had been adopted with a view to implementing programmes to combat discrimination in education and the activities of the Ministry of Culture and Sport.

4. In its comments on the Government’s report on the application of Convention No. 169, the Committee likewise noted the amendment of the Penal Code (Decree No. 57-2002) in order to penalize discrimination on grounds of race and ethnic group amongst others. It also noted the creation of the Presidential Commission against Racism and Discrimination. The Committee would be grateful if in its next report the Government would provide information on the activities carried out by the above commission to combat discrimination, and on the results obtained. Please also provide information on penal complaints and sentences for discrimination on grounds of race and ethnic group.

5. As it did in its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results obtained by the Action Plan for Social Development and the Construction of Peace 1996-2000 in promoting equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation.

The Committee is also addressing a request on other matters directly to the Government.