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concerned by reports of numerous acts of violence of a discriminatory nature directed against
certain minorities. The Committee is also concerned that the membership of the police forces
does not reflect the diversity of minorities present in Portugal (art. 16).
The State party should take the necessary measures to effectively combat acts of
violence based on any form of discrimination and to punish the perpetrators
appropriately. The State party should also strive to include representatives of
minorities residing in its territory in the police forces.
18. The State party is encouraged to consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the
Convention.
19. The Committee invites the State party to ratify the major United Nations treaties on human
rights to which it is not yet party.
20. The State party is encouraged to disseminate widely the reports submitted by Portugal to
the Committee and the Committee’s conclusions and recommendations, in the national language,
through official websites, the media and non-governmental organizations. The State party is also
encouraged to circulate its reports to national non-governmental human rights organizations
before submitting them to the Committee.
21. The Committee invites the State party to submit its core document in accordance with the
requirements concerning the common core document contained in the harmonized guidelines on
reporting, adopted by the international human rights treaty bodies and contained in
document HRI/GEN/2/Rev.4.
22. The Committee requests the State party to provide, within one year, information on its
response to the Committee’s recommendations as contained in paragraphs 11 to 14 above.
23. The Committee, having concluded that, during the consideration of the report of the State
party, a sufficient amount of information was adduced to cover the period of the delay in
submitting its fourth periodic report, decided to request that the sixth periodic report should be
submitted by 30 December 2011.
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