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UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. GENERAL A/49/677 23 November 1994 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: ENGLISH/FRENCH Forty-ninth session Agenda item 93 ELIMINATION OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Note by the Secretary-General The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the report on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance prepared by Mr. Maurice Glélé-Ahanhanzo, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1993/20 and 1994/64 and Economic and Social Council decision 1994/307. 94-46410 (E) 051294 /... A/49/677 English Page 2 ANNEX Report on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance prepared by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1993/20 and 1994/64 and Economic and Social Council decision 1994/307 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page INTRODUCTION ............................................... 1 - 14 4 I. CONCERNING THE MANDATE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ..... 15 - 17 6 II. WORKING METHODS OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ............ 18 - 50 6 A. Scope of analysis ................................ 18 - 38 6 B. Sources .......................................... 39 - 45 10 C. Missions ......................................... 46 - 49 11 D. Seminar .......................................... 50 12 III. CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATIONS OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND INCIDENTS ......................... 51 - 110 12 A. Racism and discrimination in general ............. 53 - 85 12 B. Racism and racial discrimination against Blacks, negrophobia ...................................... 86 - 91 18 C. Racism and racial discrimination against Arabs ... 92 - 98 19 D. Anti-Semitism .................................... 99 - 101 20 E. Xenophobia and discrimination against migrant workers and immigrants ........................... 102 - 105 22 F. Racial discrimination against women .............. 106 - 110 22 IV. CAUSES AND VECTORS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND XENOPHOBIA ....................................... 111 - 117 23 V. MEASURES TAKEN BY GOVERNMENTS AND ACTION UNDERTAKEN BY CIVIL SOCIETY ........................................ 118 - 123 24 /... A/49/677 English Page 3 CONTENTS (continued) Paragraphs Page VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 124 - 148 25 A. Conclusions ...................................... 124 - 129 25 B. Recommendations .................................. 130 - 148 26 Appendix. Questionnaire relating to the mandate, addressed to States, intergovernmental organizations, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations ............................... 34 /... A/49/677 English Page 4 INTRODUCTION 1. In its resolution 1993/20 of 2 March 1993, the Commission on Human Rights decided to appoint, for a three-year period, a special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia and related intolerance, and to request him to report thereon to the Commission on an annual basis, beginning at its fiftieth session. 2. In the same resolution, the Commission expressed its deep concern at the manifestations of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in many parts of the world and recommended that the General Assembly should launch a third decade to combat racism and racial discrimination, to begin in 1993. 3. The Commission also emphasized the obligation of the international community to take urgent measures to eradicate apartheid completely and to combat all other forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including those practised against vulnerable groups. It also confirmed the importance of a complementarity of economic, social, educational and information measures at the national level, including legislative, administrative and penal measures, and of measures taken at the international level. 4. The Commission recognized the importance of activities aimed at directly assisting vulnerable groups to strengthen their participation in national economic, social and political life and appealed to all Governments to consider ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Commission urged all Governments to undertake immediate measures and to develop strong policies effectively to combat racism and eliminate discrimination. 5. Finally, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to provide the special rapporteur with all the necessary assistance, in particular the staff and resources required to perform his or her functions, especially in carrying out missions and following them up. 6. Appointed Special Rapporteur on 7 December 1993, Mr. Maurice Glélé-Ahanhanzo (Benin) submitted his preliminary report (E/CN.4/1994/66) to the Commission on Human Rights at its fiftieth session in February 1994. 7. Having considered and taken note of the report, the Commission, in its resolution 1994/64 of 9 March 1994, welcomed the Special Rapporteur’s proposal concerning the organization of an interdisciplinary seminar on the problems of the theoretical aspects and specific manifestations of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. 8. The Commission also made the mandate more explicit by requesting the Special Rapporteur to examine incidents of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, any form of discrimination against Blacks, Arabs and Muslims, xenophobia, negrophobia, anti-Semitism, and related intolerance, as well as /... A/49/677 English Page 5 governmental measures to overcome them, and to report on those matters to the Commission at its fifty-first session. 9. The Commission also requested the Special Rapporteur to have an exchange of views with the relevant mechanisms and treaty bodies within the United Nations system, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in order to further enhance their effectiveness and mutual cooperation, and encouraged him, in close consultation with Governments, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to present further recommendations concerning human rights education with a view to preventing actions giving rise to racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 10. Lastly, the Commission requested the Secretary-General without further delay to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the necessary assistance in carrying out his mandate and enabling him to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session and a comprehensive report to the Commission at its fifty-first session. 11. On 3 November 1994, the Economic and Social Council, in its decision 1994/307, approved the Commission’s request to the Secretary-General without further delay to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the necessary assistance in carrying out his mandate and enabling him to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session and a comprehensive report to the Commission at its fifty-first session. 12. It should be noted also that the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, basing himself on the recommendations of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights and the relevant resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights (1993/46 and 1994/45), sent a letter on 29 August 1994 to the Special Rapporteur, drawing his attention to the need to report regularly and systematically on available information on human rights violations affecting women. 13. Accordingly, this report has been prepared in response to the above-mentioned request of the Commission on Human Rights, which was approved by the Economic and Social Council, and takes account of the reminder from the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights concerning the particular situation of women. In the first section, the Special Rapporteur reviews the steps taken to define his mandate and then describes his working methods (sect. II). In section III, the Special Rapporteur reports on contemporary manifestations of racism and racial discrimination and on incidents which have been brought to his attention; he then proceeds in Chapter IV to identify the causes and vectors. Section V reviews the measures taken by Governments to remedy the situations described, the state of public opinion and initiatives of civil society, especially non-governmental organizations, that help to combat racism and promote social harmony. Lastly, section VI sets out the Special Rapporteur’s conclusions and recommendations. 14. As administrative constraints limit the length of the report, the Special Rapporteur will include only material he considers essential. /... A/49/677 English Page 6 I. CONCERNING THE MANDATE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 15. As the Special Rapporteur’s mandate was dealt with at length in the preliminary report (E/CN.4/1994/66, paras. 9-31) it requires no further discussion. The Special Rapporteur would like to focus in this section on two key aspects, the main aims of the mandate and discrimination against Muslims, bearing in mind the new elements contained in Commission on Human Rights resolution 1994/64. 16. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate, which includes "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance", encompasses a broad range of situations. In its resolution 1993/20, the Commission placed emphasis on recent manifestations of racism