A/60/283 23. From 21 to 25 April, at the invitation of the Lutheran World Foundation, the Special Rapporteur participated in the second “Interfaith Peace Summit in Africa” in Johannesburg, South Africa, a summit which brought together a total of 248 representatives of the world’s main religious traditions. The Lutheran World Foundation’s interreligious work in the field, particularly in conflict zones in Africa, is a particularly original and effective initiative to promote the role of religion as a factor for peace across the African continent. In his presentation entitled “Racism, Religion and Dialogue”, the Special Rapporteur drew the attention of participants to two issues covered by his mandate: the exacerbating effect of the conflation of factors of race or ethnicity, religion and culture in most conflicts in Africa and the political manipulation of these factors in national identity constructs. In particular, he stressed the need to promote cultural and religious pluralism in order to build peace on the continent. 24. From 25 to 27 May, the Special Rapporteur participated in the World Conference on Interreligious Dialogue, held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. On 6 June 2005, the Special Rapporteur visited Budapest, where he participated in the Annual General Assembly of the European Foundation Centre, which discussed the integration of Muslims in European communities. During these two meetings, he shared with participants the observations and recommendations contained in his report on the defamation of religions to the Commission on Human Rights. 25. The Special Rapporteur also took part in the deliberations of the Conference on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance held in Cordoba, Spain on 8 and 9 June 2005 at the initiative of OSCE and the Spanish Government. This meeting reflects the growing movement to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of racism and discrimination. The Special Rapporteur’s presentation focused on three key elements in the fight against racism and racial discrimination: the central role of identity constructs in the resurgence of all forms of discrimination and racism, owing in particular to the rejection of the profound reality of multiculturalism; the need to strengthen the legal and political strategy against racism with an intellectual, cultural and ethical strategy that targets the underlying causes of racism; and the gradual infiltration of the racist and xenophobic platforms of political and intellectual organizations of the far right into the political agendas of democratic parties under the guise of fighting terrorism, combating illegal immigration, defending the national identity or promoting “national preference”. 26. The Special Rapporteur was unable to participate in the twelfth meeting of special rapporteurs, representatives, independent experts and chairpersons of working groups of the Commission on Human Rights, which took place from 20 to 24 June 2005 in Geneva, as at that time, at the request of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and in his capacity as United Nations special envoy, he was leading a fact-finding mission to Togo. 27. The day after her appointment as independent expert on minorities, the Special Rapporteur contacted Gay McDougal to congratulate her on her highly deserved appointment and to propose exploring ways and means of working together, as required by the complementarity of their mandates. 11