A/60/283 the widespread resurgence of racism is characterized not only by the strengthening of traditional forms of racism together with the appearance of new forms of racism against whole communities and religions, but above all by the appearance of a number of central figures of modern racism, namely members of national, ethnic or religious minorities, non-citizens, immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. As a result of the overemphasis on the fight against terrorism, the treatment of such groups is characterized by suspicion, mistrust, fear that they may be dangerous, and cultural and religious hostility. Such sentiments result in the widespread implementation of national policies that have a tendency to restrict the economic and social rights (housing, education, health) of these communities and thus illustrate that the political primacy of security over the law brings about a decline in human rights. Such policies are first applied at the points of entry into a country (airports, ports, borders), through the widespread use of discriminatory measures, such as targeting people because of their ethnic, cultural or religious appearance, thorough and humiliating searches, refoulement, separate counters for nationals and foreign nationals, and excessively long waiting lines at counters for foreign nationals. In this regard, human rights organizations report, in particular, that waiting areas for asylum-seekers and persons who have been turned back have become so-called no rights zones which are characterized inter alia by a lack of access to redress and defence, physical and verbal violence of a racist nature by law enforcement officers, cramped conditions and lack of privacy, a lack of minimum conditions of hygiene, a lack of measures to protect women and children. Generally speaking, these are restricted areas which human rights organizations cannot access. It is clear from the increase in violent incidents caused by legally vague conditions of expulsion, in particular group expulsions by charter and commercial flights, that particular attention needs to be given to this kind of resurgence of racism. 33. Such trends have been reported in France, for example, by the Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité (National Commission for a Security Code of Conduct) which, in its annual report 2003,2 noted the existence of arrangements for enforced embarkation based on specific restraining techniques with a de facto humiliating aspect, such as placing restraints on people’s legs, transporting foreign nationals by plane in a horizontal position, the use of unprofessional methods of intervention and the systematic use of force. The Commission nationale noted that in some cases these methods affected the physical and moral integrity of persons who had been turned back, two of whom died as a result of excessive use of restraints. The Commission also stressed that the systematic use of such methods, which are applied only to foreign nationals, resemble a form of institutional discrimination. 34. The Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité noted that when it comes to escorting to the border or turning back persons who have not been admitted to French national territory — around 20,000 people in total at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in 2002 — police officers are not given any technical training on the specific nature or duration of such operations. The Commission also recommended teaching and applying, as strictly as possible, technical and professional methods of intervention which can then be used by border police __________________ 2 Rapport 2003 de la Commission nationale de déontologie de la sécurité remis au Président de la République et au Parlement, Paris, La Documentation française, 2004. 13

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