E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.2 page 23 15. Press releases and other publications and public events enable the Commissioner for aliens' affairs to influence public opinion. He operates within the framework of his directives and intervenes when necessary in public discussion. 16. A large part of the public relations work done by the Commissioner for aliens' affairs is devoted to activities with a multiplier effect. He offers seminars and training courses dealing with various political and legal aspects of immigration by aliens and refugees and with the trend towards xenophobic and far-right leanings in certain social groups. Their purpose is to help committed citizens or persons performing relevant functions to influence public opinion in their turn. 17. The operational resources available to the Commissioner for aliens' affairs, in particular for his public relations work, amount to about DM 230,000 charged to the annual budget of the city of Hamburg. 4.2 Domestic and security policy 4.22 Xenophobic crimes and offences 18. In latter years Hamburg has not seen any spectacular xenophobic crimes. Generally, moreover, the total number of offences of this kind is relatively small in comparison with the other Länder of the Federal Republic. The restraint shown by the media, energetic intervention by the security bodies, and the deterrent effect of many sentences passed have contributed to a reduction in the number of cases. Consequently, what experience had shown in other Länder, namely that events of major importance combined with aggressive reporting by the media lead to an increase in the number of cases (the imitation effect), has not been reflected in Hamburg. 19. The number of offences motivated by xenophobia or right-wing extremism that were committed in Hamburg declined between 1993 and 1994 (-27 per cent). The absolute figure for incidents in 1994 was 155. In present circumstances a further reduction of about 20 per cent can be expected in 1995. It should be especially stressed that the cases recorded do not include any homicides. 20. The stiffening of penalties for xenophobic offences has certainly contributed to this result.