E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.2 page 2 INTRODUCTION A. Purpose of the mission 1. Pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolutions 1993/20 of 2 March 1993 and 1995/12 of 24 February 1995, and by agreement with the German Government, the Special Rapporteur undertook a fact-finding mission to the Federal Republic of Germany from 18 to 27 September 1995. 2. It should be recalled that German reunification was accompanied by violent outbursts of xenophobic sentiment and anti-Semitic acts fomented and perpetrated by extreme rightist organizations and neo-Nazi cells. Between 1991 and 1993, xenophobically and racially motivated incidents, particularly targeting asylum-seekers and other foreigners, increased markedly. The most serious incidents took place: (a) in Hoyerswerda, in Saxony, in September 1991, when skinheads supported by some of the local population attacked and set fire to a migrant workers' hostel housing some 150 Mozambicans and Vietnamese; (b) in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Pomerania) where, over five nights in August 1992, rightist extremists supported by more than 500 people from the town destroyed a hostel inhabited by asylum-seekers, principally Gypsies; (c) in Mölln (Schleswig-Holstein) where arson on 23 November 1992 caused the deaths of three individuals of Turkish origin; (d) in the same town in May 1993, when incendiary bombs thrown at a Turkish family's home led to the deaths of five people, including one woman and two children; (e) in Berlin, where the holocaust memorial in the Tiergarten was destroyed by a bomb on 30 August 1992. 3. Material forwarded to the Special Rapporteur also alleges that some members of the police forces have been guilty of xenophobic behaviour and indulged in the ill-treatment of foreigners. 1 4. Mindful of the way the situation had developed since 1994, the Special Rapporteur wished to examine the underlying causes of the phenomena observed and to acquaint himself with the steps taken by the Federal Government and authorities in the Länder and with what had been done by society at large. As the incidents also raised the question of how foreigners integrate into Germany, the Special Rapporteur inquired into the ways found of tackling this problem. B. The mission 5. Having been welcomed in Bonn, the provisional capital, the Special Rapporteur travelled far and wide through Germany, meeting senior officials responsible for combating racism and racial discrimination at the Federal and Länder levels. He visited the Free Hanseatic Cities of Bremen and Hamburg in the north, Berlin and Dresden (Saxony) in the east; Stuttgart (Baden-Württemberg) in the south; and Frankfurt and Wiesbaden in the east-central region of Hessen. 6. Among others, the Special Rapporteur met Mr. Willi Hausmann, the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth; Mr. Ingo Kober, the State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice; Mr. Helmut Schäfer, the Minister of State and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Human Rights