E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.3 page 2 Summary The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance visited Brazil from 17 to 26 October 2005. The purpose of the mission was to assess the situation of racial discrimination in Brazil and the policies adopted by the Government to combat such discrimination since his last visit (see E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.1). The Special Rapporteur concluded that racial discrimination is deeply rooted in Brazil and has influenced the structure of the entire society for the last five centuries. This discrimination principally affects the autochthonous Amerindian community and the population of African descent, but also certain migrant workers, refugees and asylum-seekers from South American and Caribbean countries. The profound structural nature of racism and racial discrimination is illustrated by the identity of political, social and economic marginalization with the map of the human and cultural specificities of these communities. More profoundly racism touches on the issue of cultural identity manifested in the contradiction between, on one side, the “folklorization” and “instrumentalization” of the culture and religions of these communities as a means of hiding the reality of racism and discrimination and on the other, the lack of representation of these communities in the media and the structures and places of power. The Special Rapporteur, against this background, welcomes the recognition of the existence and depth of racism by the federal authorities at the highest level, and the adoption of a number of laws and institutions to combat racism. He however notes the resistance to these policies at different levels of the society in general, and from some federal and local authorities, and the persistence of the ideology of racial democracy among the population and in certain institutions. The Special Rapporteur notes with great concern the high level of violence and criminality perpetuated by elements of the federal and local police directed at young Afro-Brazilians and the indigenous community. He therefore puts forward a number of recommendations, aimed at translating the political will of the Government into a double legal and cultural strategy, to eradicate the deeply rooted causes and consequences of racism and racial discrimination in the Brazilian society. In formulating these recommendations the Special Rapporteur hopes the progress made in combating racism in Brazil will have a profound and lasting impact on all the countries of South America which share a similar legacy and prevalence of racism.