E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.3 page 5 policy of whitening of the population was put in place: the State promoted the immigration of millions of white Europeans. A military regime ruled from 1964 to 1985, until Brazil returned to democracy in 1989. The current President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, took office on 1 January 2003. C. Legal and institutional system 6. Brazil is party to six of the seven major international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It also ratified the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), of the International Labour Organization, which came into force in Brazil in 2003. 7. Brazil’s domestic legal system provides for a clear prohibition of racial discrimination. The Constitution of Brazil of 1988 criminalizes acts of racism subjecting them to imprisonment without the right to bail or prescription. This prohibition is reflected in Law 7716 of 1989 that was later modified by Law 9459 of 1997, which expands its focus to include acts arising not only from discrimination based on race or colour, but also on ethnicity, religion or nationality. In accordance with the Constitution, the new Civil Code of 2003 eliminates discriminatory restrictions on the exercise of civil rights by indigenous peoples, who are no longer considered “relatively incapable citizens”. 8. Articles 231 and 232 of the Constitution state the rights of the Indians to the recognition of their social organizations, customs, languages, creeds and traditions, as well as their original right to the land they traditionally occupy. It sets out the duty of the Union to demarcate those lands by 1993, and to protect and ensure respect to this property. Those lands are the inalienable and indisposable property of the Union and Indians have the permanent and exclusive usufruct of those lands. Indians and their organizations have standing under the law to sue to defend their rights and interests. D. Methodology 9. The Special Rapporteur based his investigation on three main questions he addressed to all interlocutors with which he met: (a) Is there racism and racial discrimination in Brazil? (b) If yes, what are its manifestations and expressions? (c) What are the policies adopted by the Government to fight against it and what should the best solutions from the point of view of the discriminated communities be? In the following two sections, the Special Rapporteur reflects the main policies and programmes reported to him by the governmental and local authorities (sect. II) and concerns and assessment of the civil society and communities concerned (sect. III). Thereafter, he presents his conclusions (sect. IV), followed by his recommendations (sect. V). II. POLITICAL AND LEGAL STRATEGY OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES 10. The Special Rapporteur, in seeking to assess the political will to combat racism at the highest level, had the honour and the pleasure to meet with President Lula da Silva. He appreciated the President’s frank recognition of the existence of racism and its influence on the mentality and everyday life of Brazilian society and the strong expression of his political will to