E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.3 page 13 manly. Homosexuals suffer from physical violence, sometimes death (158 homosexuals were assassinated in Brazil in 2004), but also psychological suffering due to the denial of their humanity and identity. The Government has approved a “Brazil without homophobia” policy, to start tackling this problem. 41. On the cultural side, Blacks denounce the manipulation of the black culture for commercial purposes, in particular in Salvador, but also in Rio de Janeiro where the Carnival is not a black celebration anymore, but a show to entertain Whites. A misappropriation of the black culture is taking place. The media are owned by Whites, employ mostly Whites and almost exclusively show Whites on television. When Blacks appear, for example in serials, they tend to play marginalized roles or representations, as in the case of Indians. The Afro-religion Condomblé is also very negatively presented. The history of Blacks is not promoted and displayed correctly. 42. Affirmative action is one way of combating this deeply rooted discrimination, according to Black NGOs and representatives: it would allow, through education, access to political and economic power. In 2001, the State University of Bahia launched a programme of quotas for black students leaving public school. This idea was put forward by the Brazilian delegation at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. This programme encountered enormous resistance in the university, the public, the media and the Government. Later on, the Government embraced the idea. Before its adoption, only 1.8 per cent of university students were black, while they represent more than 80 per cent of the population of the State of Bahia. According to the Dean of the University, the quotas have been the first really effective measure adopted since 1888 in favour of the black population, and this action launched the first real debate on racism in the country: before that, racism was ignored and the whitening of the population was so far-reaching that many Blacks denied being black. The Dean of the University, the first Afro-Brazilian woman to occupy this post, has encountered much resistance to her nomination. Characteristically, there is an ongoing legal action against these quotas. 43. In 2003, the University of Brasilia launched a similar programme, supported by SEPPIR and the Palmares Foundation, on the basis of which 1,200 black students entered the university. These experiences of the University of Bahia and Brasilia encouraged about 15 other universities to adopt similar policies. The “Universidade para todo” government programme, aimed at providing scholarships for low income students enrolled in private colleges, is a useful tool in combating social and economic discrimination. 44. Another fundamental and related issue is the quality of public education. Affirmative discrimination is needed until the system enables its students (a vast majority of them being black) to have access to university. Members of the Afro-Brazilian community believe that the Government does not reform public schooling because Blacks comprise the majority of the public school population. 45. The Special Rapporteur was informed of positive initiatives within the black community: a number of NGOs and training institutions provide training especially for the youth, sometimes in collaboration with the Ministry of Education or Justice, as in the case of the Instituto Cultural Steve Biko, which in the last 13 years has trained 600 students for entry into university. Other organizations promote the inherited Afro-Brazilian culture, among them the Olodun and Ile Aye