A/70/212 22. The exercise of police powers on the basis of such racial or ethnic profilin g has been held to violate international human rights law. 23 Increased general surveillance of members of a particular religious faith, solely on the basis that some believers have engaged in terrorist or other crimes, would raise similar concerns. 24 23. Given that racial profiling often stems from embedded discrimination, it is not sufficient for States to simply refrain from formally endorsing such profiling methods; Governments should take proactive steps to prevent law enforcement officers from, as a matter of practice, engaging in such conduct. 25 Precautions can be taken to reduce disproportionate impact on minorities. 26 Indeed, avoidance of the profiling of ethnic or other minority characteristic may also improve crime detection rates, as police officers examine individual behaviour more closely. 27 24. Public confidence and police effectiveness can be improved through the deployment of ethnically mixed patrol teams and a sensitive choice of tactics and appearance (in terms, e.g., of numbers, visibility of weapons and choic e of uniform) so as to avert unnecessary provocation of fear or tension. 28 Police should be trained to understand the social context, cultural practices and values of the community. They should be capable of communicating with minorities in minority languag es, wherever possible, through recruitment and training of multilingual staff, and also through the use of qualified interpreters. 29 2. Use of force 25. United Nations human rights mechanisms are regularly informed of the subjection of minorities to excessive use of force by police, torture or other ill treatment in detention, and the lack of prompt and impartial invest igations of such __________________ 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 8/27 A/HRC/29/46 (Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on racial and ethnic profiling), para. 63; Human Rights Committee, Williams Lecraft v. Spain, communication No. 1493/2006 (2009), para. 7.2; European Court of Human Rights, Timishev v. Russia (2005); and Gillan and Quinton v. UK (2010), para. 85. See also Cour d’Appel de Paris Pôle 2, Chambre 1, Judgments 13/24255, 13/24261, 13/24262, 13/24277 and 13/24300 (24 June 2015); and Décision du Défenseur des droits MSP/MDS/MLD-2015-021 (3 February 2015). Report of the Special Rapporteur dated 29 January 2007 on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism (A/HRC/4/26), paras. 32-62 and 83-89. CERD General Recommendation XXI (2005), para. 20. E.g., see United Kingdom Equality and Human Rights Commission, “Stop and think again: towards race equality in police PACE stop and search” (2013); OSCE Recommendation 16 on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies (2006); Open Society Foundations, Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union: A Handbook of Good Practices (New York, 2012), pp. 151-152. Open Society Justice Initiative, Addressing Ethnic Profiling by Police (New York, 2009), p. 29; and European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Towards More Effective Policing: Understanding and Preventing Discriminatory Ethnic Prof iling — A Guide (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2010), p. 35. OSCE Recommendation 18 on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies (2006). OSCE Recommendation 13 on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies (2006). 15-12578