E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.1 page 18 86. With regard to application of and respect for the law, the Special Rapporteur insists that all cases of abuse or rape against girls and women, especially those belonging to minorities, should be duly punished. In this respect the duty of police authorities to carry out lawful arrests and searches should be recalled and applied in practice. Similarly, police officers should be held personally responsible, under both civil and criminal law, for any arbitrary arrest or detention. An indisputable record must be kept of the day and time of any arrest/detention and the reason for it, while all legal proceedings and guarantees must be complied with. 87. Victims should also be duly informed of the proceedings and guarantees provided by law. 88. With regard to all the above considerations, the Special Rapporteur is aware that existing legislation and the way it is applied have been inherited from the past, particularly from periods of dictatorship. Nevertheless, the Government’s political will to foster tolerance must be asserted with greater determination and followed up, as and when required, with practical improvements, in line with the above recommendations. 89. With regard to society, the Special Rapporteur remains concerned at manifestations of intolerance and more generally speaking at the clearly limited expression of the culture of tolerance. He believes that a special effort should be made in order to encourage and develop the culture of tolerance and of human rights. A limited rate of literacy, rigid social structures, authoritarian education, political militancy, media frenzy and politically inclined religious practices are not conducive to reducing tensions, particularly between individuals or groups, nor to developing a culture of tolerance. The Special Rapporteur considers that there is an urgent need to inculcate a spirit of tolerance and freedom in order to ensure that rights and liberties are enjoyed by all. The role of the State in this respect is fundamental and inescapable. There can be no real and lasting progress as regards tolerance while the greater part of the population remains illiterate and so long as the school system, the family, the media and religious practices (regardless of persuasion) are not called upon to make a fundamental effort to bring about a change of attitude and to ensure that the culture of tolerance is developed and strengthened. The State could also play a more active role in making public opinion more aware of the culture of tolerance. With the encouragement of the State, mass communication media should help more effectively to combat all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief. 90. The Special Rapporteur also considers that it would be appropriate to implement the programme of advisory services of the Centre for Human Rights and recalls the recommendations contained in his report E/CN.4/1995/91. Suitable training of police and administrative staff in human rights, especially in the field of religious freedom, would be very welcome. 91. With regard to religious extremism, in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/23, the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to restrain it and to take appropriate measures in conformity with the law.