A/HRC/4/19/Add.3 page 10 display of Nazi paraphernalia, public advocacy or encouragement to commit extremist activities, and financing or encouraging extremist activities. The Act foresees the adoption of precautionary measures, ranging from the issuance of warnings to the suspension and the closing down of extremist organizations. The Special Rapporteur was informed that the State Duma should shortly be considering a series of amendments to it regarding the classification as an offence of the distribution of extremist information over the Internet. 19. In the field of civil and administrative law, officials informed the Special Rapporteur about several provisions against discrimination in Russian legislation. Particularly relevant is the provision in the 2002 Labour Code entitled “Prohibition of discrimination in the sphere of work” which not only prohibits discrimination in the workplace on grounds of sex, race, colour or nationality, but also establishes that persons that consider themselves victims of discrimination shall be entitled to the restoration of their infringed rights, as well as financial or moral compensation by federal labour inspectors or courts (art. 3). B. Perception and reactions of State officials and other organs 20. The Special Rapporteur’s attention was drawn to the significant number of statements recently made at the highest State level, including by President Vladimir Putin, acknowledging and condemning the existence of manifestations of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in the country and expressing the necessity to combat them.3 21. In this line, a majority of Russian officials generally acknowledged, to a higher or lower degree, an increase in manifestations of different forms of extremism, including racial discrimination and xenophobia, and stressed that such manifestations received firm condemnation by the highest State authorities and an immediate, severe and unprejudiced response by law enforcement agencies. 3 On 17 February 2006, President Putin stated: “At a recent meeting of the Prosecutor-General we drew attention to the increase in crimes due to xenophobia, ethnic, national or religious intolerance. Moreover the activity of extremist groups is becoming more aggressive and taking on harsher forms. We must recognize that law enforcement agencies have not yet managed to react in an appropriate way, or established a productive and systematic way to prevent conflicts that have ethnic or religious motives. I think that we do not need to be reminded of the great danger that all these phenomena represent for our multinational and multireligious country.” On 3 March 2006, he noted: “Russian statehood has its roots right from the beginning in the coexistence of different confessions. This harmony that we have between our ethnic groups and religions is more than just a long-standing tradition in Russia. It is more than just harmony - it is a symbiosis of the various nationalities, ethnic groups and religions that together make up what we call Russia, and that is our strength. That is why the authorities, the President and the Government will pay close and constant attention to the fight against anti-Semitism, against manifestation of any other extremist tendencies and any form of extremism and xenophobia, including chauvinism and anti-Russia sentiment” (statements provided by the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs).