A/HRC/38/53 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to General Assembly resolution 72/156, in which the Assembly requested the Special Rapporteur to prepare, for submission to, inter alia, the Council at its thirty-eighth session, a report on the implementation of that resolution on combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 2. In the present report, the Special Rapporteur addresses concerning shifts in the ideologies and support for Nazism and neo-Nazism. She highlights, in particular, the contemporary resurgence and spread of support for neo-Nazi ideologies in different parts of the world, and the serious threat these ideologies pose to Jews, Muslims, people of African descent, Roma, indigenous peoples, women, racial and ethnic minorities, gender and sexually diverse populations, and persons with disabilities. Based on the previous reports to the General Assembly and to the Human Rights Council, as well as on desk research, her analysis examines these manifestations as contrary to human rights norms, including the principles of equality and human dignity. Notwithstanding its historically specific and geographically contained origins, neo-Nazi ideology remains a contemporary problem affecting diverse populations. 3. As mandated by General Assembly resolution 72/156, the Special Rapporteur intends to send questionnaires to member States and other relevant stakeholders in order to inform her next report to the General Assembly and collect their views with regard to combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. She especially welcomes examples of strategies and practices that States have found successful in combating these phenomena. II. Neo-Nazism: a brief overview 4. Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology are antithetical to the principles at the core of international human rights.1 The very first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Member states have issued a clear statement that any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous, and that there is no justification for racial discrimination, in theory or in practice, anywhere.2 5. Nazism and neo-Nazism reject racial equality and even advocate extreme violence 3 if necessary to achieve their vision of oppression and discrimination. At the core of these ideologies is an unwavering commitment to the protection of the “purity” of the “Aryan race” against other peoples who are cast as barbaric. Anti-Semitism is a central tool in this ideology, and the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust remains a potent reminder of why such ideology must never be tolerated and instead be vehemently combated. Neo-Nazi intolerance is not limited to Jews or people of Jewish descent. It also vilifies many other racial, ethnic and religious groups including Slavs, people of African descent and Muslims. 1 2 3 The term “neo-Nazi” generally refers to movements and groups that draw on the ideology of the National Socialist German Workers Party. Movements in this category are broadly premised on the political philosophy advanced by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, but adherents adopt a wide variety of other beliefs. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, preamble. Holger H. Herwig, “Geopolitik: Haushofer, Hitler and lebensraum”, Journal of Strategic Studies, vol. 22, No. 2–3 (1999), pp. 218–241. 3