A/55/304 wounded. This attack outraged and mobilized the whole country, which was surprised at the resurgence and violence of far-right and skinhead groups that had been thought to be dying out. 30. According to an article in Le Monde on 9 August 2000, this resurgence may be attributable to the sociological inflexibility which characterizes the culture of people of the former German Democratic Republic, to distress at the Western socio-economic model and to disappointment that the hopes placed in reunification 10 years ago have come to nothing. The far right draws for its support on young people in the former German Democratic Republic, where the unemployment rate for young people is 40 per cent in the Land of Saxe-Anhalt and where the far right, which campaigned under the slogan “Jobs for real Germans!”, won 20 per cent of the vote in the most recent regional elections. In some towns of the former German Democratic Republic, neighbourhoods have been declared “national liberated zones” by neo-Nazis and other skinheads, who bar access to them by foreigners of colour and the police. 31. But, however disturbing, the resurgence of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism cannot be laid at the door of all Germans. As German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on 7 August, “Skinheads are not Germany”. According to the magazine Der Spiegel, a recent survey showed that while only 2 per cent of Germans would be prepared to vote for a far-right party under any circumstances, 11 per cent would be prepared to do so “under some circumstances”. Groups with a higher than average rate of affirmative responses to this question included people in the former German Democratic Republic (20 per cent), supporters of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) (former East German Communist Party), Green Party Supporters and young people under the age of 27. On the other hand, only 6 per cent of people aged over 45 would consider voting for the far right. In any event, the Government and civil society (including nongovernmental organizations, athletes, artists, intellectuals, religious groups and journalists) are mobilizing a “democratic resistance” to xenophobia and anti-Semitism. However, some non-governmental organizations, especially the Forum Menschenrechte (Human Rights Forum) and the World University Service, believe that the political declarations and mobilizations against racism and xenophobia organized 8 by the federal and Land authorities are not being followed up by effective measures on the ground. 32. In the case of Austria, an international factfinding mission organized by the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) visited the country in March and May 2000 to study the situation of foreigners and, more particularly, asylumseekers (Le Monde, Wednesday, 17 May 2000). During its stay, the mission received numerous reports of especially discriminatory and xenophobic practices against the black community (approximately 6,000 people out of a total population of 8.8 million). According to the article, Africans are singled out for public condemnation and are the target of police operations conducted under particularly humiliating conditions. For example, on 1 May 1999, a young Nigerian asylum-seeker, Marcus Omofuma, was arrested, gagged and choked to death by Austrian police while being flown from Vienna to Sofia. On 19 January 1999, Ahmed F. died in suspicious circumstances. On 19 May 1999, police forces carried out a massive raid in which some 100 people were arrested, allegedly for trying to obtain narcotic drugs — the old xenophobic trick of equating foreigners with drug dealers. On 29 April 2000, police arrested Arize Ibekwe, a Nigerian asylum-seeker using the name Richard Weach, in his room. He was transferred to prison on 1 May and died there on 3 May in circumstances which have yet to be explained. Claude Katz, Secretary-General of FIDH, concluded that Austria had already crossed the line in terms of unacceptable treatment of foreigners and xenophobia. 33. The European Union recently sent a delegation to Austria to investigate the human rights situation in that country, with a view to possibly lifting the sanctions adopted by it when representatives of the Freedom Party joined the Government. The Special Rapporteur will report on the European Union’s findings in his report to the Commission. B. Racist propaganda on the Internet 34. This phenomenon is growing alarmingly owing to a lack of international regulation. The thousands of Internet sites identified by several reliable studies (see A/54/347, paras. 33 to 46; A/52/471, paras. 19 to 21; and E/CN.4/1998/79, para. 23) continue to spread their messages of hatred with complete impunity. However, the case brought in France against the Yahoo! company