E/CN.4/1995/78/Add.1 page 32 and racial discrimination to linger on. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to the United States Government. 1. It should be explicitly acknowledged that 30 years of intense struggle against racism and racial discrimination have not yet made it possible to eliminate the consequences of over 300 years of slavery and racial discrimination, particularly where African Americans are concerned. 2. It should be recognized that when persons from ethnic minorities aspire to equal treatment, they are not asking for favours, but seeking to enjoy the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution in their daily lives by virtue of their status as full citizens or lawful residents. 3. Affirmative action programmes should be revitalized in order to offset the negative consequences of the policy pursued during the 1980s in the fields of health, housing, education and employment. 4. Measures should be taken to prohibit the establishment of racist organizations and ban racist propaganda. 5. Measures should be taken to abolish the death penalty, or failing that, to eliminate discriminatory application of the penalty. 6. The Government, in conjunction with the State authorities, should ensure that the police do not use violence against persons belonging to ethnic or racial minorities; Congress should adopt laws to permit the criminal prosecution of police officers who use excessive force under the guise of enforcing the law. 7. Effective, and in particular financial, support should be provided for organizations which combat racism and racial discrimination and which work for and contribute to peaceful coexistence between the different communities. 8. Measures should be taken to eliminate racial discrimination against women from ethnic minorities, particularly in terms of employment, wages and access to health care. 9. In the sphere of education, measures should be taken to increase funding for public schools and to ensure the equitable distribution of funds. 10. The media should be encouraged to refrain from propagating stereotypes and to devote themselves to educating the public by disseminating the principles of human rights. 11. Everyone must be persuaded to accept the existence of the indissoluble link between civil and political rights and the economic, social and cultural rights which are their natural corollary. Consequently, the Special Rapporteur urges the United States Government to ratify all the international human rights conventions, as a means of strengthening its foreign policy on behalf of peace and democracy and giving it greater credibility.