A/HRC/44/57/Add.2 12. Although government authorities cannot exercise absolute control over public discourse, they can – and, indeed, frequently do – shape and influence it. From the Prime Minister to department heads, government authorities make public statements relating to national culture and society. In the process, they lend credibility to certain perspectives while discrediting others. Interlocutors have raised concerns about the fact that, in their view, the Government has not done enough to stand against explicit and subtle forms of intolerance and discrimination against racial, ethnic and religious minorities, perhaps most saliently in the context of the mainstreaming of Islamophobic sentiments. 13. Education on the history and legacy of slavery and colonialism – which have, through the exploitation of colonized peoples and territories, enforced and normalized white supremacy, normalized racial and cultural hierarchies and systemically accrued wealth to colonial powers – is urgent in the Netherlands. In particular, people who see themselves as native Netherlanders need to be more deeply engaged in their country’s history and in the ways in which race privileges some while subordinating others if they are to fully understand their relationship to ethnic and racial minorities. The Special Rapporteur commends the Government’s increasing awareness of this need and the steps that have been taken, especially at the municipal level, to invest in more accurate and representative accounts of history in the Netherlands. She stresses, however, the need to strengthen these efforts and for the national Government to show even greater leadership on these matters. 14. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur engaged with many government and civil society actors committed to equality and non-discrimination. Nonetheless, she also encountered at least one senior official who openly articulated racist stereotypes about how certain ethnic and cultural groups were inherently predisposed towards criminality. The Special Rapporteur thus reaffirms her serious concerns about the role that explicit and implicit bias and prejudice play in the administration of justice in the Netherlands. 15. The Special Rapporteur believes that the Government remains committed to equality and non-discrimination and to an inclusive vision for national identity and for the country more broadly. Yet, the insistence that the Netherlands has already achieved its ambitious vision for equality and inclusiveness poses a very real danger, one that undermines the very difficult work required to transform commitments into reality. The paradox in the Netherlands is that, where it exists, the insistence on already having achieved equality and tolerance operates as a barrier to achieving equality and tolerance in fact: such insistence severely hampers efforts to mobilize resources and the action necessary to ensure equality, non-discrimination and inclusion for all. III. Laws and policies governing racial equality in the Netherlands A. Governmental structure 16. As already mentioned, the State of the Netherlands comprises four constituent countries – the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten – and three special municipalities – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are autonomous countries with their own parliament and government. The national Government considers each of its four countries to have an autonomous obligation to promote the realization of fundamental human rights and freedoms, legal certainty and good governance and to ensure the implementation of and compliance with international human rights law and other legal agreements. 17. Despite the autonomy granted to its non-European countries, the Government of the Netherlands, as the subject of international law, is accountable for the enjoyment of human rights throughout its European and non-European territories. Furthermore, safeguarding fundamental human rights and freedoms, legal certainty and good governance is deemed a “State affair”. 4