Minority rights focus in the United Nations 41 belonging to different racial and ethnic groups; racist and violent movements directed at Arab, African, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other communities; the persistent and chronic inequalities faced by racial groups in various societies; best practices in the elimination of racism; followup to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the promotion of mechanisms to combat racism; the role of human rights education in promoting tolerance; respect for cultural diversity; incitement to hatred and instances of racially motivated hate speech; xenophobic political platforms; the impact of counter-terrorism measures on the rise of racism, including racial profiling; institutional racism and racial discrimination; and measures taken by Governments to remedy the situation of victims of racism. Upon receiving “reliable and credible information”, the Special Rapporteur has the authority to transmit an “allegation letter” or “urgent appeal” to a State, in order to induce the national authority to investigate the incident(s) or individual cases brought to its attention. The Special Rapporteur does not require submission of a particular form, but communications should include, at a minimum, identification of the alleged victim(s) and the alleged perpetrator(s) of the violation; identification of the person(s) or organization(s) submitting the communication (this information will be kept confidential); date and place of the incident; and a detailed description of the circumstances of the incident in which the alleged violation occurred. These communications generally remain confidential until a summary of them, along with any replies received from the State concerned, is published in the Special Rapporteur’s annual communications report. To contact the Special Rapporteur, e-mail racism@ohchr.org or urgent-action@ohchr.org (with Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the subject line). Independent Expert in the field of cultural rights This is one of the newer special procedure mandates, created by the Human Rights Council in 2009. In the mandate, as set out in Council resolution 10/23, there is no explicit authority for the Independent Expert to communicate with States urgently with respect to alleged violations of cultural rights. However, States are called upon “to cooperate with and assist the Independent Expert in the discharge of his or her mandate, to provide him or her with all the necessary information requested by him or her and to give serious consideration to responding favourably to his or her requests to visit their countries”. The Expert is requested to: • Identify best practices in the promotion and protection of cultural rights at the local, national, regional and international levels; • Identify possible obstacles to the promotion and protection of cultural rights and submit proposals and/or recommendations to the Council on possible actions in that regard; • Work in cooperation with States in order to foster the adoption of measures at the local, national, regional and international levels aimed at the promotion and protection of cultural rights through concrete proposals enhancing subregional, regional and international cooperation; • Study the relationship between cultural rights and cultural diversity, with the aim of further promoting cultural rights; • Integrate a gender and disabilities perspective into his or her work; • Work in close coordination, while avoiding unnecessary duplication, with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, other special procedures of the Council, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and UNESCO.