A/52/471 English Page 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1. Pursuant to the mandate given to him by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1993/20 and extended for a period of three years by its resolution 1996/21, the Special Rapporteur presented to the Commission, at its fifty-third session, a report on his activities during 1996 (E/CN.4/1997/71 and Add.1 and 2). 2. By its resolution 1997/73 of 18 April 1997, concerning measures to combat contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the Commission took note of the aforementioned report and requested the Special Rapporteur to continue his exchange of views with Member States and the relevant mechanisms and treaty bodies in order to enhance further their effectiveness and mutual cooperation. The Commission also renewed its request to the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with all the appropriate assistance to carry out his mandate and enable him to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session and a comprehensive report to the Commission at its fifty-fourth session. 3. This report is submitted pursuant to that Commission resolution and to General Assembly resolution 51/81, of 12 December 1996. In preparing the report, the Special Rapporteur received, in response to his requests, communications from a number of States and reports from non-governmental human rights organizations. As in the past, he also made use of unofficial sources, including reliable international press sources, to make up for the lack of information resulting from most States' failure to cooperate. 4. This report consists of three sections concerning, respectively, the activities of the Special Rapporteur since the previous session of the General Assembly; contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; and measures taken or envisaged by Governments. It ends with conclusions and recommendations. II. A. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR Participation in the work of the Commission on Human Rights 5. The Special Rapporteur took part in the work of the fifty-third session of the Commission on Human Rights, in April 1997. In addressing the Commission, the Special Rapporteur alerted it to the disturbing situation brought about by the resurgence of manifestations of racism and racial discrimination in the world. The discussions which followed his presentation gave rise to a decision and to two resolutions of the Commission (1997/73, mentioned above, and 1997/74). /...