E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.3 page 12 extortion. According to information received, a great many of the violations are committed by the government defence and security forces against northerners or people judged to be northerners. Cases of rape have also been reported. Violations of the freedom of expression 35. Although the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression had visited Côte d’Ivoire shortly before this Special Rapporteur (from 28 January to 5 February 2004) and has addressed this issue in more detail, this Special Rapporteur also received many allegations of violations of the freedom of expression. These came primarily from the NGOs he met, but journalists also reported violent attacks on them. 36. It emerged from these interviews that journalists in Côte d’Ivoire, and particularly those close to the opposition parties, are subjected to violence and severe pressure. On 9 September 2002, for example, uniformed police allegedly raided the offices of the Mayama press group in Abidjan, ransacking the premises, throwing tear gas canisters and leaving four people slightly injured. On 17 October 2002, the offices of Radio-Nostalgie were also ransacked. IV. ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF ETHNIC FACTORS IN THE IVORIAN CRISIS 37. At the end of his visit, the Special Rapporteur concluded that Côte d’Ivoire has no tradition of xenophobia and that Ivorian society has developed a deep-rooted multi-ethnicity, a peaceful coexistence, based on intercultural values, mechanisms and practices forged over many years by all the communities circumstance has thrown together, whether through migration, family and cultural ties, or economics. This basic premise is borne out by the closeness of the inter-ethnic weave, as reflected in the large number of multi-ethnic families that have sprung from its mixed marriages, the rich fabric of its cultural and spiritual interaction, the mobility of the country’s various ethnic groups and - an indisputable indicator of a culture of tolerance - the large number of foreigners in the country. All observers agree that mono-ethnic families constitute a minority of the Ivorian population. The Special Rapporteur was also interested to note that refugees in Côte d’Ivoire are usually taken in by host families, which facilitates their social integration. Before the outbreak of the current crisis, with political and ethnic violence flaring up in several neighbouring countries, Côte d’Ivoire hosted more refugees than any other country in the region. 38. Yet for all that, the Special Rapporteur feels Ivorian society is marked by something he believes is characteristic of all multi-ethnic societies, namely an undercurrent of ongoing ethnic and cultural tension, which can be transformed into conflict or coexistence depending on the political, ideological or economic context, but ultimately also depending on the moral outlook and practices of their leaders. Against this background of ethnic tension, then, the Special Rapporteur observed that, in the context of the current crisis, Côte d’Ivoire is deep in the throes of a dynamic of xenophobia. 39. The Special Rapporteur sees this dynamic of xenophobia as stemming from a concatenation of several factors which, if a thorough analysis is not carried out and proper