E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.3 page 2 Summary The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance visited Côte d’Ivoire from 9 to 21 February 2004. This mission, organized to permit an objective assessment of the role of ethnic factors in the Ivorian crisis, fell within the context of the support the United Nations wishes to provide to efforts to resolve the crisis that has gripped Côte d’Ivoire for several years. 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. The Special Rapporteur noted with particular interest the number of multi-ethnic families in Côte d’Ivoire, the result of mixed marriages and one of the indicators of the closeness of the inter-ethnic weave. 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 political 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. The Special Rapporteur has identified the following manifestations of this dynamic: the political and ideological manipulation of ethnic factors; and a gradual withdrawal into ethnic identities as a result of the current political violence, which is reflected in a conflation of ethnicity, culture and religion, and the aggressive ethnicization of signs and symbols, and of the expressions of cultural diversity. In view of the extent of the split in the inter-ethnic fabric, the ethnic isolationism it is generating and its central role in the political crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, the Special Rapporteur has formulated a number of recommendations, including the following: • The authorities at the highest level should broadcast a clear message reaffirming the values of tolerance, coexistence and interaction in the collective effort to build a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multireligious society in Côte d’Ivoire, and asserting their determination to combat this dynamic of xenophobia in all its forms, beginning with the systematic punishment of all acts of proven xenophobic violence and the urgent rebuilding of inter-ethnic relations. A joint declaration along these lines should be made by the leaders of the main political parties and forces in the governing coalition;