E/CN.4/2003/24 page 2 Summary This report contains information on the activities carried out by the Special Rapporteur since his appointment on 26 July 2002. During this period the Special Rapporteur established contacts with Governments, several regional political groups (the Group of African States, the Group of Arab States and the Group of 77), intergovernmental organizations (the European Union, the Organization of American States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference) and non-governmental organizations with a view to starting a process of consensus-building in activities to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. The report describes serious allegations of racial discrimination and xenophobia, with particular reference to Côte d’Ivoire and Guyana. It also draws attention to racial discrimination against Roma/Sinti/travellers, to the measures taken at the European level to counter such discrimination, and to manifestations of anti-Semitism. In 2002 the Special Rapporteur examined allegations of racial discrimination and xenophobia in Germany, Spain, the Russian Federation, Greece, Guyana and the United Kingdom. These allegations and the replies thereto from the authorities of the countries concerned are included, together with the Special Rapporteur’s comments, in the annex to this report. In the conclusion, the Special Rapporteur stresses that his initial contacts with representatives of Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations have testified to the urgent need to implement the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in order to counter the alarming resurgence of expression of conventional racism and the emergence of insidious new forms of discrimination and racism. The Special Rapporteur also stresses in this context the particularly alarming recurrence of situations, which, owing to the deliberate mixing or blending of race, religion and culture, require urgent in-depth responses. The Special Rapporteur therefore proposes, in the light of the final document of the Durban Conference (A/CONF.189/12), a dual strategy, which will be both legal and political (by ratifying and implementing all relevant international instruments and agreements) and intellectual and ethical (through better knowledge and understanding of how deeply rooted are the processes and mechanisms of the culture and mindset of discrimination). It is a question of establishing a close link, through reflection and action, between efforts to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance and the urgent promotion of dialogue between cultures, civilizations and religions. To that end, the following recommendations are proposed to the Commission: To promote complementarity and cooperation between all mechanisms for combating racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance, particularly those relating to the implementation of the final document of the Durban Conference, between the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Special Rapporteur, and between the Special Rapporteurs; To give greater attention to discriminatory situations and practices against non-citizens, migrants and refugees;