A/72/287 38. Similarly, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism highlighted that, in times of counter-terrorism, land evictions and house demolitions are sometimes used as forms of targeted or even collective punishment for residents who are suspected of supporting terrorist groups. According to the Special Rapporteur, such evictions tend to affect persons who find themselv es in vulnerable situations, including indigenous peoples and ethnic, religious and other minorities. 50 4. Surveillance of racial minorities and groups perceived as foreign 39. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that, in many countries, overly broad legislation has led to policing practices which target racial and ethnic minority communities. For instance, he has been informed that the police force in one North American city uses dragnet surveillance of the local Muslim community. Services at mosques are observed, entrances are filmed and daily reports are prepa red on some Muslim individuals. 51 The surveillance has failed to provide any actionable intelligence and the matter has been brought before the courts. 52 40. Similarly, in the light of global terrorist threats, the Government of one East Asian country initiated an extensive surveillance programme targeting Muslims. The programme allegedly had a disproportionate impact on migrants, as 90 per cent of Muslims living in the country are foreign born. An investigation revealed that police had surveilled 72,000 individuals from Muslim-majority countries in order to collect their personal information and to create résumé -like files on them. A high court later found those privacy violations to be legal beca use they were “necessary and inevitable” to protect the country from terrorism. 53 41. The Special Rapporteur observed a similar trend throughout Western Europe. For instance, the 2015 surveillance law in one Western European country empowers the Prime Minister to authorize the use of surveillance measures, such as capturing mobile phone calls and black boxes from Internet service providers, for the purpose of protecting foreign policy interests. Prior judicial authorization is not required. More recently, with the goal of preventing terrorism, that same country extended surveillance to individuals suspected of “association” with someone who may constitute a threat. 54 42. The Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism has also expressed concern regarding discriminatory surveillance and data-mining practices. For example, he criticized laws and policies on mass surveillance, which often provide asymmetrical protection regimes for nationals and non-nationals. 55 He also expressed concern about the use of terrorist profiles. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, authorities in one Western European country collected data on several million people. Search criteria included being of Muslim denomination or having links to specified countries with a predominately Muslim population. 56 5. Impact on affected communities 43. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that the proliferation of xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric has resulted in an atmosphere of fear towards immigrants, __________________ 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 17-13397 A/HRC/6/17, para. 63. See https://perma.cc/RS5R-X42H. See https://perma.cc/NW95-XGJT. See https://perma.cc/8BSB-V7DL. See https://perma.cc/S2V7-GUMP. A/HRC/34/61, para. 33. A/HRC/4/26, para. 35. 11/23