E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.1 page 13 62. With regard to cases of intolerance and the problems which have affected the Jewish community (the bombing on 17 March 1992 of the Israeli Embassy and, on 18 July 1994, of the Israeli Mutual Association in Argentina (AMIA); the desecration of Jewish graves, anti-Semitic attacks), the Muslim community (the attack on the Ad’Tahid mosque on 20 January 2001, inadequate government subsidies for Muslim schools, problems in obtaining visas for families of Argentine Muslims living in the Middle East) and the Armenian Apostolic and Evangelical communities (attacks on places of worship), the Secretary of Worship and members of the Advisory Council on Religious Freedom said that those attacks were isolated incidents in a peaceful country. They recalled that the attacks had given rise to an immediate reaction by the authorities. The Chairman of INADI explained that there were few and isolated cases of religious discrimination primarily involving the most minority and least-structured religious groups, such as the Afro-Amerindian and Umbanda spiritual communities, which are fairly widespread among the poor, often not recognized by the authorities and are subjected to extortion by some members of the police. The Chairman of INADI and the Buenos Aires Ombudsman said that Argentina’s real problems with discrimination had to do with manifestations of xenophobia against Latin American immigrants. 63. With regard to the Jewish community, it was stated that the above-mentioned terrorist acts were outside problems influenced by the conflict in the Middle East and that anti-Semitism had declined in Argentine society, except in marginal groups such as the skinheads. The authorities, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice and the Vice-President of the Supreme Court, said that all possible measures were being taken to identify and/or try the persons responsible for acts against the Jewish community and that justice was on course fully independently. The Vice-President of the Supreme Court drew attention to the exemplary attitude of Argentina, which had decided to make enormous efforts to solve the case of the attacks on AMIA and the Embassy of Israel rather than taking the easy way out and declaring the cases closed, and pointed out by way of comparison, that President Kennedy’s murder had not been solved, despite the resources available to the United States. 64. With regard to the Muslim community, members of the Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion and the Chairman of INADI said that some of the media were responsible for the Islamophobia that connected Islam and hence all Muslims with terrorism. The Chairman of INADI said that, in cooperation with the Muslim community, in particular, INADI was keeping a close watch on that problem, but regretted that it was so difficult to prosecute the media which were responsible and which always bordered on being unacceptable. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of Worship said that the grievances expressed by the Muslim community were similar to those of other minorities, especially the Protestants, who complained of the great difficulties they faced in gaining access to the media. Referring to State subsidies for Muslim schools, the Secretary of Worship said that the State treated all communities equally according to the Supreme Court’s ruling that there must be “equal treatment for equal situations”. He also explained that cases relating to visa problems were being considered by the authorities. 65. An official of the Department of Worship explained that indigenous peoples did not have their own religious structures, but did have spiritual and religious practices. He said that no application for recognition as a religious group had been submitted by the indigenous peoples to the Department of Worship, but that did not mean that they did not have their own religious

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