A/HRC/31/56/Add.1 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 9 February 2016 Original: English Human Rights Council Thirty-first session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues on her mission to Brazil Note by the Secretariat The Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák, undertook an official visit to Brazil from 14 to 24 September 2015. Brazil has developed a plethora of strong institutions, programmes and policy initiatives to address the human rights of minorities. These include mechanisms to combat racism, affirmative action programmes and other anti-discrimination initiatives. The Special Rapporteur observed, nevertheless, that minorities in Brazil, most notably Afro-Brazilians, who self-identify as a political minority despite being a demographic majority, continue to face multiple impediments to the full enjoyment of their human rights. Following a long history of slavery and oppression, Afro-Brazilians experience racial discrimination and face severe disadvantage compared with other Brazilians: they are subject to high levels of violence, including violence perpetrated by the State; they face impunity for crimes committed against them; experience lower levels of socioeconomic development; are subjected to extremely high rates of incarceration; and Afro-Brazilian women and girls remain vulnerable to abuse. Moreover, despite affirmative action policies, Afro-Brazilians remain largely excluded from positions of power and influence. In the report the situation of particular minorities, including Quilombo and other traditional communities, is also considered, together with that of Brazilian Roma (Cigano). The Special Rapporteur also observes that, although there is generally a high degree of religious tolerance in Brazil, one exception is the situation of Afro-Brazilian religions, which are facing an increasing number of incidents of violence, intimidation and discrimination. GE.16-01739(E) *1601739*