A/49/677 English Page 16 against foreigners in particular, especially the deportation of clandestine immigrants, which is considered too harsh. 32/ 70. In France, according to a study done by the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme, racism can be seen in many serious acts. 33/ Racism has grown in France since 1982 and remained at a relatively high level until 1991, when it dropped noticeably. Acts motivated by racism are often of an extremely serious nature. A significant number of physical attacks have resulted in casualties: since 1980, 25 persons have been killed, while 289 were wounded through December 1992 inclusive. 71. Amnesty International has denounced the involvement of the French police in acts of racist violence against foreigners. Victims of the French police actions were mostly young non-Europeans. Amnesty describes in its report cases in which people were killed by policemen who recklessly and without respect for the law resort to violence. In April 1983, for instance, a policeman put his gun during the interrogation to the head of a 17-year-old Zairian suspected of stealing cigarettes and shot him dead. The police officer stated that he felt threatened and that he had only wanted to scare the boy. 34/ 72. In Sweden, racist activities and attacks include street confrontations and attacks on refugee hostels. 35/ 73. In Switzerland, according to the Government, the only notable current manifestation of racial discrimination is the increase during 1991 and 1992 of acts of violence directed against asylum-seekers’ hostels. Such acts have sharply decreased since 1993, however. 74. Today foreigners make up approximately 18 per cent of Switzerland’s resident population. Since 1989, there has been an exceptional increase in the number of acts of violence or rejection directed at persons of foreign origin, including attacks against asylum-seekers’ hostels. It would appear that such behaviour, characterized by latent xenophobia, which is fairly widespread among the population, and by certain acts of violence committed by a small minority of individuals, is based upon hatred for and distrust of foreigners of a different culture, race or colour, especially asylum-seekers, who are not well received in the society. 75. This situation has elicited a reaction from the Federal Council, which has condemned such acts. The preventative measures taken seem to be bearing fruit, since, according to statistics from the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Confederation, the number of attacks against asylum-seekers’ hostels has followed this pattern: 77 in 1991; 42 in 1992; 9 in 1993; and 2 in January-May 1994. There are no reliable statistics for other possible manifestations of racial discrimination; however, according to the Federal Council report of 16 March 1992 on extremism in Switzerland, in addition to acts directed against centres for asylum-seekers, 14 xenophobic or extreme-right acts were committed in 1990 and 19 in 1991. 76. Gypsies, also called Tziganes, Rom or Romanies, are a group which is particularly targeted by rising racism and xenophobia in Europe. /...