E/CN.4/1997/71
page 24
(no: 50.6 per cent, yes: 49.4 per cent; turnout: 94 per cent). “Several
radical movements have since come into being and expressions of racism,
xenophobia and intolerance have allegedly multiplied.”
79.
According to the reports, “the constitutional debate is increasingly
marked by emotional outbursts and statements are increasingly polarized. Each
of the contending parties accuses its adversary or adversaries of racism or
even fascism. More and more movements have emerged, leading to a
radicalization of the debate and [conflicting] territorial claims”. The
situation is described as “disturbing”.
2.
Reply dated 8 March 1996 from the Permanent Mission of Canada
80.
The Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations Office and other
international organizations at Geneva replied as follows: “Your letter [has
been] brought to the attention of the appropriate Canadian authorities, who
will closely examine the allegations with a view to informing you of their
observations”.
3.
Special Rapporteur's observations
81.
The Special Rapporteur would appreciate the Government of Canada's
transmitting its reply in time for the forthcoming session of the Commission
in March 1997.
E.
1.
Côte d'Ivoire
Communication dated 2 February 1996
82.
The Special Rapporteur transmitted to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire a
tract circulating in Côte d'Ivoire whose xenophobic contents caught his
attention; the tract read as follows:
“TO AMBASSADORS FOR THE INFORMATION OF THEIR CITIZENS
Please accept our sincere thanks for your contribution to our
country's development. Now please go and develop your own countries
which you have deliberately neglected and abandoned to poverty.
Get out of our schools, our markets, our streets, our hospitals,
our temples, our churches, our mosques, our university, our countryside,
our villages, our fields and above all our port, in a word, get out of
our country. We are suffocating and we've had our fill. 'Côte d'Ivoire
belongs to the Ivorians' is not a hollow slogan.
You can guess from the Electoral Code what to expect next November
after the elections. Act now before the major decisions are taken,
don't just wait to experience what's in the offing. Save your women and
children now or else it will be like in Algeria, we are prepared to hunt
you down everywhere.