E/CN.4/1997/71 page 8 human rights much more than before, racism has been able to present itself as a defender of human rights under the cloak of 'cultural relativism'. 11 “Second, we must prove to be able to devise measures to combat the current manifestations of racism, as well as medium- and long-term plans to ensure that racism will be deprived of an environment where it can prosper and spread. “In order to forge ahead with the foregoing, it is also vital to fully grasp what has been done so far and where we actually stand in our combat against racism. “The United Nations system has been active, but not sufficiently effective, in the combat against racism. This is evidenced by the necessity felt to proclaim a third decade to combat racism and racial discrimination, which shows that the first two decades in this respect have not been able to eradicate this scourge. “On the contrary, racism, racist violence, xenophobia and related intolerance have been steadily on the rise. This is indeed why a second and more practical mechanism to combat racism was established by the United Nations human rights system. When we examine the development which gave birth to the post of special rapporteur on racism, the first founding element we detect is the Secretary-General's report entitled: 'Measures to combat racism, racial discrimination, and the role of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities'. The Government of Turkey believes that this report, contained in document E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/11, lays down the basic guidelines to properly diagnose the contemporary forms of racism. “It is against the background set by the contents of the above-mentioned report that it has been possible to establish a Commission on Human Rights special rapporteurship to deal with the question of racism. From the very beginning, Turkey has taken the lead in submitting the relevant resolutions to the Commission. It is a welcome development that, again on the initiative of Turkey, the Commission adopted resolution 1996/21, which provided for the extension of the Special Rapporteur's mandate for another three years. “Nevertheless, we must also recognize that, ever since assuming his post, the Special Rapporteur has made it known that he is not endowed with the financial and personnel resources which the proper discharge of his duties require. The remarks made by the Special Rapporteur to this effect have been duly reflected in the relevant resolution adopted by the Commission, and complemented with appeals to the Secretary-General to remedy this situation. Despite these appeals, which have been made with increasing emphasis, the Special Rapporteur was not able to submit addenda 2, 3 and 4 of his report in time for due consideration at the last session of the Commission. The Government of Turkey believes that, given the vast dimensions of the problem, the question of allocating the necessary resources to the Special Rapporteur must be solved urgently.