E/CN.4/1997/71 page 10 “In the 'daily life' sector, most of the problems reported relate to social conflicts in the victims’ immediate entourage or neighbourhood. Besides these, again in the 'daily life' sector, there are incidents of verbal or physical aggression against aliens, elderly people being disturbed by groups of youths, racist remarks and harassment. The complainants are mainly individuals who often feel they are being discriminated against on account of their origins. The complaints tend to be lodged against acquaintances, who may be in the individual’s immediate entourage. “The Centre finds that these are very often situations in which violence plays a large part. “Refusals to register a person in a commune, to publish banns of marriage or celebrate a marriage, or to grant welfare or financial assistance are some examples of the complaints reaching the Centre which concern the public services. In such cases, complainants feel they are being discriminated against because of their residency status. Complaints often concern the communes, public services par excellence, with which people have dealings from the day they are born to the day they die. The Centre observes that if the public services handled applications properly, a good many complaints would never have been reported. “Fourth among the most frequent problems comes employment basically discrimination in the workplace and in hiring. But harassment and racist remarks at the workplace, like racist jokes, are also common. The complainant is often reluctant to raise the matter, especially if the complaint may be followed up. When the complainant is a member of one of the unions with which the Centre has a cooperation agreement, the case is followed up with the union concerned. Other bodies, Forem or Orbem for instance, become involved in handling complaints. Complainants feel they are being discriminated against on account of their origins, skin colour or nationality. “During its consideration of these complaints, the Centre did not have enough evidence in one case in four to determine whether discrimination really existed.” C. Discrimination against Blacks, negrophobia 22. Besides the continual incidents of negrophobia referred to elsewhere, the distinctive feature is the use of the Internet to spread racist messages against Blacks. According to a study entitled “The Web of Hate”, a site under construction by the organization White Arian Resistance, bearing the legend “this is a white racist web page!” shows a caricature of a Negro. 13 23. As this report was being finalized, the Special Rapporteur received a quantity of documentation from Caucasians United for Reparation and Emancipation (CURE) on racial discrimination against African Americans in the United States. The brochure can be consulted at the Secretariat.