A/HRC/53/62 Belarusian Helsinki Committee 50. According to the information provided by the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, in cooperation with Human Constanta, the Center of Equal Rights Expertise and the Belarusian Association of Journalists, certain laws and regulations exist in Belarus to address Nazism, neo-Nazism, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. However, there is a significant lack of specialized mechanisms to effectively tackle intolerance in the country. Belarus has reportedly not adopted comprehensive legal provisions defining and prohibiting racial discrimination in accordance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The State asserts that this is not necessary, since such definition and prohibition are enshrined in the Convention, which is already part of national legislation, according to the information provided. Civil society organizations have reported that there is no comprehensive anti-discrimination law or national action plan for the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 51. Racial discrimination against Roma, migrants, Jewish people and ethnic minorities has reportedly been a problem since the independence of Belarus, in 1991. Since August 2020, there has been a rise in State-led hate speech targeting political opponents of the Government. Legislation has also reportedly been introduced to suppress political pluralism. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, expressing opinions offline or online about the war has reportedly been subject to criminal liability. 52. In May 2021, two laws were introduced: one on preventing the rehabilitation of Nazism and one on amending laws on countering extremism. The laws reportedly contain broad definitions of extremism and other provisions introduced solely to combat dissent. Since July 2021, the Belarusian authorities have reportedly closed more than 800 nongovernmental organizations, regardless of the nature of their activities. According to the information provided, as of 2022, the Investigative Committee has initiated 11,000 criminal cases since the 2020 presidential elections “on extremist grounds,” all of which can a priori be considered politically motivated. Regional government of Catalonia 53. According to the information provided by the Department of Equality and Feminism of the regional government of Catalonia, there has been a rise in the extreme right in Catalonia. This includes political parties and organizations, including Vox, the National Identity Front-Spanish National Socialist Workers’ Party, Somatemps, Los de Artós, Timbaler de Bruc, Grupos de Defensa y Resistencia, Frente Nacional Catalán and Movimiento Identitario Catalán. The extreme right has reportedly gained institutional legitimacy and spreads a discourse of hatred towards people and groups that they consider different. This has a serious impact on the daily life of many people, including those facing discrimination on the basis of, inter alia, race, gender or migration status. 54. Far-right political parties are based on neoliberal positions on immigration, equality and feminism, the denial of racism and the glorification of colonialism or slave-owning. Such policy positions provoke social disharmony by fostering perceptions of threat and competition for finite resources within a hierarchical economic and social system. This reportedly allows for the proliferation of anti-feminist, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex ideas and positions and the use of the security discourse to target and criminalize certain groups, especially young migrants, according to the information received. The information provided also describes the glorification of Francisco Franco’s history among far-right groups. 55. The Department of Equality and Feminism endeavours to mainstream equality and anti-racist policies. The department created the “Defence Plan for Defenders”, designed to protect groups or associations that defend human rights and suffer attacks by neo-fascists and those who are against human rights. The support consists of personal security, the public denunciation of attacks, training and legal advice. 56. Law No. 19/2020 of Catalonia on equal treatment and non-discrimination reportedly mandates a discrimination observatory with the mandate to carry out analyses and studies of 10