A/64/271 1. Mission to the United States of America by the former mandate holder 12. The former mandate holder visited the United States from 19 May to 6 June 2008 at the invitation of the Government. The current mandate holder submitted the report on the visit to the Human Rights Council at its eleventh session (A/HRC/11/36/Add.3). 13. The report highlighted the strong awareness and recognition at all levels of government and society regarding the challenges in the fight against racism in the United States. The former mandate holder commended the country for the comprehensive legal framework put in place since the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and noted the important role played by the Supreme Court of the United States in the fight for civil rights. Finally, he also made reference to the vitality of civil society in the country, playing a key role in holding governments accountable to their obligations. 14. The report also focused on key areas of concern that need to be addressed in the future. The first set of challenges involves instances of direct discrimination and concrete racial bias, which is more pronounced with regard to law enforcement agencies. Particular reference was made in this respect to racial profiling, including in the fight against terrorism, and other aspects of the criminal and juvenile justice systems. Secondly, the report addressed cases of laws and policies that are prima facie non-discriminatory, but that have disparate effects for certain racial or ethnic groups, such as the practice of mandatory minimum sentences. Finally, the report described at length the overlap of poverty and race in the United States, which has a profound impact for minorities, particularly in areas such as education, housing and employment, creating a vicious cycle of marginalization and exclusion. This socio-economic marginalization of minorities has contributed to a slow process of de facto re-segregation in many areas of the society, directly challenging the goals of integration and equal opportunities. 15. To address these challenges, the former mandate holder made a number of recommendations to the authorities. These included the need to establish a bipartisan Commission to evaluate progress and failures in the fight against racism and the ongoing process of re-segregation; the reassessment of existing legislation for the identification of possible racial bias; and the enactment of comprehensive legislation prohibiting racial profiling. 2. Mission to Germany 16. The Special Rapporteur visited Germany from 22 June to 1 July 2009. He would like to express his sincere appreciation to the Government of Germany for its full openness and cooperation throughout the visit. A detailed report containing the observations and conclusions of the Special Rapporteur on the visit will be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its fourteenth session, in 2010. 17. In the press conference held in Berlin on 1 July 2009, 1 the Special Rapporteur recalled that the challenges faced by Germany were similar to those faced by many other European countries, and therefore Germany was a good measure of how Europe was doing in matters related to racism. He highlighted positive trends in __________________ 1 09-45097 The full text of the press release is available online from http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/ racism/rapporteur/docs/PRelease_end_mission010709.pdf. 5