A/HRC/29/46 this reason, the Special Rapporteur encourages States that have not enacted specific legislation outlawing the use of racial and ethnic profiling to consider doing so. 66. The Special Rapporteur recommends a clear and unequivocal prohibition of the use of racial and ethnic profiling by law enforcement agencies. Outlawing racial and ethnic profiling would require modifying national legislation to incorporate an express prohibition on the use of such profiling. The outlawing of racial and ethnic profiling should also be considered at the regional level. 67. The Special Rapporteur calls upon political leaders and heads of law enforcement agencies to speak out publicly against discrimination and to avoid making statements linking race or ethnicity to criminal behaviour, irregular migration or terrorism, in order to repair the harm caused to minority communities by the use of racial and ethnic profiling and to ensure that these groups and individuals are able to fully integrate into their societies. 68. The Special Rapporteur recommends to States to gather law enforcement data, including statistics disaggregated by ethnicity and race, which are essential in order to prove the existence and the extent of racial and ethnic profiling. Such statistics are an essential tool for enabling the detection of law enforcement practices that focus disproportionate and unwarranted attention on racial and ethnic minorities based on stereotypes about ethnicity and crime. In order to properly collect such data, close scrutiny of the three main stages of collection, storage and access is required, in order to prevent any possible misuse of the data. This is particularly important in law enforcement, where there are clear risks that ethnic data could be used to facilitate racial and ethnic profiling, rather than to reduce it. Data protection standards must balance the need of law enforcement to collect and retain data for the purposes of detecting, preventing and investigating crime, against the right to privacy and the presumption of innocence. 69. When statistics, disaggregated by race and ethnicity, are available on law enforcement actions, they provide an important insight into law enforcement practices and are the cornerstone that proves the use of racial and ethnic profiling. These statistics can be useful for the development of new policies and practices, particularly where census data are not available or appear to be inaccurate, or where there are no available law enforcement data and there are concerns about racial profiling. Similarly, sharing data with minority communities is a positive step taken by some States which should be further encouraged. 70. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur encourages investigative oversight bodies to monitor the conduct and practices of law enforcement agencies and to investigate individual complaints. Oversight bodies should have the authority to address allegations of racial and ethnic profiling, and should inform practical recommendations for policy changes in order to eliminate the use of racial and ethnic profiling. Such bodies should also be able to collect data to monitor direct and indirect discrimination and to conduct self-initiated investigations, as these are fundamental in identifying discrimination such as profiling by law enforcement agencies. 71. The Special Rapporteur recommends that law enforcement agencies adopt a practical and holistic approach to training. Practical training linked to specific powers, actions and activities of law enforcement is usually more effective than general diversity training. Training should be combined with other complementary measures to reduce ethnic profiling, such as supervisory practices and operational procedures, with the participation of minority communities. 72. The Special Rapporteur also strongly recommends that law enforcement agencies provide their officers with clear standards and instructions on permissible 19