E/CN.4/2001/21 page 21 “But blacks comprise the great majority of drug offenders sent to prison.” The solution to this racial inequity is not to incarcerate more whites, but to reduce the use of prison for low-level drug offenders and to increase the availability of substance abuse treatment. F. Situation of the Dalits 44. The Special Rapporteur has been informed that the Dalits in India, particularly women, continue to be the victims of violence and atrocities. As the allegations have persisted, the Special Rapporteur once again urges the Indian Government to take whatever measures it considers necessary as a matter of urgency and reiterates the wish to be invited to examine the situation of the Dalits in situ. IV. REPLIES TO ALLEGATIONS TRANSMITTED TO GOVERNMENTS BY THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Austria 45. In his report to the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur wrote that an international mission organized by the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) had visited Austria in March and May 2000 to study the situation of foreigners and, more particularly, asylum-seekers. Numerous reports were received of discriminatory and xenophobic practices against the black community (approximately 6,000 people out of a population of 8.8 million). Africans were singled out for public condemnation and were the target of police operations conducted under particularly humiliating conditions. For example, on 1 May 1999, a young Nigerian asylum-seeker, Marcus Omofuma, was arrested, gagged and choked to death by Austrian police while being flown from Vienna to Sofia. On 19 January 1999, Ahmed F. died in suspicious circumstances. On 19 May 1999, in the course of a massive raid some 100 people were arrested, allegedly for trying to obtain narcotic drugs - the old xenophobic trick of equating foreigners with drug dealers. And on 29 April 2000, police arrested Arize Ibekwe, a Nigerian asylum-seeker using the name Richard Weach. He died in prison on 3 May in circumstances which have yet to be explained (A/55/304, para. 32). 46. The Austrian Government supplied the following information concerning the alleged facts. 1. Information concerning Mr. Marcus Omofuma 47. “Following Mr. Omofuma’s death during deportation, which was carried out subsequent to a negative decision on his application for refugee status, criminal procedures against the involved police officers were immediately initiated. In addition, the involved police officers were suspended from work. Disciplinary procedures were also initiated but suspended pending the outcome of the criminal procedures. The Court is currently examining two divergent medical expert opinions on the cause for Mr. Omofuma’s death.” 48. “Moreover, a new ministerial directive on the handling of deportations by air was issued, which specifies, inter alia, that only specially trained officers may accompany deportees, and strengthens the proceedings for the medical examination before the flight. Furthermore, a Human Rights Advisory Board with far-reaching competencies has been established at the