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sources of each trend in racism can be traced to the social construction of identity and it is
essential to deconstruct it. He believes that the upsurge of racism in the past years is due to the
return of old stereotypes. According to him, identity crises are the reason for the increase of
racial profiling. With regard to immigration, he stressed that host countries often put in place
policies which force people to forget and abandon their past cultural identity to prove that they
have integrated into their host society. He suggested that the construction of multiculturalism in
an interactive, democratic and non-discriminatory process is the way to overcome racism and
discrimination.
Item 6 (j): Measures to combat racial profiling, including
preventive positive measures
48.
Ömür Orhun, Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination
against Muslims, made a presentation focusing on preventive positive measures to combat racial
profiling, with specific reference to Muslims. He stressed that the rise of Islamophobia is of
great concern. To remedy this negative and disturbing phenomenon, sound strategies and
educational approaches must be developed and vigorously implemented. Increasing
understanding and respect for cultural and religious diversity would be the first step in
identifying and developing criteria for good practice in combating intolerance and discrimination
against Muslims. In order to effectively achieve this, condemnation of such behaviour must be
accompanied by effective legislative and judicial measures, as well as education.
49.
Anastasia Crickley, Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE on
Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination, also focusing on intolerance and
discrimination against Christians and members of other religions, and Chairperson of the
European Union Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), began her
presentation by emphasizing that there is no room for complacency in fighting racism and much
more needs to be done. She spoke of the struggle to achieve a multicultural society that is just
and equal. She stressed that maximum use needs to be made of existing international and
regional conventions in the fight against racial profiling. In this regard, she made reference to
the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and commented on the importance of national
plans of action in addressing racial profiling. She spoke of the need to address direct and
indirect discrimination by mainstreaming it into the legal framework within countries and
through education. In this regard, political will and leadership is paramount in effectively
combating racial profiling. Ms. Crickley added that in addressing racial profiling, there is a need
to go beyond police forces to the immigration and prison services and the judiciary. There needs
to be a mainstreaming of the whole institutional approach to racial profiling, to include not only
pre-service but also in-service training. Furthermore, the promotion of the culture of leadership
needs to be built on anti-racist values. She spoke of the need to embed action on racial profiling
in laws to address racism and racial discrimination, recognizing in particular the ways in which
direct and indirect racism are embedded in the structures of our various systems. She added that
there is a need to take positive action in law enforcement agencies to secure real participation of
targeted minorities at all levels. Furthermore, stakeholders at all levels need to be engaged in the
development of actions to address racial profiling. She explained that any action on racial
profiling needs to be supported by independent data collection mechanisms. In conclusion,
Ms. Crickley spoke of the need to go beyond racism and discrimination and look at the parallels