A/61/335 racism in Brazil will promote efforts to combat racism on a continent which is profoundly structured by the historical legacy of racism. 3. Mission to Switzerland 51. The Special Rapporteur visited Switzerland from 9-13 January 2006, which is the subject of an exhaustive report of the Human Rights Council, with the principal objective of assessing the situation of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, as well as policies and measures adopted by the Government to combat these phenomena. The visit of the Special Rapporteur took place in excellent conditions owing to the openness and full cooperation of the Swiss authorities, in particular the Service for Combating Racism of the Federal Department of the Interior, as well as civil society organizations and the communities concerned. 52. In the course of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur visited three of the country’s language regions. In the townships of Bellinzona, Berne, Basel and Neuchâtel he met federal and cantonal authorities, members and representatives of foreign communities and national ethnic, cultural and religious minorities, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and other civil society groups. In Basel, he also visited a detention centre and asylum-seekers’ border registration centre, and met asylum-seekers whose applications had been rejected in Solothurn. 53. In the observations that he presented to the Committee in his preliminary note (E/CN.4/2006/16/Add.4), the Special Rapporteur emphasized the growing role in political platforms and in the media, of rhetoric based on the “defence of national identity” and “the threat of foreign presence”. This rhetoric reflects the existence in Swiss society of a current of political opinion which is favourable to a defence of identity against immigration and hence prone to xenophobic tendencies. In this regard, Switzerland illustrates one of the profound causes of the increase of racism and xenophobia in Europe: the important role of the political exploitation of racism in electoral debate. 54. While welcoming the creation of services and mechanisms to confront these phenomena, the Special Rapporteur, however, noted the weakness in the current political and legal strategy to combat racism and xenophobia, in particular in two marked tendencies: the tendency to approach immigration and asylum issues purely from a security point of view and to criminalize foreigners, immigrants and asylumseekers, and the considerable number of acts of police violence with racist and xenophobic overtones against these groups, as well as the judicial and administrative impunity enjoyed, according to the victims, by the perpetrators. 55. The Special Rapporteur also noted the central role played by the process of the multiculturalization of Swiss society in the increase of manifestations of racism and xenophobia. In this process, the challenge to national identity arising from the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity of society is the source of identity-related tensions, and the political, legal and cultural awareness, recognition and treatment of these tensions are the factors which will determine the construction of multicultural togetherness. 4. Mission to the Russian Federation 56. The Special Rapporteur visited the Russian Federation from 11-17 June 2006, with the principal objective of analysing the situation of racism, racial 06-51904 19