A/61/335 discrimination, and to reflect on whether any additional standards are needed for that purpose. The Special Rapporteur hopes to contribute to this fundamental discussion in cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, pursuant to decision 1/107 of the Human Rights Council (see paras. 27 and 28 below). 17. The report on political platforms which promote or incite racial discrimination (E/CN.4/2006/54), which updates reports previously submitted to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2004/61) and General Assembly (A/59/330), constitutes a preliminary study of the issue owing to the limited number of replies received from Member States to the High Commissioner’s note verbale and the postponement of a workshop on this subject in Brazil. The conclusions of the workshop, which was finally held on 29 July 2006, will form the basis of a report to be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its fourth session in 2007. These conclusions focus on two ominous trends in the resurgence of racism and xenophobia: on the one hand, the trivialization of racism and xenophobia through the increasing pervasiveness in the programmes of democratic parties of racist and xenophobic platforms taken from extreme right-wing parties; on the other hand, the translation of those platforms from word into action. This is achieved not only through the resurgence of racist and xenophobic violence, but also and especially, through the legal and democratic application of those platforms by means of political alliances within government which include the leaders of these parties, now invested with democratic legitimacy and at the heart of power. Based on this development, which is exacerbated by a mixture of racial, cultural and religious factors, the Special Rapporteur claims in his report that racism constitutes the greatest threat to democracy in many societies on all continents. 18. The Special Rapporteur also notes the electoral success of ideologies, speeches, political programmes and strategies that openly promote discrimination or racist hatred and xenophobia as means of gaining power. In this context, he highlights the politicization of issues of immigration, asylum, protection of national identity and, more recently, the fight against terrorism. 19. In his conclusions, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the fight against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia must be built around a dual strategy: on the one hand, a political and legal strategy expressing political determination to combat all the forms and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, accompanied by the legal transcription at national level of anti-racist international instruments and agreements; on the other hand, an ethical, intellectual and cultural strategy to eradicate the deep roots of racist and xenophobic culture and mentality through education and teaching at all levels. He also stresses the importance of warding off the impact of racist and xenophobic political platforms through greater democratic vigilance and efforts to combat the criminalization of immigration and asylum and the reduction of these problems to a security issue. Finally, the Special Rapporteur stresses the importance of linking the fight against racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia with the construction of a democratic, egalitarian and interactive multiculturalism to ensure that the unity versus diversity debate helps eradicate the root causes of racist culture and mentality by linking a recognition of cultural, ethnic and religious specificities with the promotion of interactions between the different communities based on universal values that have evolved over time in all cultures. 8 06-51904