E/CN.4/1999/58/Add.1 page 14 the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act provides for punishments for minor violations of visa status and makes it more difficult to secure political asylum. Both Acts allow the use of secret evidence in administrative and judicial proceedings without any opportunity for defence lawyers to refute the evidence. It is believed that Arabs and Muslims, often associated with terrorists, would be most likely to be affected by this legislation. 38. These manifestations are not, of course, due to any anti-Muslim policy on the part of the United States authorities and are not the general rule for Muslims. They are in fact manifestations which are marginal - in society, on the part of citizens, but also of officials acting on their own initiative and of private corporations - but which nevertheless really affect a part of the Muslim population. The intensity of these manifestations varies in the light of international events such as those mentioned above. We may also note the importance of the ignorance factor, which results in any Arab being identified with the Muslim religion and hence with terrorism. The effect of this factor is certainly exacerbated by the influence of the media and certain groups hostile to Islam. 39. The Special Rapporteur would like to refer here to the particular role played by the Afro-American organization “Nation of Islam”. During the mission, this organization was described by both Muslim and Jewish representatives as an extremist group in the American Muslim community and as a source of intolerance purveying messages of hatred for whites, Catholics, Jews, Arabs, women, homosexuals, etc. They consider that this group causes difficulties for the integration of Muslims into American society and for Islam and its representation in the eyes of American public opinion. The representatives of the Nation of Islam, for their part, declared that their aim was to put an end to the American oppression of Muslims that has existed since the days of slavery and kept them in a state of destitution. They stressed their positive role with regard to education and advancement within the Afro-American population and referred to the Million-Man March on Washington in 1995. They rejected the accusations made against their organization and its leader, Louis Farrakhan, in particular by the media with a negative attitude to Islam. Their organization was not anti-Semitic, since Judaism was a revealed religion in Islam, but it had political differences with certain Jewish organizations on the subject of Israel and the Palestinians. They added that they suffered oppression from certain Jewish organizations and the media, although the Nation of Islam was training up the best American citizens and was not violent. Finally, they urged the need for a dialogue with the Jewish community. 40. The Special Rapporteur wishes in conclusion to refer to the positive action taken on behalf of the Muslim community by some authorities and non-State entities. At the official level, several initiatives directly or indirectly in favour of Muslims deserve to be reported. President Clinton's greetings on the occasion of Ramadan and Mrs. Clinton's invitation of Muslims to the White House for an Iftar dinner (celebrating the end of Ramadan) are gestures of recognition for and communion with the Muslim community and send messages to American society. The White House conference on hate crimes in November 1997, which was attended by the Secretary for Education and the Attorney-General among others and by representatives of non-governmental human