A/49/677 English Page 6 I. CONCERNING THE MANDATE OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR 15. As the Special Rapporteur’s mandate was dealt with at length in the preliminary report (E/CN.4/1994/66, paras. 9-31) it requires no further discussion. The Special Rapporteur would like to focus in this section on two key aspects, the main aims of the mandate and discrimination against Muslims, bearing in mind the new elements contained in Commission on Human Rights resolution 1994/64. 16. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate, which includes "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance", encompasses a broad range of situations. In its resolution 1993/20, the Commission placed emphasis on recent manifestations of racism and xenophobia in developed countries and in particular on the situation of migrant workers and other vulnerable groups. In that connection, the Commission specified, in resolution 1994/64, that the present study should deal with situations in which Blacks, Arabs and Muslims were the targets, and with xenophobia, negrophobia, anti-Semitism and related intolerance. Mention should also be made in this context of resolution 1993/30, in which the Commission recommended to all thematic rapporteurs that they should pay particular attention, within the framework of their mandates, to the situation of indigenous peoples. 17. In resolution 1994/64, the Commission requested the Special Rapporteur to examine discrimination against Muslims. While mindful of this element of his mandate (Islam in the contemporary world, Islamism, the Islamic headscarf, etc.), the Special Rapporteur considers that this issue should be taken up by the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance in order to avoid any duplication of the latter’s mandate. II. WORKING METHODS OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Scope of analysis 18. The considerations outlined above show that the mandate covers a vast area of research and reflection that calls for an open and multidisciplinary methodological approach. The Special Rapporteur views it as a two-pronged approach, having a theoretical and conceptual side and a factual side. 19. First of all, the complexity and subtlety of the central theme contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance - should be stressed. Without embarking on a lengthy academic discourse, given the wealth of scholarly and scientific literature on the subject, particularly that prepared under the auspices of UNESCO 1/ and the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 2/ it is important to review the background briefly and to present some definitions drawn from conventions and international instruments in order to establish an analytical framework and define the scope of the study. 20. Racism is a product of human history, a persistent phenomenon that recurs in different forms as societies develop, economically and socially and even scientifically and technologically, and in international relations. In its /...