[Cure-news] SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE TO VISIT THE UNITED STATES

[Ida Hakim]

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND 
RELATED INTOLERANCE TO VISIT THE UNITED STATES
16 May 2008

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, 
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène, 
will undertake a country visit to the United States from 19 May to 6 
June 2008 at the invitation of the Government of the United States.

The Special Rapporteur will visit the cities of Washington, New York, 
Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto 
Rico to gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, 
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. He is 
scheduled to hold meetings with representatives of the Government, both 
at national and local levels, and with members of the legislative and 
judiciary branches. Discussions will also be held with non-governmental 
organizations, community members, representatives of political parties, 
academics and other organizations and individuals working in the field 
of racism and discrimination.

The Special Rapporteur will submit a final report on the visit for 
consideration at a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council in 2009.

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on racism was established in 1993 
by the Commission on Human Rights to examine incidents of contemporary 
forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related 
intolerance, as well as governmental measures to overcome them. It was 
further extended by the Human Rights Council in its resolutions 5/1 and 
7/34. A former director of UNESCO Department of Intercultural Dialogue, 
Mr. Diène is the second Special Rapporteur to hold the mandate. Since 
his appointment in 2002, he has conducted official visits to Trinidad 
and Tobago, Guyana, Canada, Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Côte 
d'Ivoire, Guatemala, Japan, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, the Russian 
Federation, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Dominican Republic and 
Mauritania.

For more information please go to 
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/rapporteur/index.htm
For use of the information media; not an official record