A/HRC/28/47
as conducting regular community leader round tables in eight cities and youth round tables
around the country. Training is also provided for law enforcement personnel and
intelligence analysts, where topics of discussion include addressing misconceptions and
stereotypes of Islam and Muslims, a how-to guide for community interaction, effective
policing that actively prohibits racial or ethnic profiling, and federal approaches to
engagement and outreach.
94.
The President and other senior government officials have spoken out against
intolerance. The United States sponsors and encourages interfaith dialogue.
95.
The United States also engages in international efforts to foster a global dialogue. It
hosted an expert-level meeting on implementing Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 in
Washington, D.C. in December 2011, developed a country-to-country workshop
programme to explore best practices in implementing the resolution during 2013 in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Greece and Indonesia, and planned additional programmes in 2014.
96.
On potential further follow-up measures, the United States stressed the importance
of encouraging States to implement the steps outlined in resolution 25/34. Implementation
meetings on best practices were helpful to that effort; such meetings should be focused on
concrete steps outlined in the text and involve domestic officials charged with
implementing government policies on those issues. The United States stated that “meetings
that seek to explore issues beyond implementation of the text, or which do not include
experts, will distract from implementation efforts and will fail in addressing the concerns
set forth in the resolution text”. It also noted the importance of involving civil society in
implementation efforts. Reporting to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the implementation of the steps outlined in the resolution
was an important measure of progress, and States should be encouraged to contribute to
such reporting.
III. Activities undertaken by the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
97.
OHCHR continued to work on follow-up to the Rabat Plan of Action and the
implementation of Human Rights Council resolution 16/18 and its successor resolutions,
including 25/34, as well as similar resolutions of the General Assembly, at the national and
international levels. The Office organized events to consider issues related to combating
religious intolerance. For instance, it held a panel discussion for the International Day of
Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust on 28 January 2014 in Geneva.
In September 2013, a database on best practices that includes pertinent information on
incitement to national, racial or religious hatred was launched.
98.
In terms of technical assistance, specific thematic events were organized in Belarus
and Tunisia. In cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme and the
Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a seminar entitled “Combating incitement to hatred,
xenophobia and related intolerance in cyberspace” was held in Minsk on 2 and 3 September
2014. The seminar considered national and international efforts to combat incitement to
hatred, xenophobia and related intolerance on the Internet, and the role of national and
international media in combating hate speech, xenophobia and related intolerance.
99.
In Tunis, from 16 to 18 October 2014, OHCHR and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization jointly held a regional workshop on the role of civil
society and media in promoting tolerance and diversity in the Middle East and North
African region, in the light of the Rabat Plan of Action. Participants in the workshop
suggested concrete steps towards the establishment of an effective regional civil society
partnership against incitement to hatred, which could develop into a structured coalition in
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