A/HRC/32/29 I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to its resolution 29/20 entitled “The incompatibility between democracy and racism”, the Human Rights Council convened a panel discussion on the 18 March 2016 to identify challenges and good practices in relation to human rights and challenges to democratic values posed by extremist political parties, movements and groups; the role of governments, public authorities and political leaders in the effective prevention and elimination of racism and racial discrimination and in the protection of vulnerable groups; and transparent and accountable governance for the prevention and elimination of racism and racial discrimination.1 2. In its resolution 29/20, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on the panel discussion in the form of a summary and to submit it to the Council at its thirty-second session. The present report was prepared pursuant to that request. 3. The panel discussion was chaired by the Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, Negash Kebret Botora. The United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore, delivered the opening address. The panel discussion was moderated by Yvette Stevens, Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. The panellists were Ronaldo Crispim Sena Barros, Special Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality Policies of Brazil; Jerome Jamin, Professor at the Law Faculty of Liège University, Belgium, and Emine Bozkurt, Member of the Board of Advisers of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014). II. Opening statement 4. In her opening statement, the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that, in many parts of the world, we have witnessed a resurgence of movements expressing racial, religious, national or ethnic hatred. She expressed concern about some political leaders who actively and publicly advocated xenophobia and scapegoated the most vulnerable communities. Some national newspapers as well as members of Parliament and political campaigners had indulged in the stigmatization of refugees and migrants, referring to them as “organized invaders”, blogged about alleged negative characteristics and disproportionate influence of specific minority groups and devised political posters depicting the need to kick immigrants out of their countries. 5. While the current scale of migration represented a challenge, some leaders have declared, for instance, that only people of a certain religion can apply for residency in their countries. 6. For women and girls, gender discrimination compounded the pernicious impact of these forms of discrimination. 7. The Deputy High Commissioner affirmed that racism conflicted fundamentally with the central principles and values of democracy. A society that did not fully respect and protect the equal rights of all individuals to participate in public life and decision-making was not fundamentally a democratic society. The respectful accommodation of ethnic, 1 2 All written contributions to the discussion are available at https://extranet.ohchr.org/sites/hrc/ HRCSessions/RegularSessions/31stSession/Pages/OralStatement.aspx?MeetingNumber=48&Meeting Date=Friday%2c%2018%20March%202016.