A/HRC/44/57/Add.1 C. Racial stereotypes and racial profiling 18. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur encountered many officials who assured her that equality and non-discrimination were fundamental to Qatari national values, as the State’s formal human rights commitments in international and domestic law showed. Many officials spoke frankly about the challenges of realizing those commitments in reality. However, a number of officials denied the very existence of racism and racial discrimination in Qatar. There is no country in the world that can claim to be entirely free of racism and racial discrimination, and denialism regarding racism and racial discrimination is a serious threat to achieving equality and non-discrimination in reality. 19. Racial and ethnic stereotypes operate on the basis of implicit and explicit biases. Racial stereotyping inflicts considerable harm on society, especially when left unchallenged. Without a concerted effort to eliminate stereotyping, persistent social behaviour and social organization can entrench these stereotypes, undermining equal enjoyment of human rights in both the public and private spheres. 18 The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent has observed that racial stereotyping, among other harms, skews judicial proceedings; stigmatizes and excludes racial minorities; leads to impermissible inequalities in access to education and social services; and increases the likelihood of violence against racial minorities. 19 Consultations and reports in Qatar revealed that racial and ethnic stereotypes operate in both the public and private spheres, according to which, for example, sub-Saharan African men are presumed to be unsanitary, sub-Saharan African women are presumed to be sexually available, and certain South Asian nationalities are presumed unintelligent. The Special Rapporteur received credible reports that, on the other hand, North Americans, Europeans and Australians are presumed superior, and whites in general are presumed to be inherently competent in various contexts, such as hiring and promotion decisions. 20. The harms of racial stereotyping also extend to the criminal justice system. Stereotyping contributes to, and is exacerbated by, law enforcement practices of racial profiling. Racial profiling can be defined as law enforcement decision-making that incorporates generalizations or stereotypes related to presumed race, colour, descent, nationality, place of birth, or national or ethnic origin as a basis for suspicion that people with such characteristics are prone to engage in or may be involved in criminal activity. Reports the Special Rapporteur received during her visit highlighted the prevalence of racial and ethnic profiling by police and traffic authorities, and even private security forces working in public parks and in shopping malls across Doha. South Asians and sub-Saharan Africans reported denial of access to these locations on account of their appearance. Such practices are racially discriminatory. 21. International human rights law requires Qatar to combat both racial stereotyping and racial profiling.20 Those practices are incompatible with the country’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to ensure equality before the law, to discourage racial divisions and to eliminate practices of racial discrimination by all persons, groups and organizations. 22. As highlighted by the Minister of Culture and Sports in the Special Rapporteur’s meetings with him, the ultimate effect of laws and policies that aim to promote equality and non-discrimination depends, to a great extent, on the values, beliefs and perceptions that fundamentally structure any society. The Special Rapporteur commends the Ministry of Culture and Sports for the important investments it is making in using arts, culture and sports to shift societal values, beliefs and perceptions fundamental to equality and nondiscrimination, including through Islam. The Special Rapporteur also had the privilege of visiting the Bin Jelmood House at the Msheireb Museums, which she understands is the first museum in the world devoted to the history of Indian Ocean trade in enslaved persons, and which includes the history of enslavement in Qatar. The Special Rapporteur wishes to commend the museum for the powerful and crucial contribution to Qatar and the world more broadly. 18 19 20 6 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 20, para. 12. See A/74/274. Ibid., paras. 16–20.