A/HRC/28/81 the discussions that would take place during the session. On the basis of the consensus that had been achieved during the previous two sessions, the Chairperson-Rapporteur encouraged the Committee to continue to focus on the plight of victims and to ensure unconditional respect for human dignity. In that regard, he considered it useful to explore possibilities for an international regulatory framework for xenophobia given that its more aggressive manifestations needed stronger measures. He noted in particular the blatant acts of racism and xenophobia in and around soccer fields that continued to be witnessed in many countries because adequate action had not been taken to counteract them. D. Adoption of the agenda 7. E. At the 1st meeting, the Ad Hoc Committee adopted the agenda for the sixth session. Organization of work 8. The Chairperson-Rapporteur introduced the draft programme of work. The programme of work (see annex III) was adopted at the 1st meeting. 9. The Chairperson-Rapporteur invited general statements about the session from delegations and participants. Many delegations warmly welcomed the opening statement and participation of the High Commissioner. 10. The representative of Ethiopia, speaking on behalf of the African Group, renewed the commitment of the Group to the work of the Committee and recalled Human Rights Council decision 3/103, in which the Council had mandated the Committee to elaborate, as a matter of priority and necessity, complementary standards in the form of either a convention or additional protocol(s) to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter the Convention), filling the existing gaps in the Convention and also providing new normative standards aimed at combating all forms of contemporary racism, including incitement to racial and religious hatred. The Group remained concerned that limited progress had been made in elaborating a complementary standard to the Convention due to unwarranted discussions on the very need for complementary standards. The representative stressed the need to address victims of profiling in areas elaborated in the list of topics of the second session, as those victims required of the Committee better protection, maximum remedies and total elimination of impunity for those acts of racism. The African Group called upon all regional groups to further their political commitment to concluding complementary standards and enhancing the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 11. The Ambassador of Brazil offered the support of the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations in Geneva for the work of the Ad Hoc Committee. Highlighting the multicultural and multiracial society of Brazil, the Ambassador underlined the importance of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action to Brazil and that instrument’s important contribution to the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Referring to measures to counter racism, he noted that affirmative action measures were at the core of the domestic politics of Brazil. 12. The Ambassador of Pakistan, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), pointed to the increasing discrimination against Muslims and to a general trend of islamophobia around the world, which were impediments to peaceful cohesion. He underscored the importance of paragraph 199 of the Durban Programme of Action and of Human Rights Council resolution 16/18, as instructive for combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. He underlined the need to criminalize incitement to racial, national and religious hatred, and stated that the Rabat Plan of Action 4