A/HRC/25/69 significantly attributed to foreigners and not to society in general. He stated that taken in the broader context of negative climate and strong socio-economic degradation, there is an increasing overall tolerance for racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance, assisted by internet and political actors. 40. For many years CERD had recommend to France to develop and implement a national action plant against racism. The Commission has welcomed the development of this plan and was pleased to be consulted on the draft, hoping that its adoption would inform, sensitize and mobilize all concerned stakeholders, including government and citizens. The Commission regrets that the draft plan does not include additional financial resources to support ongoing or new activities. 41. During the last part of his presentation, Mr. Forst offered some observations and ideas about the work of the Ad hoc Committee. He stated that from the perspective of the Commission, the focus should be on the implementation and application of existing norms. The Commission, also within the broader debate on the reform of treaty bodies, was attentive to any proposals for better management of individual communications and, in this respect, the old proposal for an international court on human rights, which would deal with individual communications from all treaty bodies, could present a solution. He also noted the Commission’s interest in the general comments and recommendations of CERD that would gradually refine the interpretation of the Convention and according to the Commission, this dynamic interpretation of ICERD was, in his view, the best way to make it live and adapt to the changing world and society. 42. The delegate of Switzerland thanked the presenter and inquired about the reasons behind increasing intolerance in France. She stated that her government is also concerned with migration issues and asked about good practices that were in place in France, noting that dialogue was important to her country. 43. The delegate of Pakistan asked if, according to Mr. Forst there was a link between the French law banning the hijab/veil and the recent violence against women wearing the veil/hijab. He also raised a question on racial profiling about racial profiling by the police and if there are training courses and directives targeted at its prevention. 44. The delegate of the European Union agreed that the implementation of existing standards was key and asked about how to ensure efficiency in access of victims to remedies. 45. Bangladesh asked if integration measures could infringe upon the right of freedom of religion and belief and cultural practices and questioned whether integration policies could cause fear and gaps which required filling. 46. In reply, Mr. Forst highlighted the important role of human rights defenders and NGOs that follow up on cases. He stated that he did not have a proposal for a definition of xenophobia, stating that in general it is rejection of aliens, blaming them for problems in France, including security. He noted that rejection of differences leads to racism and antiSemitism. There were also prejudice and negative attitude towards Roma in France. He noted “unacceptable” statements by politicians, Ministers, parliamentarians and other state officials which encourages the same discourse by the general public. Such kind of behaviour of state officials encouraged the public to make racist statements. 47. With regard to the link between law prohibiting the veil/hijab and violence, Mr. Forst stated that the French law had a balanced approach as it was not aimed at the Muslim population. In many cities, women wore veils and the problem only arose when the face was covered, contrary to the law. Notwithstanding, the police may demand that the woman reveal her face and they sometimes they overstepped their authority. Police were encouraged to organize trainings on racial profiling. One suggestion was to issue receipts to those who were stopped and searched by the police, allowing for a control or investigation as to why a person was checked several times. 28