A/HRC/18/44 engage with the victims, reduce fears, instil a sense of trust between the police and victims, and encourage the reporting of such crimes must be taken. Law enforcement officers and members of the judiciary should also be provided with specific training to help them deal with racist and xenophobic crimes in an effective, appropriate and human rights-based manner. 25. The lack of ethnically disaggregated data also remains an obstacle in addressing racist crimes committed or incited by extremist political parties, movements and groups. It was reported, for instance, that racially motivated crimes are often under-recorded and that major problems therefore arise when figures or even estimates of hate crimes committed have to be provided. The quality, reliability and pertinence of statistical tools used in some countries were also questioned. The collection of accurate and up-to-date ethnically disaggregated data on racist and xenophobic crimes is important, since it may help inform policy decisions on combating such crimes. The Special Rapporteur encourages those States that have not yet developed a system to collect ethnically disaggregated data to do so. B. Protecting and consolidating democracy and human rights 26. As stated by the General Assembly in its resolution 65/199, extremist political parties, movements and groups pose a real threat to democratic values. In 2001, at the Durban Conference, States also recognized that political platforms and organizations based on racism, xenophobia or doctrines of racial superiority and related discrimination are incompatible with democracy. Unfortunately, reports received show that extremist political parties, movements and groups have gained influence in a number of countries and regions. Indeed, according to the information received, in recent years, the number of seats occupied by representatives of extremist political parties has continued to increase in national parliaments. Similar trends of particular concern were also reported at the regional level, where a number of far-right political parties managed to obtain seats during parliamentary elections. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur received reports indicating that rhetoric by extremist political parties blaming migrants for political, economic and social problems has gained more supporters in the current economic crisis. Information received also suggests an increase in some cases of the popularity of extremist political parties engaging in election campaigns, and blaming in this context minorities, migrants and asylum-seekers for the problems of the country. Furthermore, it was reported that some extremist political parties, movements and groups have adopted new strategies to secure a place on the political scene by refraining from openly propagating racist and xenophobic discourse. Their strategy consists notably in adopting a more human rightsbased discourse in order to gain votes and avoid being the subject of legal complaints. This will requires a more vigilant approach if such strategies developed by extremist political parties, movements and groups are to be thwarted. 27. While countering extremist political parties, movements and groups remains a core challenge, another important challenge is the sometimes equivocal position taken by mainstream political parties towards them. The Special Rapporteur is indeed concerned about information received indicating that traditional political parties continue in some countries to form coalitions with extremist political parties. In view of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections to be held in some countries, the Special Rapporteur calls upon traditional political parties to refrain from seeking coalitions with extremist political parties and to avoid using electoral contexts to fuel populist ideas. He warns traditional political parties about the danger of endorsing through such coalitions the racist and xenophobic policies and programmes put forward by extremist political parties, which often aim at discriminating specific groups of individuals. It is crucial that political parties base their programmes and activities on respect for human rights and freedoms, democracy and the rule of law, and condemn any political message aimed at fuelling racist, xenophobic, discriminatory or intolerant ideas. 8