A/HRC/2/6 page 8 intolerance, and the independent expert on minorities have dealt with different aspects of issues involving allegations of blasphemy or advocacy of racial and religious hatred. In this section, the report highlights some of the main observations and conclusions. 1. The Human Rights Committee 24. The Human Rights Committee has addressed the issue of incitement to racial and religious hatred during the examination of several recent reports, and in a number of recent concluding observations has noted it as a major concern. Notable recent examples include: (a) In connection with a report of Italy,12 the Human Rights Committee expressed concern about “reported instances of hate speech, including statements attributed to certain politicians, targeting foreign nationals, Arabs and Muslims, as well as the Roma”. The Committee accordingly requested Italy to “recall regularly and publicly that hate speech is prohibited under law and take prompt action to bring those responsible to justice”. The Committee recommended that the State Party provide it with statistical data concerning complaints, prosecutions and judicial decisions on the issue in order to monitor the situation; (b) Concerning Switzerland,13 the Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the increasing “incidents of racial intolerance.” It called upon Switzerland to “ensure rigorous enforcement of its laws against racial incitement and discrimination”. The Committee also suggested that the State Party strengthen the mandate of its Federal Commission against Racism so as to allow it to initiate legal action; (c) With respect to a report of Germany,14 the Human Rights Committee addressed the relationship between anti-terrorism policies and human rights, and expressed concern about the consequences of anti-terrorism measures on persons of foreign extraction, “because of an atmosphere of latent suspicion against them”. The Committee accordingly recommended that the German authorities “undertake an educational campaign through the media to protect persons of foreign extraction, in particular Arabs and Muslims, from stereotypes associating them with terrorism, extremism and fanaticism”; (d) In connection with the report of Egypt,15 the Committee expressed concern about the publication in the Egyptian press of “some very violent articles against Jews”, which it deemed to constitute “advocacy of racial and religious hatred and incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence”. The Committee requested the State Party to “take whatever action to punish such acts”. 25. The jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee has also addressed the issue of incitement in connection with several individual complaints submitted under the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, including Faurisson v. France (Communication No. 550/1993, 8 November 1996). This case involved prosecution under France’s 1990 Gayssot Act which made it a crime to contest the existence of certain crimes against humanity under which Nazi leaders were convicted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1946, and Ross v. Canada (Communication No. 736/1997, 18 October 2000) which alleged a denial of the right to express religious views provided for in article 19 of ICCPR. In both cases, the Human Rights Committee endorsed limitations on the exercise of free speech on the grounds that the restrictions were consistent with the ICCPR.