Doudou Diène

Doudou Diene (* 1941 in Senegal) is a Senegalese political analyst and since 2002 the UN Special Rapporteur on racism, xenophobia and discrimination.

Diene studied philosophy and political science and a doctorate in law at the University of Caen in France. From 1972 to 1977 he was deputy Senegalese delegate to UNESCO and Vice President of the Group of 77, after which he worked in the Secretariat of UNESCO. In the following years he was mostly responsible for intercultural and interfaith projects.

In 2002 Diene was appointed by the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Special Rapporteur. In this role Diene studied racist or xenophobic incidents in the signatory states of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the reactions of their government. During a visit to Switzerland in January 2006, for example, he spoke of xenophobic tendencies because " the defense of national identity in political discourse and in the media always greater weight " get. He also said there were in Switzerland, " a significant number of incidents in which police violence dyed racist" is. Annual reports Diene to the Human Rights Committee and the UN General Assembly.

In his report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2008, he warned of a rise of racism, more and more democratically legitimized itself. Questions about immigration, asylum and the situation of foreigners and minorities would increasingly reduced to security issues. The right to freedom of expression will instrumentalized to legitimize xenophobic attitudes.