5 September 2001
The US delegation to the UN World Conference Against Racism pulled out on Monday in protest over the language in the draft declaration that accused Israel of pursuing racist policies. Israel, describing the wording in the draft as "ugly", joined the US withdrawal from the Durban conference. The walk out followed a failed diplomatic attempt to reconcile opposing sides over the declaration.
For more details on the conference declaration: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/02-documents-cnt.html
NGO declaration snubbed
Meanwhile, five of the biggest international non-governmental organisations attending the racism conference have distanced themselves from the NGO Forum's draft declaration. Addressing a media briefing on Monday afternoon representatives from Physicians for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Humans Rights Watch, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the International Service for Human Rights said that the anti-Israel language in the final declaration adopted on Sunday was inflammatory.
Slavery question divides EU countries
European Union countries appeared to be divided on Monday about whether or not those EU countries who were involved in the transatlantic slave trade should apologise, news reports said. The British government said that it would not apologise for its part in the slave trade. A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair was quoted as saying: "This is an agreed EU position, which was agreed at the [EU foreign ministers'] general affairs council in July." That position "is that slavery has to be condemned in the present and regretted in the past. It would not be sensible for governments to accept responsibility for the actions of governments so long ago. What is important is what we do in the present," he said.
Reports on Monday said that Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands agreed with British fears that an apology could add impetus to demands for reparations. The reports added that EU officials have been working on the basis of draft wording on slavery agreed by foreign ministers in July. "The European Union profoundly deplores the human suffering, individual and collective, caused by slavery and the slave trade. They are among the most dishonourable and abhorrent chapters in the history of humanity. The EU condemns these practices in the past and the present, and regrets the suffering they have caused," the draft was quoted as saying. Belgium, which currently hold the EU presidency, is said to favour moving towards a compromise regarding an apology for slavery and the issue of reparations, reports said.
Spotlight on children
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy told IRIN in an exclusive interview at the start of the UN World Conference Against Racism, that the international community must recognise the particular impact intolerance has on the lives of children.
"They are among the most vulnerable to marginalisation, to discrimination. There are some children particularly at risk: I would in this case include children belonging to minorities, or indigenous communities; children who are migrants or refugees or asylum seekers," she said.
Bellamy said of the week-long meeting in Durban: "I think its important to see these conferences not as an end in themselves, but as an opportunity to focus public attention, to heighten awareness around these issues for there to be an understanding that the issues of racism and discrimination and intolerance are issues to be confronted by all countries not just the poorest but from the richest to the poorest." She added that she hoped that out of the conference there would be a "heightened recognition that racism still exists, and secondly I hope a commitment on the part of the participating nations to go back home and to really act to try and reduce the impact of racism and intolerance".
Link between human rights and development
There has to be concrete steps against intolerance and racial discrimination to help meet the world's development targets. "The impact of racism and discrimination is clear and far-reaching," UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said in a statement. Malloch-Brown said that historically, racism had robbed people of their potential and of the opportunity to pursue their dreams. "In millions of cases it has cost them their lives. Africa has suffered the greatest burden in this regard. Today, intolerance is a factor which is slowing our march towards a more peaceful, prosperous and equitable world," he said. Malloch-Brown is leading the UNDP delegation to the meeting. He said that UNDP understood the inextricable link between human rights and human development, said the Administrator, and has adopted a rights-based approach to development. "This approach places people at the centre of our efforts to address their economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights," he said. For more details: http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
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