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20 October 2000
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Fifty-Fifth General Assembly
Third Committee
30th Meeting (PM)
20 October 2000
The Secretary-General should appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, according to a resolution approved this afternoon by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). The Committee was meeting to conclude its present consideration of issues related to racism and self-determination, in addition to considering two draft resolutions.
The resolution on improving the status of women in the United Nations system was approved without a vote. The draft would strongly request the Secretary-General to appoint more women, especially in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building, preventive diplomacy and economic and social development. It would also strongly urge him to appoint more women to other high-level positions through innovative recruitment strategies. Among other measures, it would request Member States to identify women candidates for assignments and to appoint suitably qualified women permanent representatives to United Nations missions.
Also this afternoon, the Committee heard the representative of Namibia introduce a draft on the girl child, which would urge the strengthening of efforts to achieve the Millennium Declaration's commitment to eliminate gender disparities in education. It would also urge States to institute legal reforms to ensure the girl child of all human rights and to take action against violations.
With regard to racism and self-determination this afternoon, the need to address inherent human factors was stressed. The representative of India said the notion that racist and xenophobic attitudes were based on misconceptions had proved to be true as globalization forced contact with the unfamiliar, the foreign and the racially distinct.
While some nations had met the challenge of becoming multi-ethnic and multi-cultural States, others continued to define their nationalism in terms of race, he continued. Native populations had become culturally indoctrinated into believing they were racially superior. The international community must come to grips with this complex issue. Imperialism and colonialism may have died, but attitudes and habits ingrained in populations over generations had not.
Ethnic and racial exclusivity was no longer practiced only by whites, the representative of Eritrea said. Others should also be held accountable on such issues, because ethnic conflicts continued to pose real dangers to international
peace and security. They were the products of ethnic policies and human rights violations that ensued from disastrous ethnic politics. Discriminatory policies or manipulation of ethnic differences constituted the core of such politics.
The representative of Haiti said the phenomenon of racial discrimination was complex, but one thing was clear. "Our children with blond hair and those with dark curly hair should not be perplexed by the question of why some children live in the sun and others don't.” The attitude of contempt should not be passed on. Racism was not inborn. A human was born good and society corrupted him. Since racism found its roots in ignorance, the answer was to teach the ethic of equality.
Also speaking on those issues were the representatives of Kuwait, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Iraq, Eritrea and Libya
The observer of Palestine and the representatives of Eritrea and Ethiopia exchanged views in exercise of the right of reply.
Concluding remarks were made by the Executive Coordinator for the World Conference against Racism and by the Special Rapporteur on measures to combat contemporary forms of racism.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 23 October, to take up human rights questions related to the implementation of human rights instruments.
Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to conclude its present consideration of issues related to racism and to self-determination. (For background, see Press Release GA/SHC/3596 of 18 October.)
In addition, the Committee has before it draft resolutions expected to be introduced or acted upon.
The Committee expects to take action on a resolution for improving the status of women in the United Nations system (document A/C.3/55/L.14). By that draft, the Assembly would strongly request the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, especially in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building, preventive diplomacy and economic and social development, as well as appoint more women to other high-level positions.
The General Assembly would further request the Secretary-General to develop innovative recruitment strategies to attract suitably qualified women candidates, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, other Member States which are unrepresented or under-represented in the Secretariat, and in occupations where women are under-represented. The Assembly would also request the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to create a gender-sensitive work environment, supportive of the needs of both men and women, and to strengthen further policy against harassment. It would request close monitoring of the progress made by departments and offices towards meeting the goal of
50/50 gender distribution.
Further to the draft, the Assembly would strongly encourage Member States to support the efforts of the United Nations and specialized agencies to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender distribution, especially at the D-1 level and above, by identifying and regularly submitting more women candidates for appointment to intergovernmental, judicial and expert bodies; and encouraging more women to apply for positions within the Secretariat, specialized agencies, funds and programmes and regional commissions of the United Nations system. It would request Member States to identify women candidates for assignment to peace-building missions and to improve the representation of women in military and civilian police contingents. It would also encourage States to appoint suitably qualified women permanent representatives to United Nations missions and heads of delegations dealing with major economic, social, security, human rights and humanitarian issues.
Also before the Committee is a draft expected to be introduced on the girl child (document A/C.3/55/L.17). By that draft, the Assembly would urge States to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol on the Convention to eliminate discrimination against women. It would urge the strengthening of efforts to achieve the commitment contained in the Millennium Declaration, among others, for eliminating gender disparities in education. Further, it would urge States to undertake measures and institute legal reforms to ensure full and equal enjoyment by the girl child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to take action against violations.
Further by the draft, the Assembly would urge States to enact and enforce laws to ensure that marriage was entered into freely and to protect girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide, genital mutilation and prenatal sex selection. It would urge the establishment of programmes for those who had been abused and the taking of special measures to protect war-affected girls. Finally, it would urge States to formulate comprehensive national plans to eliminate violence against women and girls. Among numerous other actions encouraged by the resolution, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to ensure integration of issues concerning the girl child in the preparatory work for the special session of the General Assembly on follow-up to the World Summit for Children in 2001.
The resolution is sponsored by Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Italy, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Introduction and Action on Drafts
The representative of Namibia introduced a draft resolution on the girl child (document A/C.3/55/L.17).
The following were added as co-sponsors: Afghanistan, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Iceland, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Committee next took up a draft resolution on improving the status of women in the Secretariat (document A/C.3/55/L.14), and considered a number of technical revisions in the text.
The following were added as co-sponsors: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Congo, Croatia, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Sierra Leone, Republic of Senegal, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Turkey, United States and Venezuela.
The draft resolution was adopted as amended, without a vote.
ABDULLAH AL-SHAHEEN (Kuwait) said he appreciated South Africa’s hosting of the Conference. His country had implemented many initiatives and policies to curb racism and discrimination, in line with the beliefs of Muslims. It had also acceded to many conventions. Its constitution was in line with those conventions because racial discrimination was a flagrant violation of human rights. Further, it worked harmonious international cooperation.
GERARDO ATEAGA (Chile) said non-discrimination was a guiding principle of the United Nations. However, in the world at large racial discrimination existed all over, based on skin colour or ethnic background. To expunge the activity, it was necessary to look at the problem thoroughly. The decision to hold the World Conference was a confirmation of the international community's commitment to do just that.
The regional preparatory conferences were particularly significant, he continued. That was true for his region, and even more specifically for his country, in the "civilization revolution" occurring since the end of the cold war as the technological and communications mediums converged. The impact was perhaps greater than that created by the Industrial Revolution. As had been decided by the General Assembly, his country would host a regional preparatory meeting in December. It would also hold a citizens' forum, which would facilitate wide-ranging consideration of issues related to the Conference. It was appropriate that the first major meeting of the century should address atavistic behaviours that had dogged humanity for millennia.
SWADES CHAKRABORTI (India), said that racial discrimination was based on misconceptions, but there were just as many misconceptions about racial discrimination. The most troubling of those was the belief that racism was now a marginal problem, since its manifestations could no longer be identifiable as the ideology of a particular State, an adjunct of empire, as Nazism and apartheid had been. That was not the case. Globalization had been instrumental in forcing some nations to become familiar with the unfamiliar, foreign and racially distinct. Unfortunately, that phenomenon only exacerbated racism and discriminatory attitudes. Some had come to terms with the challenge of becoming multi-ethnic and multi-cultural States. Others had found it much harder to identify themselves without defining their nationalism in terms of race. Native populations became “culturally indoctrinated”, almost without realizing it, to believe that they were racially superior. The international community must come to grips with this complex issue; imperialism and colonialism may have died, but attitudes and habits ingrained in populations over generations had not.
The worldwide situation for immigrants was also troubling, he said. Immigration policies of most developed countries were, in truth, designed to keep out or regulate the entry of people of different races or cultures. That type of cultural or structural flaw could only be corrected through sustained governmental attention, plus the social awareness that a real problem actually existed. If the international community only examined the most extreme manifestations of prejudice, the endemic problem of racial discrimination would never go away. For instance, much attention had been paid to the spread of xenophobia over the Internet. While that was certainly a problem that needed to be urgently addressed, it would be more problematic to ignore the open racial prejudice pervasive in the mainstream media. He hoped that those were some of the issues that would be honestly and squarely addressed at the upcoming World Conference on Racism. Finally, he noted that if the problems of racism had been downplayed for political reasons, the right of people to self-determination had been equally distorted to serve political ends.
MARIA LUIZA VIOTTI (Brazil) said that her country was proud of its multicultural identity and was conscious of the historical legacy of its harmonious coexistence of races, cultures and religions. With that in mind, her delegation welcomed the convening of the upcoming World Conference. It would be important for the Conference to address new and more subtle forms of racism, as well as identify ways to combat the use of new technologies to spread racist ideas. The Conference must be action-oriented, and should develop concrete commitments and agreed-upon measures to combat old and new manifestations of racism and xenophobia.
She said that the struggle against racism had been carried out in her country through more focused governmental action and a better organization of various segments of civil society. The current administration was committed to open discussions with Congress as well as with media and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives dedicated to the eradication of racism in all its forms. As to the preparatory process for the Conference, she said that Brazil’s aim was to cover a wide and representative spectrum of social movements, NGOs, academic institutions and individual experts. Brazil was also determined to take part in the regional preparatory process, to be held in Santiago.
HAKAN TEKIN (Turkey) said that racism and intolerance were the worst social diseases of modern times. That was particularly true now that their manifestations were becoming more subtle. He was particularly disturbed by the increase in violent activities by right-wing organizations and the spread of xenophobia over the Internet. That was troubling because foreigners could become easy targets of violence. Turkey had bitter experience in that regard, with more than 3 million of its citizens living abroad. Enacting laws against racism and racial discrimination did not automatically eradicate the deep-rooted motives of exclusiveness. Both the national and international community, hand in hand with civil society, should fight vigorously against the scourge of racism in all its forms. Clear, comprehensive and concise action was needed, and he welcomed the upcoming Conference as a major step. He hoped it would provide an opportunity for Turkey to participate in the development of effective strategies and mechanisms.
Along with efforts at the international level, he added, providing effective legal protection was also of paramount importance. His delegation was of the opinion that State obligations were better fulfilled by imposing deterrent penalties for racially motivated and xenophobic offences, together with furthering efforts to promote tolerance. Devising polices to increase awareness was also of utmost importance. Another duty incumbent upon governments was to streamline immigration and asylum policies, restructured to adapt them to multicultural existence.
MARIA ANTONIETA MONROY (Mexico) said it was essential to fight to overcome racial hatred which, in its worst forms, had led to ethnic cleansing and violence against indigenous populations. Her delegation was also concerned that xenophobia was being spread to youth through the Internet. In that regard, she hoped that the World Conference would help provide an opportunity to identify ways to combat new and more subtle forms of racism. The Conference should adopt a political declaration expressing the will of the international community to eradicate the problem, as well as establish an action plan with identifiable goals to be reached at the national and regional levels. Of the Conference’s five themes, the most important concerned the victims of racial discrimination, and international cooperation. It was important for the Conference to analyse the situation of vulnerable groups, such as migrants. It should also consider the idea of convening an international conference on the human rights of migrants and their families.
NICOLE ROMULUS (Haiti) said the violence of recent weeks would hopefully be broken by the agreement at Sharm el-Sheik, and perhaps would lead to a permanent solution of the problem and to peace. The fight against discrimination based on skin colour had been long-standing in Haiti. Some of Haiti's people had been victims of indignities while in other countries. The President of the United States had pointed out that all humans at the genetic level were 99.9 per cent the same. Humans were different from each other in a thousand ways, but resembled each other in another thousand.
She said the phenomenon of racial discrimination was complex, but one thing was clear. "Our children with blond hair and those with dark curly hair should not be perplexed by the question of why some children live in the sun and others don't.” The attitude of contempt should not be passed on. Racism was not inborn. A human was born good and society corrupted him. Since racism found its roots in ignorance, the answer was to teach the ethic of equality.
MOHAMMED SALMAN (Iraq) said the right of self-determination was linked by resolutions on both the granting of independence to countries and on their right to natural resources. The right of self-determination must then be linked to other principles, including the right to development, all of which were violated by the United States and the United Kingdom in the imposed air-exclusion zones that had nothing to do with the United Nations or with Security Council resolutions.
He said the missiles of those countries had destroyed drinking water supplies and energy sources in Iraq. The strategy seemed aimed at destroying the Iraqi regime. That view had been confirmed by the media and by the President of the United States, who had openly admitted wanting to undermine Iraq's integrity. Unjust measures were being taken against Iraq through such actions and statements. Iraq must be compensated for the physical damage incurred.
AMARE TEKLE (Eritrea) said the post-cold war period had been characterized by two contradictory trends in race relations. One was the increased effort to eliminate all forms of racism, and the other was an alarming reemergence of the odious phenomenon in ever more sophisticated and subtle ways. In Ethiopia, an ethno-apartheid system had been inaugurated by a minority regime under the guise of ethnic federalism. It was being savagely used to systematically victimize the rest of the ethnic groups in the country. It promoted the exclusive interests and privileges of the Tigrean minority.
Regardless of a constitution calling for equality, he said, the minority took special measures to safeguard its interests. Giving examples, he recalled the Secretary-General's characterization of an "identity politics" based on the notion of the "other". Whether the "other" was of a different ethnic, racial or nationality group, the concept created the xenophobia that permeated Ethiopian politics. Identity politics, particularly by the Tigray, led them to believe they were only safe when associating with their own group. That attitude of the "other" applied to everyone else was creating a wall of hostility between Tigreans and others. It was encouraging to note that the United Nations human rights mechanisms were abandoning an old, reactive approach and adopting a pro-active, preventive one.
Ethnic conflicts continued to pose real dangers to international peace and security, he concluded. They were the products of ethnic policies and human rights violations that ensued from disastrous ethnic politics. Discriminatory policies or manipulation of ethnic differences constituted the core of such politics. The ethno-apartheid policy of the minority regime in Ethiopia was institutionalized racism that promoted ethnic hatred and fomented strife. Ethnic and racial exclusivity was no longer practiced only by whites. Others should also be held accountable on such issues.
NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (Libya) said the term "humanitarian intervention" was well known to be a euphemism for the real intentions behind it: the superpowers aiming to impose their will, unconcerned with the safety of minority people. There was no covering up the open evidence of hegemony within the globalizing world. Instead of promoting and protecting human rights through the United Nations, some were using it as a cover to introduce "social Balkanization" in developing countries. There was a double standard at work, by which "humanitarian intervention" was used to negate the Charter and national sovereignty. It created a cover for interference in the domestic affairs of States. Any intervention not in strict accordance with the Charter was a violation.
Concluding Remarks
JYOTI SHANKAR SINGH, Executive Coordinator for the World Conference against Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, thanked delegations for sharing their views on the upcoming World Conference. He saw that there was much work ahead for his Office in the coming months. He urged Committee members participating in preparatory meetings and conferences to remain focused on the four objectives of the Conference. Those objectives were to build greater public awareness of the objectives of the Conference; to compile and publicize best practices to allow countries to take advantage of lessons learned by other Member States; to identify existing problems and discuss them frankly; and to help build diverse societies. That particular objective could not be fulfilled unless the Conference was seen as the focal point of a broader process, one that did not end on the final day of the Conference. He hoped that all Members and the wider international community would work together to ensure that those objectives were realized.
MAURICE GLELE-AHAHANZO, Special Rapporteur on measures to combat contemporary forms of racism, said that the work of the Committee over the past few days had shown that there was indeed a global consciousness relating to the problem of racism. That realization was even more encouraging as many delegations had highlighted the challenges ahead in combating a phenomenon whose manifestations were becoming more and more subtle. In that regard, he urged Committee members to continue to share information among themselves and work with the various NGOs and civil actors. Only through open and honest dialogue could the international community move forward to eradicate the scourge of racial discrimination. He hoped that the Conference would be a crowning success for promoting tolerance and diversity in the new millennium.
Rights of Reply
The observer of Palestine said the Israeli representative's statement of the morning -- asserting that 99 per cent of Palestinians lived under the rule of the Palestinian Authority –- was inaccurate. The occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, was under Israeli occupation. The representative's claim undermined the view formed by the international community after watching helicopter gunships fly over Palestinian towns dropping missiles. Also, the racist and insensitive remark blaming the Palestinians for the killing of their children was an example of the guilty rationalizing their actions by blaming their victims. The 12 year old boy's father had not intentionally put his son in harm’s way to become another number on the long list of Palestinians killed or injured by Israeli forces.
Ethiopia's representative said the atrocities committed by Eritrea had been disclosed earlier. Ethiopia would not accept the baseless lies conveyed today by Eritrea.
The representative of Eritrea quoted a number of authorities who had written about the matter between his country and Ethiopia, saying the assessment added up to a campaign of exclusion being carried out by the Tigray.
* *** *
Third Committee
30th Meeting (PM)
20 October 2000
The Secretary-General should appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, according to a resolution approved this afternoon by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). The Committee was meeting to conclude its present consideration of issues related to racism and self-determination, in addition to considering two draft resolutions.
The resolution on improving the status of women in the United Nations system was approved without a vote. The draft would strongly request the Secretary-General to appoint more women, especially in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building, preventive diplomacy and economic and social development. It would also strongly urge him to appoint more women to other high-level positions through innovative recruitment strategies. Among other measures, it would request Member States to identify women candidates for assignments and to appoint suitably qualified women permanent representatives to United Nations missions.
Also this afternoon, the Committee heard the representative of Namibia introduce a draft on the girl child, which would urge the strengthening of efforts to achieve the Millennium Declaration's commitment to eliminate gender disparities in education. It would also urge States to institute legal reforms to ensure the girl child of all human rights and to take action against violations.
With regard to racism and self-determination this afternoon, the need to address inherent human factors was stressed. The representative of India said the notion that racist and xenophobic attitudes were based on misconceptions had proved to be true as globalization forced contact with the unfamiliar, the foreign and the racially distinct.
While some nations had met the challenge of becoming multi-ethnic and multi-cultural States, others continued to define their nationalism in terms of race, he continued. Native populations had become culturally indoctrinated into believing they were racially superior. The international community must come to grips with this complex issue. Imperialism and colonialism may have died, but attitudes and habits ingrained in populations over generations had not.
Ethnic and racial exclusivity was no longer practiced only by whites, the representative of Eritrea said. Others should also be held accountable on such issues, because ethnic conflicts continued to pose real dangers to international
peace and security. They were the products of ethnic policies and human rights violations that ensued from disastrous ethnic politics. Discriminatory policies or manipulation of ethnic differences constituted the core of such politics.
The representative of Haiti said the phenomenon of racial discrimination was complex, but one thing was clear. "Our children with blond hair and those with dark curly hair should not be perplexed by the question of why some children live in the sun and others don't.” The attitude of contempt should not be passed on. Racism was not inborn. A human was born good and society corrupted him. Since racism found its roots in ignorance, the answer was to teach the ethic of equality.
Also speaking on those issues were the representatives of Kuwait, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Iraq, Eritrea and Libya
The observer of Palestine and the representatives of Eritrea and Ethiopia exchanged views in exercise of the right of reply.
Concluding remarks were made by the Executive Coordinator for the World Conference against Racism and by the Special Rapporteur on measures to combat contemporary forms of racism.
The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. on Monday, 23 October, to take up human rights questions related to the implementation of human rights instruments.
Committee Work Programme
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this afternoon to conclude its present consideration of issues related to racism and to self-determination. (For background, see Press Release GA/SHC/3596 of 18 October.)
In addition, the Committee has before it draft resolutions expected to be introduced or acted upon.
The Committee expects to take action on a resolution for improving the status of women in the United Nations system (document A/C.3/55/L.14). By that draft, the Assembly would strongly request the Secretary-General to appoint more women as special representatives and envoys to pursue good offices on his behalf, especially in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building, preventive diplomacy and economic and social development, as well as appoint more women to other high-level positions.
The General Assembly would further request the Secretary-General to develop innovative recruitment strategies to attract suitably qualified women candidates, particularly in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, other Member States which are unrepresented or under-represented in the Secretariat, and in occupations where women are under-represented. The Assembly would also request the Secretary-General to intensify efforts to create a gender-sensitive work environment, supportive of the needs of both men and women, and to strengthen further policy against harassment. It would request close monitoring of the progress made by departments and offices towards meeting the goal of
50/50 gender distribution.
Further to the draft, the Assembly would strongly encourage Member States to support the efforts of the United Nations and specialized agencies to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender distribution, especially at the D-1 level and above, by identifying and regularly submitting more women candidates for appointment to intergovernmental, judicial and expert bodies; and encouraging more women to apply for positions within the Secretariat, specialized agencies, funds and programmes and regional commissions of the United Nations system. It would request Member States to identify women candidates for assignment to peace-building missions and to improve the representation of women in military and civilian police contingents. It would also encourage States to appoint suitably qualified women permanent representatives to United Nations missions and heads of delegations dealing with major economic, social, security, human rights and humanitarian issues.
Also before the Committee is a draft expected to be introduced on the girl child (document A/C.3/55/L.17). By that draft, the Assembly would urge States to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol on the Convention to eliminate discrimination against women. It would urge the strengthening of efforts to achieve the commitment contained in the Millennium Declaration, among others, for eliminating gender disparities in education. Further, it would urge States to undertake measures and institute legal reforms to ensure full and equal enjoyment by the girl child of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to take action against violations.
Further by the draft, the Assembly would urge States to enact and enforce laws to ensure that marriage was entered into freely and to protect girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide, genital mutilation and prenatal sex selection. It would urge the establishment of programmes for those who had been abused and the taking of special measures to protect war-affected girls. Finally, it would urge States to formulate comprehensive national plans to eliminate violence against women and girls. Among numerous other actions encouraged by the resolution, the Assembly would request the Secretary-General to ensure integration of issues concerning the girl child in the preparatory work for the special session of the General Assembly on follow-up to the World Summit for Children in 2001.
The resolution is sponsored by Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Italy, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Introduction and Action on Drafts
The representative of Namibia introduced a draft resolution on the girl child (document A/C.3/55/L.17).
The following were added as co-sponsors: Afghanistan, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Iceland, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Committee next took up a draft resolution on improving the status of women in the Secretariat (document A/C.3/55/L.14), and considered a number of technical revisions in the text.
The following were added as co-sponsors: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Congo, Croatia, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Romania, Sierra Leone, Republic of Senegal, Spain, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Turkey, United States and Venezuela.
The draft resolution was adopted as amended, without a vote.
ABDULLAH AL-SHAHEEN (Kuwait) said he appreciated South Africa’s hosting of the Conference. His country had implemented many initiatives and policies to curb racism and discrimination, in line with the beliefs of Muslims. It had also acceded to many conventions. Its constitution was in line with those conventions because racial discrimination was a flagrant violation of human rights. Further, it worked harmonious international cooperation.
GERARDO ATEAGA (Chile) said non-discrimination was a guiding principle of the United Nations. However, in the world at large racial discrimination existed all over, based on skin colour or ethnic background. To expunge the activity, it was necessary to look at the problem thoroughly. The decision to hold the World Conference was a confirmation of the international community's commitment to do just that.
The regional preparatory conferences were particularly significant, he continued. That was true for his region, and even more specifically for his country, in the "civilization revolution" occurring since the end of the cold war as the technological and communications mediums converged. The impact was perhaps greater than that created by the Industrial Revolution. As had been decided by the General Assembly, his country would host a regional preparatory meeting in December. It would also hold a citizens' forum, which would facilitate wide-ranging consideration of issues related to the Conference. It was appropriate that the first major meeting of the century should address atavistic behaviours that had dogged humanity for millennia.
SWADES CHAKRABORTI (India), said that racial discrimination was based on misconceptions, but there were just as many misconceptions about racial discrimination. The most troubling of those was the belief that racism was now a marginal problem, since its manifestations could no longer be identifiable as the ideology of a particular State, an adjunct of empire, as Nazism and apartheid had been. That was not the case. Globalization had been instrumental in forcing some nations to become familiar with the unfamiliar, foreign and racially distinct. Unfortunately, that phenomenon only exacerbated racism and discriminatory attitudes. Some had come to terms with the challenge of becoming multi-ethnic and multi-cultural States. Others had found it much harder to identify themselves without defining their nationalism in terms of race. Native populations became “culturally indoctrinated”, almost without realizing it, to believe that they were racially superior. The international community must come to grips with this complex issue; imperialism and colonialism may have died, but attitudes and habits ingrained in populations over generations had not.
The worldwide situation for immigrants was also troubling, he said. Immigration policies of most developed countries were, in truth, designed to keep out or regulate the entry of people of different races or cultures. That type of cultural or structural flaw could only be corrected through sustained governmental attention, plus the social awareness that a real problem actually existed. If the international community only examined the most extreme manifestations of prejudice, the endemic problem of racial discrimination would never go away. For instance, much attention had been paid to the spread of xenophobia over the Internet. While that was certainly a problem that needed to be urgently addressed, it would be more problematic to ignore the open racial prejudice pervasive in the mainstream media. He hoped that those were some of the issues that would be honestly and squarely addressed at the upcoming World Conference on Racism. Finally, he noted that if the problems of racism had been downplayed for political reasons, the right of people to self-determination had been equally distorted to serve political ends.
MARIA LUIZA VIOTTI (Brazil) said that her country was proud of its multicultural identity and was conscious of the historical legacy of its harmonious coexistence of races, cultures and religions. With that in mind, her delegation welcomed the convening of the upcoming World Conference. It would be important for the Conference to address new and more subtle forms of racism, as well as identify ways to combat the use of new technologies to spread racist ideas. The Conference must be action-oriented, and should develop concrete commitments and agreed-upon measures to combat old and new manifestations of racism and xenophobia.
She said that the struggle against racism had been carried out in her country through more focused governmental action and a better organization of various segments of civil society. The current administration was committed to open discussions with Congress as well as with media and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives dedicated to the eradication of racism in all its forms. As to the preparatory process for the Conference, she said that Brazil’s aim was to cover a wide and representative spectrum of social movements, NGOs, academic institutions and individual experts. Brazil was also determined to take part in the regional preparatory process, to be held in Santiago.
HAKAN TEKIN (Turkey) said that racism and intolerance were the worst social diseases of modern times. That was particularly true now that their manifestations were becoming more subtle. He was particularly disturbed by the increase in violent activities by right-wing organizations and the spread of xenophobia over the Internet. That was troubling because foreigners could become easy targets of violence. Turkey had bitter experience in that regard, with more than 3 million of its citizens living abroad. Enacting laws against racism and racial discrimination did not automatically eradicate the deep-rooted motives of exclusiveness. Both the national and international community, hand in hand with civil society, should fight vigorously against the scourge of racism in all its forms. Clear, comprehensive and concise action was needed, and he welcomed the upcoming Conference as a major step. He hoped it would provide an opportunity for Turkey to participate in the development of effective strategies and mechanisms.
Along with efforts at the international level, he added, providing effective legal protection was also of paramount importance. His delegation was of the opinion that State obligations were better fulfilled by imposing deterrent penalties for racially motivated and xenophobic offences, together with furthering efforts to promote tolerance. Devising polices to increase awareness was also of utmost importance. Another duty incumbent upon governments was to streamline immigration and asylum policies, restructured to adapt them to multicultural existence.
MARIA ANTONIETA MONROY (Mexico) said it was essential to fight to overcome racial hatred which, in its worst forms, had led to ethnic cleansing and violence against indigenous populations. Her delegation was also concerned that xenophobia was being spread to youth through the Internet. In that regard, she hoped that the World Conference would help provide an opportunity to identify ways to combat new and more subtle forms of racism. The Conference should adopt a political declaration expressing the will of the international community to eradicate the problem, as well as establish an action plan with identifiable goals to be reached at the national and regional levels. Of the Conference’s five themes, the most important concerned the victims of racial discrimination, and international cooperation. It was important for the Conference to analyse the situation of vulnerable groups, such as migrants. It should also consider the idea of convening an international conference on the human rights of migrants and their families.
NICOLE ROMULUS (Haiti) said the violence of recent weeks would hopefully be broken by the agreement at Sharm el-Sheik, and perhaps would lead to a permanent solution of the problem and to peace. The fight against discrimination based on skin colour had been long-standing in Haiti. Some of Haiti's people had been victims of indignities while in other countries. The President of the United States had pointed out that all humans at the genetic level were 99.9 per cent the same. Humans were different from each other in a thousand ways, but resembled each other in another thousand.
She said the phenomenon of racial discrimination was complex, but one thing was clear. "Our children with blond hair and those with dark curly hair should not be perplexed by the question of why some children live in the sun and others don't.” The attitude of contempt should not be passed on. Racism was not inborn. A human was born good and society corrupted him. Since racism found its roots in ignorance, the answer was to teach the ethic of equality.
MOHAMMED SALMAN (Iraq) said the right of self-determination was linked by resolutions on both the granting of independence to countries and on their right to natural resources. The right of self-determination must then be linked to other principles, including the right to development, all of which were violated by the United States and the United Kingdom in the imposed air-exclusion zones that had nothing to do with the United Nations or with Security Council resolutions.
He said the missiles of those countries had destroyed drinking water supplies and energy sources in Iraq. The strategy seemed aimed at destroying the Iraqi regime. That view had been confirmed by the media and by the President of the United States, who had openly admitted wanting to undermine Iraq's integrity. Unjust measures were being taken against Iraq through such actions and statements. Iraq must be compensated for the physical damage incurred.
AMARE TEKLE (Eritrea) said the post-cold war period had been characterized by two contradictory trends in race relations. One was the increased effort to eliminate all forms of racism, and the other was an alarming reemergence of the odious phenomenon in ever more sophisticated and subtle ways. In Ethiopia, an ethno-apartheid system had been inaugurated by a minority regime under the guise of ethnic federalism. It was being savagely used to systematically victimize the rest of the ethnic groups in the country. It promoted the exclusive interests and privileges of the Tigrean minority.
Regardless of a constitution calling for equality, he said, the minority took special measures to safeguard its interests. Giving examples, he recalled the Secretary-General's characterization of an "identity politics" based on the notion of the "other". Whether the "other" was of a different ethnic, racial or nationality group, the concept created the xenophobia that permeated Ethiopian politics. Identity politics, particularly by the Tigray, led them to believe they were only safe when associating with their own group. That attitude of the "other" applied to everyone else was creating a wall of hostility between Tigreans and others. It was encouraging to note that the United Nations human rights mechanisms were abandoning an old, reactive approach and adopting a pro-active, preventive one.
Ethnic conflicts continued to pose real dangers to international peace and security, he concluded. They were the products of ethnic policies and human rights violations that ensued from disastrous ethnic politics. Discriminatory policies or manipulation of ethnic differences constituted the core of such politics. The ethno-apartheid policy of the minority regime in Ethiopia was institutionalized racism that promoted ethnic hatred and fomented strife. Ethnic and racial exclusivity was no longer practiced only by whites. Others should also be held accountable on such issues.
NAJAT AL-HAJJAJI (Libya) said the term "humanitarian intervention" was well known to be a euphemism for the real intentions behind it: the superpowers aiming to impose their will, unconcerned with the safety of minority people. There was no covering up the open evidence of hegemony within the globalizing world. Instead of promoting and protecting human rights through the United Nations, some were using it as a cover to introduce "social Balkanization" in developing countries. There was a double standard at work, by which "humanitarian intervention" was used to negate the Charter and national sovereignty. It created a cover for interference in the domestic affairs of States. Any intervention not in strict accordance with the Charter was a violation.
Concluding Remarks
JYOTI SHANKAR SINGH, Executive Coordinator for the World Conference against Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, thanked delegations for sharing their views on the upcoming World Conference. He saw that there was much work ahead for his Office in the coming months. He urged Committee members participating in preparatory meetings and conferences to remain focused on the four objectives of the Conference. Those objectives were to build greater public awareness of the objectives of the Conference; to compile and publicize best practices to allow countries to take advantage of lessons learned by other Member States; to identify existing problems and discuss them frankly; and to help build diverse societies. That particular objective could not be fulfilled unless the Conference was seen as the focal point of a broader process, one that did not end on the final day of the Conference. He hoped that all Members and the wider international community would work together to ensure that those objectives were realized.
MAURICE GLELE-AHAHANZO, Special Rapporteur on measures to combat contemporary forms of racism, said that the work of the Committee over the past few days had shown that there was indeed a global consciousness relating to the problem of racism. That realization was even more encouraging as many delegations had highlighted the challenges ahead in combating a phenomenon whose manifestations were becoming more and more subtle. In that regard, he urged Committee members to continue to share information among themselves and work with the various NGOs and civil actors. Only through open and honest dialogue could the international community move forward to eradicate the scourge of racial discrimination. He hoped that the Conference would be a crowning success for promoting tolerance and diversity in the new millennium.
Rights of Reply
The observer of Palestine said the Israeli representative's statement of the morning -- asserting that 99 per cent of Palestinians lived under the rule of the Palestinian Authority –- was inaccurate. The occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, was under Israeli occupation. The representative's claim undermined the view formed by the international community after watching helicopter gunships fly over Palestinian towns dropping missiles. Also, the racist and insensitive remark blaming the Palestinians for the killing of their children was an example of the guilty rationalizing their actions by blaming their victims. The 12 year old boy's father had not intentionally put his son in harm’s way to become another number on the long list of Palestinians killed or injured by Israeli forces.
Ethiopia's representative said the atrocities committed by Eritrea had been disclosed earlier. Ethiopia would not accept the baseless lies conveyed today by Eritrea.
The representative of Eritrea quoted a number of authorities who had written about the matter between his country and Ethiopia, saying the assessment added up to a campaign of exclusion being carried out by the Tigray.
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