INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION OBSERVED IN GENEVA

23.03.2004


Panel Discussion on Intercultural Dialogue Exchanges Views
on Cultural Identity, Indigenous Populations, Poverty and Religion



The International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (21 March) was observed today at the Palais des Nations in Geneva with a panel discussion entitled “Intercultural Dialogue: a means to combat racism”.

Serving as mediator for the two-hour long panel discussion, which brought together representatives from the United Nations and the NGO community, was Bertrand Ramcharan, acting High Commissioner for Human Rights.

At the opening of the event, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, delivered the message of the Secretary-General, which underlined the 10-year anniversary of the Rwanda genocide on 7 April 2004. Within the message, the Secretary-General said he intended to appoint a United Nations Special Adviser on the prevention of genocide. In his own speech, the Director-General said the differences between the Rwanda genocide and democracy in South Africa, whose tenth anniversary was also being observed, illustrated the challenges the world faced in combating racial discrimination.

The Special Rapporteur for Racial Discrimination, Doudou Diene, said that all forms of discrimination had both political and economic constructs and often at the core of the problem of racial discrimination was a cultural misunderstanding. Racial discrimination was a denial of other peoples’ rights to their cultural identity, he added.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, said that for most indigenous people, racial discrimination was at the root of their problems. Intercultural dialogue was essential to eliminate stereotypes and racist behavior targeting indigenous people, she added.
The Chairman of the Working Group on the follow-up to the Durban Conference on Racism, Juan Antonio Martabit, said among other things that poverty was a common factor leading to racism. He called on the international community to take measures to reverse the negative trends of globalization affecting underdeveloped nations.

Charles Graves, Secretary-General of Interfaith International, said the voices heard at the Durban Conference provided an agenda for anti-racism for years to come. Intercultural activity was perhaps the best way to break down racism which was simply the lack of intercultural dialogue, he added.

Savelina Russinova of the European Roma Rights Centre, stated that intercultural dialogue was of crucial importance for the Roma who had been the target of persecution since their arrival in Europe centuries ago. Despite actions taken to improve the welfare of the Roma in Europe, there were still certain barriers, which did not allow a genuine dialogue between the Roma and European society, she added.

At the end of the panel discussion, Mr. Diene said that changing the contents of education was one way to eliminate discrimination and that cases of discrimination needed to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The world must work together to combat discrimination and it was vital to tackle this problem through laws, however the dialogue began at the home.

Discussion

SERGEI ORDZHONIKIDZE, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, delivered the message of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (SG/SM/9195; 12 March 2004) in which he recalled the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960. This incident, which was set to the backdrop of a planned non-violent protest in the South African town 44 years ago, led to the establishment of this annual observance in order to draw attention to the fight against racism wherever and whenever it occurred. In his message, the Secretary-General highlighted the fact that 7 April this year will mark the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. This year is also the bicentenary of the revolution in Haiti, which led to the liberation from slavery of the peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America. The General Assembly had proclaimed 2004 the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition.

“Racism is also among the roots of genocide … . We must strengthen our capacity for early warning and prevention of genocide, mass murder, ethnic cleansing and comparable crimes, and truly support efforts at bringing perpetrators to justice, for example through the International Criminal Court”, says the Secretary-General’s message, in which he also makes mention of his intention to appoint a United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide.

Speaking in his own right, the Director-General said that conflict prevention and racial discrimination went hand in hand, adding that eliminating racial discrimination was not only a question of human rights but also one of conflict prevention as well as post-conflict reconstruction. Mr. Ordzhonikidze drew attention to the recent ethnically motivated violence in Kosovo and called for those responsible to be brought to justice. An intercultural dialogue was essential in order to defeat prejudices that were central to conflicts.

Mr. Ordzhonikidze said the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was not the only observance being marked, but also the tenth anniversary of democracy in South Africa, as well as the tenth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, as noted in the Secretary-General’s message. The differences between these two observances illustrated the challenges faced in combating racial discrimination as a whole. A critical step which was needed to formulate an appropriate response to racial discrimination was to consider what actually fuelled racial sentiments. Moreover, poverty was closely associated with racial discrimination in that it generated more poverty. If the world was to eradicate racism and poverty, it must address the needs of underdeveloped nations, he added.

DOUDOU DIENE, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, said among other things that all forms of discrimination had both political and economic constructs; it was within the construct of transatlantic slavery that racism against blacks began, for example. After economic slavery began, intellectuals thought to legitimize the slave trade. The French historical figure Voltaire believed that black slaves deserved their fate because they were culturally inferior. “A black person was the natural slave of others”, Voltaire said. Anti-Semitism was another example of this type of construct. To understand racial discrimination, people must look deeper into the roots of these constructs. Intellectual expression echoed in films and books also articulated racial discrimination. “We are only looking at the tip of the iceberg”, Mr. Diene said.

Often at the core of the problem of racial discrimination was cultural misunderstanding, the Special Rapporteur said. When people spoke about culture, they had to go beyond initial appearances and should look at and accept other people’s values. Racial discrimination was a denial of other peoples’ rights to their cultural identity, he added. In conclusion, Mr. Diene quoted a Senegalese proverb, which reads, “In the forest when the branches of trees cross each other, racism disappears.” He called on the international community to come together and for nations to embrace one another as branches on trees to combat racial discrimination.

VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, said that ever since she had been a young schoolgirl in the Philippines, she had been aware of racial discrimination. Since then, she had become active in getting indigenous people involved in national and global dialogues. For most indigenous people, racial discrimination was at the root of their problems. Norms and standards had been developed to allow for indigenous groups to enter into intercultural dialogue and for them to be seen as equals in society, yet barriers still existed. Among the achievements on indigenous rights was the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was the first international document to address these specific rights. The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was another achievement, she said. These were achieved because of commitments and beliefs that indigenous people had much to offer the international community. Among the steps taken to reach these goals were enhanced awareness and education.

Intercultural dialogue was essential to eliminate stereotypes and racist behavior targeting indigenous people. Furthermore, it was crucial to have indigenous groups actively engaged in intercultural dialogue. Programmes allowing for enhanced education, cultural awareness, economic and social development and an improved justice system addressing indigenous people must be undertaken to allow for their welfare, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz added. Moreover, a dialogue on civilizations should be expanded to include more countries and peoples, among them indigenous communities. Monitoring mechanisms were needed to see how Governments were complying with the norms and standards addressing indigenous needs and good practices in various countries should be recorded and shared with other countries as examples on how best to address those needs.

JUAN ANTONIO MARTABIT, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, highlighted the trends of human development from one century to the next, indicating that the twentieth century gave birth to both ideological values as well as to a great many wars. As humans had evolved from one century to the next, they had increased hopes of equality for all. Today in the twenty-first century, there was a deep conviction that human rights instruments would be at the heart of development. Yet regrettably, despite technological development, many countries were not benefiting from these advancements, Mr. Martabit said.

Within the dialogue among civilizations, he reminded the international community to take into account that human beings were at the centre of any development process and their rights were not always respected. Therefore, efforts must be refocused on the importance of human rights. No culture could claim that it had a right to pre-eminence over another. There was a need to strengthen multilateral institutions on the basis of educational reform to allow cultural diversity to bring humankind to respect one another. Poverty was also a common factor to racism. In conclusion, Mr. Martabit called on the international community to take measures to reverse the negative trends of globalization affecting underdeveloped nations and for nations to comply to existing human rights instruments to do away with racial discrimination. He added that education was at the backbone to change negative aspects in all forms of intolerance.

CHARLES GRAVES, Secretary-General of Interfaith International, said religion was looked upon by many as the source of conflicts rather than as the solution to conflicts. An example included the appearance that the Christian world was in conflict with the Muslim world post September 11. In the area of races, feelings of superiority still ruled and groups were discriminated against in many ways everyday. Linguists had determined that there were about fifteen major language “macro-families” in the world which were affiliated to a multitude of ancient cultures and peoples. These religious, language and cultural differences underlined the so-called “contemporary forms of racism”, he said.

Mr. Graves said what was called “racism” was in many ways an inherited propensity, learned from our forefathers. Since there were no real “races” as such but only cultures, religions, and ethnic groups which could be scientifically studied, then racism had no scientific base. The Durban Conference on Racism was an amazing display of the world’s victims – victims of discrimination and racism. The voices heard at the Conference provided an agenda for anti-racism for years to come. The problem after Durban and now was largely intercultural and it meant to break down the walls between victims and their oppressors. Intercultural activity was perhaps the best way to break down racism which was simply the lack of intercultural dialogue, he added.

SAVELINA RUSSINOVA, Research and Policy Coordinator at the European Roma Rights Centre, stated that intercultural dialogue was of crucial importance for the Roma who had been the target of persecution since their arrival in Europe centuries ago. The United Nations had contributed much to the discourse on Roma rights and this acknowledgment had been translated into action that promoted the acceptance of Roma in European societies. Despite these actions, there were still certain barriers, which did not allow a genuine dialogue between the Roma and European society. Segregation in schools, for example, was still a major problem. Eliminating this segregation would give a major impetus for the acceptance of Roma in society. Another obstacle was the invisibility of Roma in society; there were no Roma journalists, judges or politicians. In order to overcome these barriers, it was necessary for Governments to implement legal frameworks to allow Roma to have equal rights.

Ms. Russinova said that a common vision of Roma today was that they were seen more as a source of a problem rather than as a positive contribution to society. Unless this vision changed, intercultural dialogues would also have barriers. If there was a good will, the prejudices of Roma could be overcome. Ms. Russinova cited the example of her hometown in Bulgaria, which decided to desegregate its school system. At first there was much resistance both on the part of the teachers and by the Romani community itself whose members were not convinced that their children would not be harassed. The schools in this community have been successfully desegregated for four years now and have been used as an example for other communities in Bulgaria. In conclusion, Ms. Russinova highlighted the need to bring two communities together in order to have a successful intercultural dialogue.


Follow-up Discussion

Several participants in the audience from the diplomatic and NGO community raised a series of questions and comments, among them, on the victims of double discrimination and particularly homophobia; what criteria the United Nations used to define acts of racism, with specific reference to the Kabinda communities in Angola; education as a means of eliminating racial discrimination; and the role of the media and freedom of expression. On the latter point, a Representative from Rwanda mentioned that the media was used as a tool to propagate racism in her country and said this was an issue which should be looked at critically. Referring to religious intolerance, a Representative from the Holy See asked whether Africans were discriminated against because they were Africans or if Arabs were discriminated against for being Arabs rather than because of their religious affiliations. A member of the panel said the problem of racism must be addressed from an ethical point of view. Moreover, it was the obligation of the world to use all the tools available in society to reach the goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination.

In conclusion, Mr. Diene said changing the contents of education was one way to eliminate discrimination and that cases of discrimination needed to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. The world must work together to combat discrimination and it was vital to tackle this problem through laws, however the dialogue began at the home.