NGOS SPEAKING BEFORE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS DECRY RACISM AND VOICE HOPES FOR UPCOMING WORLD CONFERENCE

Commission on Human Rights
57th session
26 March 2001
Evening





A series of non-governmental organzations (NGOs) spoke before the Commission on Human Rights this evening on issues of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, lamenting that such problems continued around the world and offering suggestions and in some cases criticism of the upcoming World Conference against Racism.

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, in a joint statement on behalf of ten other NGOs, said that while there had been encouragement from some Governments and from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, there had been serious limitations on NGO participation in preparations for the Conference, and it was necessary to show not only in words but in deeds that NGOs would be equal partners in the event.

The South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre said the draft Declaration and Programme of Action for the Conference excluded many critical matters that were politically controversial. And the International Association against Torture charged that the Western European and Others group of nations had never wanted to hold the Conference and had expanded the agenda to include xenophobia and related intolerance in the hope that the focus on racism and racial discrimination would be diluted, if not lost.

The World Conference will be held from 31 August to 7 September in Durban, South Africa.

Other topics mentioned during the evening’s debate, which concluded at 9 p.m., included the destruction of religious relics in Afghanistan. The World Union for Progressive Judaism said the destruction by the Taliban regime of two Bamiyan Buddha statues and other objects constituted a crime against culture, an opinion echoed by the Association for World Education, which said the Commission should issue a Chairman’s statement condemning the acts.

Also addressing the session were Representatives of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University; Simon Wiesenthal Centre; International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; International Save the Children Alliance; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Lutheran World Federation; World Federation of United Nations Associations; and Interfaith International.

Statements were provided as well by Representatives of Cote d’Ivoire, Belarus, and the International Labour Office.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 28 March, and is expected to conclude debate on racial discrimination and begin its discussion on the right to development.

Statements

CHRISTIAN-CLAUDE BEKE DASSYS (Cote d'Ivoire) said the delegation had taken due note of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur. Cote d'Ivoire had held several meetings with foreign Governments as well. The national Constitution, adopted in July 2000, had many provisions that prohibited racial discrimination; among other things, it prohibited the formation of groups that advocated racial discrimination. There was talk about convening a forum on reconciliation.

The municipal elections that had been long-awaited by the international community had ended yesterday. They had involved for the first time all significant political parties, and they had been carried out without any incidents.

VLADIMIR MALEVICH (Belarus) said the Republic of Belarus was a multicultural country where individuals of more than 140 nationalities lived. In Belarus there were no ethnic or religiously motivated conflicts or clashes. The legislation of Belarus prohibited the establishment and activities of political parties as well as any other public associations that had as a goal religious or racial hatred. The citizens of Belarus had realized their right to study their histories, cultures, and mother tongues, and to create ethnic and cultural organizations.

As a country that had suffered the most from Nazism during World War II, Belarus had watched with anxiety the radical manifestations by parties and groups of neoNazism in different regions of the world. Belarus attached special importance to its preparation for the World Conference Against Racism. It considered the meeting an important and unique opportunity to work out a world strategy to fight racism in the 21st century.

LEE SWEPSTON, of the International Labour Office, said the ILO Director-General yesterday on the International Day Against Racism had said that many were denied their basic freedoms and rights by the barriers of racism and related forms of intolerance. Racism was a violation of human rights and human dignity. It circumscribed the lives of millions, preventing them from finding decent work, from receiving a living wage, from joining organizations, including trade unions, from being promoted, or even from freely entering certain occupations. This process of marginalization and exclusion wasted productive potential and aggravated poverty and social tension. It often forced people into either illegal or irregular migration. Racial discrimination could be a major destabilizing factor for whole societies.


The ILO's rights-based approach was integrated into its Decent Work Agenda, which recognized that without work, there were no workers' rights, and that the exclusionary effects of racism dragged down entire economies. Only when there was a secure income for all could there be social cohesion. Taken together, rights, employment, protection and dialogue provided the ILO with the means of shaping a practical agenda to escape the dead end of racially based exclusion. The ILO was a value-based organization, and its values were the same universal values promoted in this forum. The ILO's constituents -- Governments, employers' and workers' organizations -- had a particular responsibility and role to play in upholding these values in word and deed.

HELENE SAYERS, of Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, said in a joint statement with several other NGOs that beneath differences in race, colour, nationality, religion, gender and culture, human beings all had a common biological and spiritual identity and were equal members of the same human race. The essential values for the 21st century must include social responsibility, honesty, commitment, co-operation and respect for diversity. These values broke the cycle of violence and revenge that destroyed human life at all levels.

NGOs had a special role to play in this regard. Working at the grassroots level in communities, NGOs had a unique ability to discern the needs of those individuals marginalized through economic, social and cultural deprivation and to help in the process of restoring hope and facilitating concrete plans of action.

MICHEALA TOLD, of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, in a joint statement on behalf of ten other NGOs, said understanding the structure of racism and racial discrimination was important. However, beyond understanding, it was important to address the structures and causes of racism and to take the measures to eliminate them. In doing this, it was absolutely essential to listen to the voices of those who had been discriminated against, particularly women, youth, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, people of African descent and other marginalized people, and to guarantee them active and equal participation in the preparations for the World Conference against Racism, particularly in developing a concrete and effective plan of action. In this regard, the encouragement NGOs had received from some Governments and from the High Commissioner for Human Rights was appreciated.

Despite this strong encouragement, however, there were serious limitations on NGOs in the process, most recently during the open-ended inter-sessional working group this month. There were still two preparatory meetings, and the World Conference itself, and the members of the Commission were urged to show not only in words but also in deeds that NGOs were welcomed as equal partners. It was necessary for NGOs to not only be present, but to be active participants and equal partners in shaping both the preparations for and the outcome of the World Conference.

DAVID LITTMAN, of World Union For Progressive Judaism, said his organization condemned all attacks on religious places. In this regard, the destruction by the Taliban of two Bamiyan Buddhas and other objects constituted a crime against culture. Another act of barbarity was the attack and demolition of the revered tomb of the Hebrew Patriarch Joseph near Nablus and the massacring of its guardians last month. After its destruction it was rebuilt, but as a mosque.

Blood libel, which was one of the most vicious examples of anti-semitism from medieval times, was constantly and maliciously revived in the Arab press and media, particularly in Syria, Egypt, and by the Palestinian Authority. This despite the defamation of religions resolution sponsored by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In view of the well-documented revivals

of blood libel and other racist manifestations against Jews, the Commission was urged to adopt a strong condemnatory resolution and Pope John Paul II was urged to specifically repudiate the infamous 1840 Damascus Blood Libel before or during his Road to Damascus Pilgrimage in May.

RENE WADLOW, of Association for World Education, said the destruction and looting of images and statues in Afghanistan merited urgent and special attention. A Chairman's statement would be a fitting response to Resolution 2000/84, which spoke specifically of the desecration of religious sites and attacks on religious places. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, among others, had made appeals to the Taliban to prevent the on-going destruction of these works of art, which were part of the common heritage of humanity. There was widespread expectation that the Commission on Human Rights would speak out forcefully and as soon as possible, as such unanimous condemnation could have a positive influence on attitudes in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s destruction of religious images took place as soon as they gained control of areas.

The first destruction concerned the lively tradition of pious Islamic images. These images were often painted on buses, trucks and cars, or displayed in stores and homes. They were thought to protect from illness and misfortune. It was an imaginative folk art and represented popular piety and the people's understanding of Divine protection. The recent destruction of the Gandhara school of Hellenistic-Roman-influenced Buddhist art, especially the two standing Buddhas in the Afghan province of Bamiyan had focused world attention upon Afghanistan. Such destruction was a clear offense to human dignity and a deliberate insult to millions of Buddhists worldwide.

SHIMON T. SAMUELS, of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, said he wished to address the irony of his organization's exclusion from last month's Asian Preparatory Conference on Racism held in Teheran. In violation of the basic principles of the United Nations, the Government of Iran had effectively disenfranchised Jewish and Baha'i representation. Thus an instrument to combat racism was hijacked to perpetrate a blatant act of racism.

As for defamation of religions, it was necessary to draw attention to an article published in the Washington Post claiming that "throughout the Arab world, the most ugly and ridiculous anti-American, anti-Israeli and anti-semitic diatribes were routinely published in the press or aired on radio and television -- and always with either the acquiescence or the prompting of the Government”.

H. SHARFELDDIN, of International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, said the use of uranium-tipped missiles had had a deadly effect on soldiers participating in NATO's alliance against Yugoslavia. Western forces had previously used these very destructive missiles against the Iraqi people, and had done so in a more extensive and harmful manner than in the Balkans. The victims of these lethal weapons which had deadly effects lasting for generations were in the hospitals for every visitor to witness.

However, the Western conscience was not moved and the case was not presented to world public opinion until after a number of soldiers from Western countries had fallen prey to the side effects of using these deadly weapons. Such racist double standards were the most dangerous threat facing humanity this century. Because of similar attitudes, blockades, embargoes, sanctions and the killing of children were only enforced unjustifiably on countries such Iraq, Libya and Sudan.



AHMED MOTALA, of International Save the Children Alliance, said the right of all people to be treated equally was a well-established principle in international human rights law. However, the concept of equality within most human rights treaties had not sufficiently recognized the extent to which children were discriminated against. While the international community had devoted considerable attention to the problem of racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance in recent years, knowledge and study of the extent to which children around the world were affected by discriminatory practices continued to be overlooked at the international level.

Discrimination against children had far-reaching implications for society as a whole. Children in almost every society lacked power and were therefore vulnerable to discrimination. In many societies, their civil rights were unrecognized or compromised. Furthermore, there were specific groups of children who were subjected to additional discrimination because of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. This discrimination had a profound impact on their life chances -- lower levels of school enrollment, higher dropout rates, poorer health and greater exposure to sexual and physical violence. Perhaps even more corrosive was the impact on children's self-esteem, the internalizing of negative attitudes which diminished their capacity to challenge or even acknowledge the abuse they experienced. They themselves then transmitted and reinforced these attitudes through the generations.

PETRA DE LEEUW, of South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, said it was indeed disconcerting that little introspection had been done in the preparatory conferences as to why the Programme of Action for the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination had failed to make any progress. It was feared that the World Conference might become victim to self interest and political brinkmanship, not only by States but also by NGOs.

In an attempt to exclude politically controversial issues, the elements for a draft Declaration and Programme of Action excluded many critical matters. Further, repetitions and inconsistencies in the terms of the text might actually affect international standards. The indigenous peoples of Europe were not included in the NGO Steering Committee for Europe and much of the vital information for NGO participation in the World Conference against Racism was not posted on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

ANA BIONDI, of International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, said discrimination against women was still serious in the workplace. Discrimination against migrants, displaced persons and others was also serious. It was urgent to take measures in response. States were first and foremost responsible for putting an end to human rights violations. It was part of the responsibility of States to sign the international mechanisms designed to combat racism.

The 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol on the status of refugees, and the 1990 Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers, and various ILO Conventions were essential for combatting racism. It was important to stress that discrimination in the workplace should be an important topic of consideration at the World Conference against Racism.

ROGER WAREHAM, of the International Association Against Torture, said his organization had always viewed the World Conference against Racism as a unique opportunity for the world to really attack and deal a lethal blow to the continuing violation of human rights. But events so far indicated that the World Conference would not achieve this aim. The Inter-Sessional Working Group had not reached consensus on the themes of the World Conference.


The Western European and Others group never wanted to hold the Conference and had expanded the agenda to include xenophobia and related intolerance in the hope that the focus on racism and racial discrimination would be diluted, if not lost. The group had also proposed that the themes which dealt with identification of victims and compensatory relief be dropped. Predictably, the European Regional PrepCom did not address the issue of the trans-Atlantic slave trade or compensation. In respect to the situation of African people, the proposed Durban Declaration was pathetically weak. In particular there was no clear statement that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity.

AISHYA PRAKASH, of Lutheran World Federation, said that already in 1996, while commenting on India's report, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) had made it clear that the term "descent" mentioned in article 1 of the Internation Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination did not solely refer to race. The Committee affirmed that the situation of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes fell within the scope of the Convention. As recently as last Tuesday, CERD made the same observations regarding the situation of Burakumin people in Japan It was also noteworthy that in the context of the preparations for the World Conference against Racism, the African Regional Seminar of Experts on the Prevention of Ethnic and Racial Conflicts in Africa called for an in-depth study of the question of castes.

These initiatives reflected a growing understanding of the wider global significance of discrimination based on caste or descent, as a sub-category of racial discrimination. This understanding was distilled in the resolution on "Discrimination on the Basis of Work and Descent", passed by the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights during its year 2000 session. Caste-based discrimination, wherever it was found, was a form of discrimination based on occupation and descent, and was covered by the definition of racial discrimination in the International Convention. This and similar forms of discrimination were among the most ancient forms of social exclusion based on birth. It was a social construct, like any other form of discrimination, and could be changed. It was also a form of discrimination which was experienced in many different countries, and in a number of different sub-regions. As such, it deserved sufficient international attention, which it had failed to receive.

L. H. HORACE-PERERA, of World Federation of United Nations Associations, said that more than three and a half decades had elapsed since the adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. As of today, the Convention had received only 157 ratifications. What was most disturbing was that of these 157 States parties, only 29 had made the declaration under Article 14 giving to individuals or groups of individuals within their jurisdiction the right to communicate with the Committee set up under the Convention, to which they could claim to be victims of a violation of any of the rights contained in the Convention.

Deep-seated racial attitudes and related prejudices could be eliminated only by a sustained, massive education programme directed at all strata of society and all ages. Conventions were useful, as they set standards, but they were of little value unless genuine efforts were made by States to measure up to the standards set. The sad fact was that many had done precious little to do so.

JAMES MUTAMBIRWA, of Interfaith International, said the organization agreed with the sentiments expressed by the delegates from Jamaica and Barbados at the open-ended working group two weeks ago about the need to pay special attention to the past -- to history and the experience of Africans in the diaspora and the terrible experiences of indigenous peoples. It was necessary to recognize the unpleasant role religion had played in the enslavement of Africans and in the colonization of Africa. Religion had legitimized enslavement and colonization. This legitimization was so deeply entrenched in the collective psyche of the oppressors that racism and racial discrimination were now second nature -- a way of life as it were -- in the minds of the oppressors.

As expressed so well at the working group by the delegate from Egypt, there was a need to understand and deal with the past. For if it was not understood, people could not find their way to the future. This was where religion could help. For all that religion had done in the past, it had owned up to its shortcomings. Religion had looked deeply into its basic and fundamental beliefs and found that those beliefs were against racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. In the scriptures, Africans and African-Americans, Latin Americans, Caribbeans, indigenous peoples and Asians found unequivocal proof that racism and racial discrimination were contrary to the teaching and message of God. It was hoped that the World Conference in Durban would succeed in its efforts to eradicate the cancer of racism from the world.





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