Switzerland: UN-Racism Conference Successful
Human Rights Chief Hails Outcome and Slams Critics of Anti-Racism Meeting
Posted: April 26, 2009
By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press Writer
GENEVA (AP) - The U.N.'s top human rights official hailed the
global body's second racism conference as a success Friday, despite
what she called a disinformation campaign that almost derailed the
meeting.
Navi Pillay, who spoke as the five-day conference wound down,
said countries managed to go beyond issues such as the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict to discuss broader problems of
discrimination and intolerance in many parts of the world.
The U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights said some campaign
groups had tried before the meeting to brand it a forum for hate
and urged governments to stay away. She did not identify the
groups.
"We have had some rough moments in the process, but a
hate-fest? I'm sorry, but this is hyperbole," Pillay said. She
said there was a "highly organized and widespread campaign of disinformation."
Pro-Israel groups warned before the conference that it could see
a repeat of the anti-Semitic outbursts that marred the first global
racism meeting in Durban, South Africa, eight years ago.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech on the opening
day backed the critics' argument that the global body is unable to
tackle the problem of racism in an acceptable manner. The Iranian
leader accused the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" to
harm the Palestinians, and branded Israel a "repressive racist
regime," prompting protests from Jewish groups and a walkout by 23
European countries.
Raphael Haddad, president of the French Union of Jewish
Students, said the presence of Ahmadinejad at an anti-racism
conference called into question the whole purpose of the event.
"For anybody involved in fighting against racism, this
conference was just a big circus," he said. The group made its
point by dressing in multicolored wigs and throwing red clown noses
at the Iranian leader during his speech.
Pillay said the meeting was "a strange, rough and tumble affair
full of smoke and mirrors, I must admit, yet very definitely a
success story with plenty of goodwill."
Ahmadinejad's speech largely overshadowed the swift agreement by
over 100 countries Tuesday of a broad declaration against racism
and discrimination of minorities.
The 143-point declaration reaffirmed principles agreed on at the
2001 Durban meeting, when the U.S. and Israel walked out because
some participants had taken the Jewish state to task over its
treatment of Palestinians.
"The fact that the outcome document was agreed just one day
after Mr. Ahmadinejad's appearance was a clear rejection of the
intolerance contained in his speech," said Philippe Dam of the New
York-based Human Rights Watch.
Countries who have signed up to the declaration now have a clear
agenda to improve their record in the fight against racism, he
said. Dam cited the mention of the plight of domestic migrant
workers and unaccompanied migrant children as two concrete issues
that were addressed for the first time in a global forum of this
kind.
Others expressed concern that the conference had failed to
address issues ranging from bonded labor in the developing world to
ethnic conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and caste discrimination.
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On the Net:
U.N. racism conference: http://www.un.org/durbanreview2009/
U.N. Web cast of Ahmadinejad's speech: http://tinyurl.com/cza66v
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