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Published on April 28, 2008
GENEVA— Human Rights First joined 94 leading civil society organizations this morning to declare that the United Nations and its organizations and conferences on human rights must not serve as a vehicle for any form of racism, including anti-Semitism.
In a “Statement of Core Principles for WCAR Follow-Up” delivered to the Preparatory Committee of the Durban Review Conference this morning in Geneva, the 94 signatories—NGOs who advocate on a broad range of human rights issues, including anti-racism, non-discrimination, minority rights, religious freedom, women’s rights and other related issues in approximately 100 Member States— joined in a pledge ”to reject hatred and incitement in all its forms, including antisemitism, to learn from the shortcomings of the 2001 WCAR, and to work together in a spirit of mutual respect.”
“We must not allow another United Nations conference to become a platform for the antisemitic hatred that marred the 2001 conference; such tactics actually exacerbate the prejudices the WCAR was intended to confront,” said Tad Stahnke, director of Human Rights First’s Fighting Discrimination program, who presented the Statement of Core Principles to the meeting this morning.
“These preparatory meetings will demonstrate the commitment of participating states to ensure that the review conference is held on the basis of internationally recognized human rights principles, and to prevent the recurrence of the problems that plagued the last WCAR,” added Stahnke.
The statement, organized by the Magenta Foundation and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, laments a “vacuum of moral leadership” at the 2001 Durban conference and mobilizes an international civil society voice proactively to take responsibility to adhere to human rights language and standards, to conduct themselves with civility and to seek a constructive focus on whether governments have taken the steps they committed themselves to take six years ago in the Durban Declaration and Program of Action.
Signatories hope to ensure that the Durban Review is not held hostage to those who would politicize it again, but is allowed to focus on holding states accountable for their failure to implement policies to address racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
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The text of the Statement and list of signatories is attached below. Follow the hyperlink above or visit www.magenta.nl to get continually updated list of signatories and the French and Spanish language version.
STATEMENT OF CORE PRINCIPLES FOR WCAR FOLLOW UP
In 2001, more than three thousand people participated in the Non-Governmental Forum of the United Nations third World Conference against Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) to chart a course for future generations to eradicate racism, discrimination and intolerance. Participants pledged to adhere to established international human rights standards and operate with transparency and respect for democratic discourse.
Many civil society representatives were disappointed, when the NGO process, which raised the profile of important contemporary racism problems and the historic wounds of slavery and discrimination, was discredited. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson spoke out against what she called the “hateful, even racist” antisemitic atmosphere that plagued the NGO forum. She refused to commend it to governments for their consideration. Leading international human rights organizations called some of the human rights language in the declaration inaccurate, inappropriate and even counterproductive. They regretted that progress on vital issues such as discrimination against Roma and caste discrimination was thereby diminished. Observers were shocked by violations of procedure in the preparatory and drafting processes, the racist treatment including violence, exclusion, and intimidation against Jewish participants, and the misuse of human rights terminology in the document related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
With a few notable exceptions, the vast majority of groups was silent or refused to speak out. In the years since, many have reflected that the result was a regrettable vacuum of moral leadership.
The 94 signatories pledge to reject hatred and incitement in all its forms, including antisemitism, to learn from the shortcomings of the 2001 WCAR, and to work together in a spirit of mutual respect.
Signed by:
