Durban Review Conference
Encyclopedia
The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations
World Conference Against Racism
(WCAR), also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva
, Switzerland
. The conference was called under the mandate of United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/149 (passed in 2006) with a mandate to review the implementation of the The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban
, South Africa
.
The conference was boycotted by Australia
, Canada
, Germany
, Israel
, Italy
, the Netherlands
, New Zealand
, Poland
, and the United States
. The Czech Republic
discontinued its attendance on the first day, and twenty-three other European Union countries sent low-level delegations. The western countries had expressed concerns that the conference would be used to promote anti-Semitism
and laws against blasphemy
perceived as contrary to the principles of free speech, and that the conference would not deal with discrimination against homosexuals
. Europe
an countries also criticized the meeting for focusing on the West
and ignoring problems of racism and intolerance in the developing world.
Controversy surrounded the attendance of Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference due to his past statements on Israel
and the Holocaust. On the first day of the conference, Ahmadinejad, the only head of state to attend, made a speech condemning Israel
as "totally racist" and accusing the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians. The distributed English version of the speech referred to the Holocaust as an "ambiguous and dubious question". When Ahmadinejad began to speak about Israel, all the European Union
delegates left the conference room, while a number of the remaining delegates applauded the Iranian President. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
expressed dismay at both the boycotts and the speech.
Durban III
, a follow-up conference scheduled for September 2011 in New York
, has been boycotted by the ten aforementioned countries (including the Czech Republic), along with Austria
, Bulgaria
, France
and the United Kingdom
.
was from Cuba.
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgystan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Other entities represented: Palestine.
Other participants as observers:
Council of Europe, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, European Union.
Specialized agencies represented:
International Labor Organization, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Industrial Development Organization.
The following intergovernmental organizations and other entities were represented:
African Union,
European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance,
Inter-American Development Bank,
League of Arab States,
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Also represented: three UN programmes and funds and some twenty Human Rights bodies and mechanisms.
Also represented: 39 national human rights institutions from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, and between 400 and 500 NGOs.
Nine countries boycotted the conference entirely.
On 23 January 2008, Canada
stated it would not participate in the Durban Review Conference. A joint statement by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier
and the Minister of Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney
said the 2001 conference "degenerated into open and divisive expressions of intolerance and anti-Semitism that undermined the principles of the United Nations and the very goals the conference sought to achieve.” Canada said it "had hoped that the preparatory process for the 2009 Durban Review Conference would remedy the mistakes of the past" but Canada had concluded the process was too flawed to make the conference " worthwhile." In a subsequent interview on 20 April, Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
defended the decision to boycott the conference, stating that “Canada will not lend its name and reputation to an international conference that promotes these kinds of things” and that it was clear early on that the conference would be used to “scapegoat the Jewish people.” He added that Canada “will participate in any international conference that combats racism. We will not, however, lend Canada’s good name to those, such as Durban II, that promote it.”
On 19 November 2008, Israel
announced it would boycott the Durban Review Conference. Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni
, stated, "The documents prepared for the conference indicate that it is turning once again into an anti-Israeli tribunal, singling out and delegitimizing the State of Israel." She said, "The conference has nothing to do with fighting racism. In view of this situation, I decided that Israel will not participate and will not legitimize the Durban II conference." On 19 April 2009, Avigdor Lieberman, Livni's successor as Foreign Minister, called the conference "a hypocrisy summit," saying the fact that Iran
ian President and Holocaust denier
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been invited to speak at the conference proved its true character. "An international convention that invites a racist such as Ahmadinejad, - who preaches the extermination of the State of Israel day and night - and which allows him to make a central speech, demonstrates both its goal and its character," Lieberman said, adding that Israel could not ignore that a Holocaust-denier had been invited to take part in a convention taking place on the very same day that the Jewish people commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day
to remember the six million Jews murdered in Europe by Nazi Germany and its accomplices. Israel had previously withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference.
On 27 February 2009, the United States
announced it would boycott the conference. The American delegation in attendance at the conference's preparatory talks concluded that "the anti-Israel and anti-Western tendencies were too deeply entrenched to excise." The US State Department said the planned outcome document being drafted for the meeting had "gone from bad to worse, and the current text... is not salvageable... A conference based on this text would be a missed opportunity to speak clearly about the persistent problem of racism." However, in an interview on 4 April, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Susan Rice expressed her feeling that the content of the latest draft had improved and that a decision on the United States' involvement in the conference had not been made. Deliberation inside the Obama administration ended on 18 April: "With regret, the United States will not join the review conference," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. Wood said the conference document reaffirmed a declaration that emerged from the original Durban conference which the United States had opposed, and that the United States was concerned over new additions to the text regarding "incitement," that run counter to the U.S. commitment to unfettered free speech. The following day, President Barack Obama
said "I would love to be involved in a useful conference that addressed continuing issues of racism and discrimination around the globe," but stressed that the language of the U.N.'s draft declaration "raised a whole set of objectionable provisions" and risked a reprise Durban, "which became a session through which folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often times completely hypocritical and counterproductive.", The United States had withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference, and did not attend the 1978 and 1985 World Conferences Against Racism.
On 5 March 2009, Italian Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini announced at a NATO summit that Italy
was pulling out of the conference because of "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements in the draft of the event's final document." Ministry Spokesman Maurizio Massari confirmed Frattini's statements, and charged that the final draft document of the Durban Review Conference contained "expressions of anti-Semitism." Massari said Rome
would not participate in the conference unless the document was changed.
On 19 April, Australia
's Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith
, announced that Australia would be boycotting the conference. "Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the Review Conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," Smith said on 19 April.
It was reported on 14 March that the German federal government
was considering a boycott of the conference. The German federal government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Günter Nooke
, said "In the first instance we should try everything to improve the text of the final document," but also that "Germany should not lend itself to a conference that tries to one-sidedly incriminate Israel." On 16 April, Nooke stated at this point it was very unlikely that Germany would attend the Durban conference. On 19 April, U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville said Germany informed the global body that it would boycott the conference out of concern that it could be "abused as a platform for other interests."
On 19 April, the Netherlands
joined the boycott. "The conference against racism is too important to allow it to be abused for political purposes and attacks against the West," Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen
said in a statement. Verhagen said the draft for the conference represents a "wasted opportunity" to address human rights violations by countries and organizations involved in discrimination on sexual, religious and racial biases. "The conference places Israel as the only defendant," he stated. Verhagen also said it appeared that the intention of event was to vilify Israel and condemn Western countries for slavery and colonialism. "We want to seize all chances of combating racism and discrimination, but we are not lending ourselves to a propaganda circus. I will not participate in antisemitism."
On 19 April, New Zealand
Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully
announced that New Zealand will boycott the conference. McCully stated that his government is not satisfied the wording emerging from discussions held ahead of the conference will prevent it from becoming a repeat of the 2001 conference.
On 20 April, Poland
announced that it would boycott the conference. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
stated that “We have reason to believe that the Conference will once again be exploited, as was the case in Durban in 2001, as a forum for unacceptable statements contrary to the spirit of respect for other races and religions.”
In early November 2008, Per Stig Møller
, Denmark
's Foreign Minister, announced that Denmark will not attend the conference if a proposal to equate criticism of religion with racism is included on the agenda. However, Denmark did send an ambassador to the conference. Per Stig Møller has however declared, that if other countries follow in the Iranian path, Denmark shall walk out.
On 16 March 2009, the European Union
stated it would boycott the conference unless major changes were made to its declaration. Britain said it would not attend unless the draft showed a "change in direction."
On 18 April, Swedish
Integration Minister Nyamko Sabuni
announced that her government would boycott the conference, sending no ministerial officials to the event, due to worry that it would be a repeat of the last conference on racism. She said that a ministerial presence would "legitimize undemocratic forces." However, a low-level delegation was sent instead.
On 19 April, the United Kingdom
announced that it will attend the conference. The delegation will be led by Peter Gooderham
who is the British ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. However, Britain's Foreign Minister also stated that Britain will "walk out" of the conference if "red lines" on language such relating to anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Blasphemy are crossed.
On 19 April, a source close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy
's office told the Agence France-Presse
that France
would send a low level delegation to the conference. The source stated that "France will go to Geneva... in order to articulate its standpoint on human rights issues." However, Rama Yade
, the Junior Minister for Human Rights, warned that France would "not tolerate any verbal slander" and that "Our position must be backed up by a verbal political offensive. So that people understand that this conference is not only a diplomatic victory but the continuation of a fierce battle for the victims of racism and discriminations. This message must be absolutely clear."
The Czech Republic
(which held the EU presidency at the time) sent a low level delegation to the conference. However, following a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the opening of the conference on 20 April, the country withdrew its entire delegation for the remainder of the conference.
said, "some nations who by rights should be helping us to forge a path to a better future are not here. Outside these halls, interest groups of many political and ideological stripes shout against one another in acrimony."
Pope Benedict XVI
on 19 April 2009 hailed the U.N. anti-racism conference and urged countries to join forces to eliminate intolerance, but he made no reference to the boycotts of the meeting. He said he sincerely hoped that delegates who attend the conference work together, "with a spirit of dialogue and reciprocal acceptance, to put an end to every form of racism, discrimination and intolerance." He added that it would be "a fundamental step toward the affirmation of the universal value of the dignity of man and his rights." On 19 April, Iran
ian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad commented on the controversy surrounding the summit in a televised speech, implying that it was due to a Zionist
plot. "It is clear that the Zionists and their backers will undertake everything possible so that the voices of those people suppressed will be silenced… [the] Zionists control an important part of the politics in the U.S. and Europe and used this influence, especially in the media, to force their demands, which are nothing more than the plundering of nations, onto the world," he said. Most members of the European Union
, including France
and the United Kingdom
, ultimately decided to attend the conference, although they sent low-level delegations (no cabinet ministers attended) and walked out of the conference during a speech by Iran
ian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. On the opening day of the conference, Austria
n Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger
, of the conservative People's Party
, criticized European Union countries who boycotted the conference as representing "not a sign of strength" for the EU. The following day, France
's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
criticized the United States for boycotting the conference."It's paradoxical they don't want to listen to Iran in Geneva but they are ready to talk to them," Kouchner told French radio Europe 1
. "More than a paradox, that could really be a mistake."
's right to exist
and the Holocaust would be raised by Ahmadinejad and some of the other delegates attending the event.
A collection of human rights groups challenged the Iranian leader at the meet, charging that religious discrimination was widespread in Iran, notably affecting Baha'is, Christians, Jews
, Sufis, Sunni Muslims, and other minorities, through arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment. The human rights groups called on governments taking part in the conference, as well as the media, to hold Ahmadinejad accountable for violations in Iran.
A meeting between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolph Merz before the conference created a minor diplomatic row between Switzerland
and Israel. Jerusalem recalled its ambassador to Bern "for consultations" in protest at the meet, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official explaining: "We understand the Swiss are obliged to host the conference as part of their UN commitments, we understand that the Iranian President has to be given a visa. What we don't understand is why the Swiss President greeted Ahmadinejad on arrival." Speaking at a state ceremony marking the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
directed a question at the Swiss president, saying "I turn to you, the Swiss president, and ask you: How can you meet someone who denies the Holocaust and wishes for a new holocaust to occur?" In response, the Swiss foreign ministry released a statement saying it "deplores the excessive language used in this context by different Israeli representatives," and summoned the Israeli representative to Bern.
creation of Israel
in the British Mandate of Palestine was accomplished by "military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering." He said that migrants from around the world descended on Palestine and set up "a totally racist government", and that "in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."
The speech was disrupted at the start by members of the French Union of Jewish Students
as Ahmadinejad opened with a Muslim prayer. The two rainbow-wigged protesters tossed red clown noses at Ahmadinejad and shouted "racist, racist" before being escorted from the room. The protesters said that they had been trying to convey "the masquerade that this conference represents."
Within minutes of the speech's opening, dozens of delegates from at least thirty countries, including all the European Union
countries in attendance, left the room to return when Ahmadinejad's speech was over. The Czech Republic
announced that it would join the boycott of the conference in protest over the speech. The BBC
described the exit as a "public relations disaster" for the United Nations. Many of those who remained to listen to Ahmadinejad's speech applauded his remarks. The countries whose delegates participated in the walkout were: Austria
, Belgium
, Bulgaria
, Cyprus
, the Czech Republic
(which left the conference for good), Denmark
, Estonia
, Finland
, France
, Greece
, Hungary
, Ireland
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, Luxembourg
, Malta
, Portugal
, Romania
, Slovakia
, Slovenia
, Spain
, Sweden
, St. Kitts and Nevis and the United Kingdom
.
The English text version of the speech, handed out by the Iranian delegation, stated that after World War II
the Allies had created the state of Israel "on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of holocaust." On the following day, the UN revealed that the Iranian president had originally intended to include the phrasing in his speech, rather than "the abuse of the question of the holocaust" he used.
The speech was deplored by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
. Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the speech, but also objected to the walkout. European Union presidency said the remarks were "unacceptable" while European Jewish groups condemned the speech. Concern was also expressed that the speech would derail the conference or divert attention from its purposes.
Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome upon his return to Tehran on 21 April, where he was greeted by supporters at the airport with "Death to Israel" slogans. The conservative media in Iran hailed Ahmadinejad's speech, while the reformist press focused on the walkout and demonstrations, but without criticizing the president. The speech was also supported by Lebanese
militant group and government participant Hezbollah and by Gaza
n ruling group Hamas
. On the day of Ahmadinejad's return, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned a European Union representative in Tehran to protest what Iran called the EU's "double standard" with regards to racism. On the following day, Iran sent a letter of protest to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for criticizing Ahmadinejad's speech, claiming the Iranian president "was subjected to unfair and unwarranted harsh criticism."
Ahmadinejad speech: full text, BBC News
Original draft of speech, BBC News
expressed dismay at the incident, describing the words chosen by President Ahmadinejad as being those that are used "to accuse, divide and even incite". Ban stated that he had asked Ahmadinejad in advance not to focus on "divisiveness" in his address and that "It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian president. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism," Ban said in a statement following Ahmadinejad's speech." High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned Ahmadinejad but objected to the walkout, saying "I condemn the use of a UN forum for political grandstanding. I find this totally objectionable... The best riposte for this type of event is to reply and correct, not to withdraw and boycott the conference." Pillay also described Ahmadinejad as "somebody who traditionally makes obnoxious statements."
At a later press conference, Ahmadinejad criticized the countries which boycotted or walked out of the summit as "arrogant and selfish," and asked of the walkout, "Why is it that the so-called advocates of freedom of information fear hearing other people's opinions?"
Speaking at a state ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli President
Shimon Peres
called Ahmadinejad's appearance at the conference "a deplorable disgrace," commenting on his speech "Nazism
has been crushed, but anti-Semitism is still alive. The gas has evaporated, but the poison remains." In a letter to parliamentary counterparts abroad, Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin
wrote "This time, Hitler has a beard and speaks Persian," and compared the conference to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, calling on legislators to take action against the Iranian president and not to ignore his anti-Israel pronouncements and threats.
The Czech Republic
's Foreign Ministry, which held the European Union's rotating presidency at the time, announced shortly after the speech that it was breaking off its attendance at the conference in protest. A statement issued by the ministry described as unacceptable Ahmadinejad's description of the Israeli government as racist, stating that Prague therefore did not wish to lend weight to his "anti-Israeli attacks" by remaining present at the conference.
Foreign Minister of Norway
Jonas Gahr Store, who addressed the conference after Ahmadinejad's statements, said "Norway will not accept that the odd man out hijacks the collective efforts of many," adding the statements "run counter to the very spirit of dignity of the conference."
The presidency of the European Union
said in a statement: "The European Union rejects in strongest terms views expressed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labelling Israel as (a) racist regime."
French
officials described it as a "hate speech".
Peter Gooderham
, Britain
's envoy to the U.N., stated that his nation "unreservedly condemns Iranian President Ahmadinejad's offensive and inflammatory comments. Such outrageous, anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum."
Andrej Logar, the Slovenia
n ambassador, said Ahmadinejad's remarks were "detrimental to the dignity of this conference".
The Vatican described Ahmadinejad's comments as "extremist and unacceptable".
Russia's foreign ministry criticised Ahmadinejad's attack on Israel as "hard and lacking balance."
The Chinese
government called for the international community to end its criticisms and focus on the conference's goals. "We hope relevant parties can step up dialogue, eliminate disputes and concentrate on a consensus so as to combat racism with one voice," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Brazil's foreign ministry, in a statement, declared that: "Ahmadinejad trivialized the meaning of tragic and historically established events like the Holocaust" and "Such comments damage the climate for dialogue and the understanding necessary for international efforts to end discrimination". Brazil confirmed Ahmadinejad's visit to the country at 6 May, when these concerns would be expressed to him.
Officials from the United States
, which boycotted the conference, stated that Ahmadinejad's comments will "feed racial hatred." Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., called Ahmadinejad's remarks "vile," "hateful" and "inciteful," and praised Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
for condemning them.
and other non-governmental organizations hosted the "Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy," in order to raise public awareness to the issues of discrimination and racially-motivated torture. Invited speakers included survivors of the genocide in Rwanda and former dissidents from Iran
, Cuba
and Myanmar
. UN Watch also hosted a "Conference Against Racism, Discrimination, and Persecution" in Geneva. Speakers at the latter conference included former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler
, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy
and former Miss Canada
and President of Stop Child Executions Nazanin Afshin Jam. Other events in Geneva opposing the UN conference were attended by Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel
, Harvard law professor and liberal activist Alan Dershowitz
, former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky
, and film star Jon Voight
.
A "Durban II counter-conference" was held in New York
on the same dates as the conference in Geneva. The counter-conference was sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and co-sponsored by more than 20 organizations. According to the organizers, the event was held to "address the real issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance which the Durban I and Durban II were officially convened to address; but as happened at Durban I, the Durban II proceedings in Geneva will likely ignore, distort, or misrepresent these issues."
, the International Coordinating Network on Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Committee, and was attended by some 160 participants. A related initiative was the "NGO Civil Society Forum March against Racism," attended by Israeli Arab Member of Knesset Jamal Zahalka
, who presented himself as a Palestinian victim of "Israeli racist apartheid," and by former UN Human Rights Council Rapporteur on Racism Doudou Diene
. Yet another event was the "Civil Society Forum for the Durban Review Conference," in which Diene also spoke.
n prisons after being accused of deliberately infecting children with HIV
, announced he was filing a legal complaint to the UN Human Rights Council. "The United Nations should condemn countries that scapegoat, falsely arrest, and torture vulnerable minorities," said Hojouj, who addressed Najjat Al-Hajjaji, the Libyan chairwoman of the proceedings. Hajjaji was reported to have been visibly uncomfortable during the proceedings and interrupted Hojouj three times during his testimony. She then gave Libya the floor to make an objection, and finally cut Hojouj off. Hojouj was slated to testify before the summit on 17 April.
were removed for disrupting Ahmadinejad's speech. In all, the credentials of 64 representatives from the three groups were revoked. Two journalists representing the conservative magazine and website Townhall
were also expelled for disrupting the proceedings after one tried to take over the podium while the other filmed the scene.
Approval of the declaration was originally scheduled for 24 April. Delegates said that the controversial opening speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strengthened their resolve to adopt the declaration as soon as possible, so they advanced the adoption to 21 April. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described the declaration as an answer to Ahmadinejad's tirade. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
echoed Pillay's comment, saying, "The text was adopted, therefore he [Ahmadinejad] has failed."
Amos Wako, president of the meeting in Geneva, described the 16-page document as a "historic outcome." Navi Pillay called the declaration a "carefully balanced and yet meaningful" final document, which enshrined "a common aspiration to defy racism in all its manifestations and work to stamp it out wherever it may occur."
Outcome document of the Durban Review Conference, United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
World Conference Against Racism
World Conference against Racism
The World Conference against Racism are international events organised by the UNESCO to struggle against racism ideologies and behaviours. Four conferences have been held so far, in 1978, 1983, 2001 and 2009...
(WCAR), also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The conference was called under the mandate of United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/149 (passed in 2006) with a mandate to review the implementation of the The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The conference was boycotted by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
discontinued its attendance on the first day, and twenty-three other European Union countries sent low-level delegations. The western countries had expressed concerns that the conference would be used to promote anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and laws against blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
perceived as contrary to the principles of free speech, and that the conference would not deal with discrimination against homosexuals
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries also criticized the meeting for focusing on the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
and ignoring problems of racism and intolerance in the developing world.
Controversy surrounded the attendance of Iranian President
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference due to his past statements on Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the Holocaust. On the first day of the conference, Ahmadinejad, the only head of state to attend, made a speech condemning Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as "totally racist" and accusing the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians. The distributed English version of the speech referred to the Holocaust as an "ambiguous and dubious question". When Ahmadinejad began to speak about Israel, all the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
delegates left the conference room, while a number of the remaining delegates applauded the Iranian President. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
expressed dismay at both the boycotts and the speech.
Durban III
Durban III
Durban III is an informal name for a high-level United Nations General Assembly meeting marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action that was held in New York City on 22 September 2011...
, a follow-up conference scheduled for September 2011 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, has been boycotted by the ten aforementioned countries (including the Czech Republic), along with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Committee
The Durban Review Conference was run by the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee, which was chaired by Ms. Najat Al-Hajjaji of Libya. The eighteen vice-chairpersons hailed from Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Armenia, Croatia, Estonia, Russia, Belgium, Greece, Norway and Turkey, and the vice-chairman-rapporteurRapporteur
Rapporteur is used in international and European legal and political contexts to refer to a person appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue or a situation....
was from Cuba.
Objectives
According to the UN website, in August 2007 the Preparatory Committee set forth the following objectives for the Durban Review Conference:- To review progress and assess implementation of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action by all stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels, including assessment of contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, through an inclusive, transparent and collaborative process, and identification of concrete measures and initiatives for combating and eliminating all manifestations of these phenomena;
- To assess the effectiveness of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms and other relevant UN mechanisms dealing with the issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to enhance them;
- To promote the universal ratification and implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and proper consideration of the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;
- To identify and share good practices achieved in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Participation
141 countries participated in the conference:Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgystan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Other entities represented: Palestine.
Other participants as observers:
Council of Europe, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, European Union.
Specialized agencies represented:
International Labor Organization, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Industrial Development Organization.
The following intergovernmental organizations and other entities were represented:
African Union,
European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance,
Inter-American Development Bank,
League of Arab States,
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Also represented: three UN programmes and funds and some twenty Human Rights bodies and mechanisms.
Also represented: 39 national human rights institutions from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, and between 400 and 500 NGOs.
Boycotts
On 23 January 2008, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
stated it would not participate in the Durban Review Conference. A joint statement by Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier
Maxime Bernier, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....
and the Minister of Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney
Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
said the 2001 conference "degenerated into open and divisive expressions of intolerance and anti-Semitism that undermined the principles of the United Nations and the very goals the conference sought to achieve.” Canada said it "had hoped that the preparatory process for the 2009 Durban Review Conference would remedy the mistakes of the past" but Canada had concluded the process was too flawed to make the conference " worthwhile." In a subsequent interview on 20 April, Canadian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
defended the decision to boycott the conference, stating that “Canada will not lend its name and reputation to an international conference that promotes these kinds of things” and that it was clear early on that the conference would be used to “scapegoat the Jewish people.” He added that Canada “will participate in any international conference that combats racism. We will not, however, lend Canada’s good name to those, such as Durban II, that promote it.”
On 19 November 2008, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
announced it would boycott the Durban Review Conference. Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni
Tzipporah Malkah "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is the current Israeli Opposition Leader and leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Knesset. Raised an ardent nationalist, Livni has become one of her nation's leading voices for the two-state solution. In Israel she has...
, stated, "The documents prepared for the conference indicate that it is turning once again into an anti-Israeli tribunal, singling out and delegitimizing the State of Israel." She said, "The conference has nothing to do with fighting racism. In view of this situation, I decided that Israel will not participate and will not legitimize the Durban II conference." On 19 April 2009, Avigdor Lieberman, Livni's successor as Foreign Minister, called the conference "a hypocrisy summit," saying the fact that Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian President and Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been invited to speak at the conference proved its true character. "An international convention that invites a racist such as Ahmadinejad, - who preaches the extermination of the State of Israel day and night - and which allows him to make a central speech, demonstrates both its goal and its character," Lieberman said, adding that Israel could not ignore that a Holocaust-denier had been invited to take part in a convention taking place on the very same day that the Jewish people commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
to remember the six million Jews murdered in Europe by Nazi Germany and its accomplices. Israel had previously withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference.
On 27 February 2009, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
announced it would boycott the conference. The American delegation in attendance at the conference's preparatory talks concluded that "the anti-Israel and anti-Western tendencies were too deeply entrenched to excise." The US State Department said the planned outcome document being drafted for the meeting had "gone from bad to worse, and the current text... is not salvageable... A conference based on this text would be a missed opportunity to speak clearly about the persistent problem of racism." However, in an interview on 4 April, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
Susan Rice expressed her feeling that the content of the latest draft had improved and that a decision on the United States' involvement in the conference had not been made. Deliberation inside the Obama administration ended on 18 April: "With regret, the United States will not join the review conference," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. Wood said the conference document reaffirmed a declaration that emerged from the original Durban conference which the United States had opposed, and that the United States was concerned over new additions to the text regarding "incitement," that run counter to the U.S. commitment to unfettered free speech. The following day, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
said "I would love to be involved in a useful conference that addressed continuing issues of racism and discrimination around the globe," but stressed that the language of the U.N.'s draft declaration "raised a whole set of objectionable provisions" and risked a reprise Durban, "which became a session through which folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were often times completely hypocritical and counterproductive.", The United States had withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference, and did not attend the 1978 and 1985 World Conferences Against Racism.
On 5 March 2009, Italian Foreign Minister
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
As in most countries, in Italy the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most important ministerial positions...
Franco Frattini announced at a NATO summit that Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was pulling out of the conference because of "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements in the draft of the event's final document." Ministry Spokesman Maurizio Massari confirmed Frattini's statements, and charged that the final draft document of the Durban Review Conference contained "expressions of anti-Semitism." Massari said Rome
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
would not participate in the conference unless the document was changed.
On 19 April, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith (Australian politician)
Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
, announced that Australia would be boycotting the conference. "Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the Review Conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," Smith said on 19 April.
It was reported on 14 March that the German federal government
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
was considering a boycott of the conference. The German federal government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid, Günter Nooke
Günter Nooke
Günter Nooke is a German CDU politician and a former civil rights activist.- Background :Nooke was born in Forst , Germany, a small town in Brandenburg...
, said "In the first instance we should try everything to improve the text of the final document," but also that "Germany should not lend itself to a conference that tries to one-sidedly incriminate Israel." On 16 April, Nooke stated at this point it was very unlikely that Germany would attend the Durban conference. On 19 April, U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville said Germany informed the global body that it would boycott the conference out of concern that it could be "abused as a platform for other interests."
On 19 April, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
joined the boycott. "The conference against racism is too important to allow it to be abused for political purposes and attacks against the West," Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen
Maxime Verhagen
Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a Dutch politician in the Christian Democratic Appeal party. He is the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister since October 14, 2010 in the Cabinet Rutte.He previously served as a Member of the European Parliament for...
said in a statement. Verhagen said the draft for the conference represents a "wasted opportunity" to address human rights violations by countries and organizations involved in discrimination on sexual, religious and racial biases. "The conference places Israel as the only defendant," he stated. Verhagen also said it appeared that the intention of event was to vilify Israel and condemn Western countries for slavery and colonialism. "We want to seize all chances of combating racism and discrimination, but we are not lending ourselves to a propaganda circus. I will not participate in antisemitism."
On 19 April, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully
Murray McCully
Murray Stuart McCully is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for the Rugby World Cup.-Early life:...
announced that New Zealand will boycott the conference. McCully stated that his government is not satisfied the wording emerging from discussions held ahead of the conference will prevent it from becoming a repeat of the 2001 conference.
On 20 April, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
announced that it would boycott the conference. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
Radoslaw Sikorski
Radosław Tomasz Sikorski , is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as Deputy Minister of National Defense in Jan Olszewski's Cabinet and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jerzy Buzek's Cabinet. He was also Minister of National Defense in Jarosław Kaczyński's Cabinet...
stated that “We have reason to believe that the Conference will once again be exploited, as was the case in Durban in 2001, as a forum for unacceptable statements contrary to the spirit of respect for other races and religions.”
Boycott threats and limited participation
Several countries sent only low level delegations that included no senior government officials. Some of these had originally considered boycotting the conference.In early November 2008, Per Stig Møller
Per Stig Møller
Per Stig Møller was Culture Minister of Denmark. He has been a member of Folketinget for the Conservative People's Party since 1984, and was Minister for the Environment from December 18, 1990 to January 24, 1993 as part of the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter IV and Foreign Minister from November 27,...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
's Foreign Minister, announced that Denmark will not attend the conference if a proposal to equate criticism of religion with racism is included on the agenda. However, Denmark did send an ambassador to the conference. Per Stig Møller has however declared, that if other countries follow in the Iranian path, Denmark shall walk out.
On 16 March 2009, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
stated it would boycott the conference unless major changes were made to its declaration. Britain said it would not attend unless the draft showed a "change in direction."
On 18 April, Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Integration Minister Nyamko Sabuni
Nyamko Sabuni
Nyamko Ana Sabuni is a politician, currently serving as Minister for Integration and Gender Equality in the Swedish government. She is a member of the Liberal People's Party...
announced that her government would boycott the conference, sending no ministerial officials to the event, due to worry that it would be a repeat of the last conference on racism. She said that a ministerial presence would "legitimize undemocratic forces." However, a low-level delegation was sent instead.
On 19 April, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
announced that it will attend the conference. The delegation will be led by Peter Gooderham
Peter Gooderham
Peter Gooderham is a British ambassador.Gooderham completed a BA in Politics and Economics at Newcastle University in 1975. After a short spell as a management trainee, Gooderham spent the period 1976 to 1978 completing a PhD in Modern History at Bristol University...
who is the British ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. However, Britain's Foreign Minister also stated that Britain will "walk out" of the conference if "red lines" on language such relating to anti-Semitism, the Holocaust and Blasphemy are crossed.
On 19 April, a source close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
's office told the Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
that France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
would send a low level delegation to the conference. The source stated that "France will go to Geneva... in order to articulate its standpoint on human rights issues." However, Rama Yade
Rama Yade
Rama Yade is a French politician who served in the government of France from 2007 to 2010. She was Secretary of State for Sports and married to Joseph Zimet - son of Yiddish singer Ben Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel.- Early life :Yade was born in Ouakam, Senegal. She...
, the Junior Minister for Human Rights, warned that France would "not tolerate any verbal slander" and that "Our position must be backed up by a verbal political offensive. So that people understand that this conference is not only a diplomatic victory but the continuation of a fierce battle for the victims of racism and discriminations. This message must be absolutely clear."
The Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(which held the EU presidency at the time) sent a low level delegation to the conference. However, following a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the opening of the conference on 20 April, the country withdrew its entire delegation for the remainder of the conference.
Reactions to boycotts
On 17 March 2009, Yuri Boychenko, chairman of the group responsible for drafting the conference's declaration, issued a draft that omitted any reference to the Palestinian territories or to defamation of religion in hopes of preventing a widescale boycott by Western nations. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said all disputed points such as references to Israel, Zionism and the Middle East had been deleted from the declaration. She added that she was confident that all parties would approve the reworked statement and decide to attend the upcoming meeting in Geneva. In his opening address to the conference, Secretary General Ban Ki-MoonBan Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
said, "some nations who by rights should be helping us to forge a path to a better future are not here. Outside these halls, interest groups of many political and ideological stripes shout against one another in acrimony."
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
on 19 April 2009 hailed the U.N. anti-racism conference and urged countries to join forces to eliminate intolerance, but he made no reference to the boycotts of the meeting. He said he sincerely hoped that delegates who attend the conference work together, "with a spirit of dialogue and reciprocal acceptance, to put an end to every form of racism, discrimination and intolerance." He added that it would be "a fundamental step toward the affirmation of the universal value of the dignity of man and his rights." On 19 April, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad commented on the controversy surrounding the summit in a televised speech, implying that it was due to a Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
plot. "It is clear that the Zionists and their backers will undertake everything possible so that the voices of those people suppressed will be silenced… [the] Zionists control an important part of the politics in the U.S. and Europe and used this influence, especially in the media, to force their demands, which are nothing more than the plundering of nations, onto the world," he said. Most members of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, including France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, ultimately decided to attend the conference, although they sent low-level delegations (no cabinet ministers attended) and walked out of the conference during a speech by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. On the opening day of the conference, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger
Michael Spindelegger
Michael Spindelegger is an Austrian lawyer and politician. He is the current Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister of Austria in the cabinet of Werner Faymann. Since 2011, Spindelegger is the current leader of the Austrian People's Party .- Early and personal life :Spindelegger was born in Mödling,...
, of the conservative People's Party
Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Austria. A successor to the Christian Social Party of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it is similar to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany in terms of ideology...
, criticized European Union countries who boycotted the conference as representing "not a sign of strength" for the EU. The following day, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
criticized the United States for boycotting the conference."It's paradoxical they don't want to listen to Iran in Geneva but they are ready to talk to them," Kouchner told French radio Europe 1
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio network created in 1955. It is one of the leading French radio broadcasters and heard throughout France...
. "More than a paradox, that could really be a mistake."
Summary
- Members of the Human Rights Council:
AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, AzerbaijanAzerbaijanAzerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, BahrainBahrain' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, People's Republic of ChinaPeople's Republic of ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, DjiboutiDjiboutiDjibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
, EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, GabonGabonGabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, MaliMaliMali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, MauritiusMauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Saudi ArabiaSaudi ArabiaThe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, Sri LankaSri LankaSri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. - Members of the Human Rights Council that voted against/abstained from the conference :
FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, UkraineUkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. - Nine countries boycotted the conference entirely:
AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - One nation broke off its attendance after the first day, joining the boycott:
Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(holding the EU presidency at the time) - The conference's Bureau of the Preparatory Committee:
ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, ArmeniaArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, CroatiaCroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Czech RepublicCzech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(left), EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, SenegalSenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. - Confirmed attendance (non-preparatory committee members):
East TimorEast TimorThe Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, LesothoLesothoLesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
, MontenegroMontenegroMontenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, TogoTogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Vatican CityVatican CityVatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
, ZambiaZambiaZambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
.
Ahmadinejad's participation
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the only head of state to attend the conference and hence delivered a speech on its first day. European countries had expressed fears that a commotion in regard to IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's right to exist
Right to exist
The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the nineteenth century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. Unlike self-determination, the...
and the Holocaust would be raised by Ahmadinejad and some of the other delegates attending the event.
A collection of human rights groups challenged the Iranian leader at the meet, charging that religious discrimination was widespread in Iran, notably affecting Baha'is, Christians, Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, Sufis, Sunni Muslims, and other minorities, through arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment. The human rights groups called on governments taking part in the conference, as well as the media, to hold Ahmadinejad accountable for violations in Iran.
A meeting between Ahmadinejad and Swiss President Hans-Rudolph Merz before the conference created a minor diplomatic row between Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Israel. Jerusalem recalled its ambassador to Bern "for consultations" in protest at the meet, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official explaining: "We understand the Swiss are obliged to host the conference as part of their UN commitments, we understand that the Iranian President has to be given a visa. What we don't understand is why the Swiss President greeted Ahmadinejad on arrival." Speaking at a state ceremony marking the beginning of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
directed a question at the Swiss president, saying "I turn to you, the Swiss president, and ask you: How can you meet someone who denies the Holocaust and wishes for a new holocaust to occur?" In response, the Swiss foreign ministry released a statement saying it "deplores the excessive language used in this context by different Israeli representatives," and summoned the Israeli representative to Bern.
Speech
In his opening speech, Ahmadinejad said that the ZionistZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
creation of Israel
History of Israel
The State of Israel declared independence on May 14, 1948 after almost two millennia of Jewish dispersal and persecution around the Mediterranean. From the late 19th century the Zionist movement worked towards the goal of recreating a homeland for the Jewish people...
in the British Mandate of Palestine was accomplished by "military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering." He said that migrants from around the world descended on Palestine and set up "a totally racist government", and that "in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."
The speech was disrupted at the start by members of the French Union of Jewish Students
Union des étudiants juifs de France
The Union des étudiants juifs de France is a French organization whose aim is to assist French Jewish students....
as Ahmadinejad opened with a Muslim prayer. The two rainbow-wigged protesters tossed red clown noses at Ahmadinejad and shouted "racist, racist" before being escorted from the room. The protesters said that they had been trying to convey "the masquerade that this conference represents."
Within minutes of the speech's opening, dozens of delegates from at least thirty countries, including all the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries in attendance, left the room to return when Ahmadinejad's speech was over. The Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
announced that it would join the boycott of the conference in protest over the speech. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
described the exit as a "public relations disaster" for the United Nations. Many of those who remained to listen to Ahmadinejad's speech applauded his remarks. The countries whose delegates participated in the walkout were: Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(which left the conference for good), Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, St. Kitts and Nevis and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The English text version of the speech, handed out by the Iranian delegation, stated that after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Allies had created the state of Israel "on the pretext of Jewish sufferings and the ambiguous and dubious question of holocaust." On the following day, the UN revealed that the Iranian president had originally intended to include the phrasing in his speech, rather than "the abuse of the question of the holocaust" he used.
The speech was deplored by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
. Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the speech, but also objected to the walkout. European Union presidency said the remarks were "unacceptable" while European Jewish groups condemned the speech. Concern was also expressed that the speech would derail the conference or divert attention from its purposes.
Ahmadinejad received a hero's welcome upon his return to Tehran on 21 April, where he was greeted by supporters at the airport with "Death to Israel" slogans. The conservative media in Iran hailed Ahmadinejad's speech, while the reformist press focused on the walkout and demonstrations, but without criticizing the president. The speech was also supported by Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
militant group and government participant Hezbollah and by Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
n ruling group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
. On the day of Ahmadinejad's return, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned a European Union representative in Tehran to protest what Iran called the EU's "double standard" with regards to racism. On the following day, Iran sent a letter of protest to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for criticizing Ahmadinejad's speech, claiming the Iranian president "was subjected to unfair and unwarranted harsh criticism."
Ahmadinejad speech: full text, BBC News
Original draft of speech, BBC News
Reactions to speech
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
expressed dismay at the incident, describing the words chosen by President Ahmadinejad as being those that are used "to accuse, divide and even incite". Ban stated that he had asked Ahmadinejad in advance not to focus on "divisiveness" in his address and that "It is deeply regrettable that my plea to look to the future of unity was not heeded by the Iranian president. This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve. This makes it significantly more difficult to build constructive solutions to the very real problem of racism," Ban said in a statement following Ahmadinejad's speech." High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned Ahmadinejad but objected to the walkout, saying "I condemn the use of a UN forum for political grandstanding. I find this totally objectionable... The best riposte for this type of event is to reply and correct, not to withdraw and boycott the conference." Pillay also described Ahmadinejad as "somebody who traditionally makes obnoxious statements."
At a later press conference, Ahmadinejad criticized the countries which boycotted or walked out of the summit as "arrogant and selfish," and asked of the walkout, "Why is it that the so-called advocates of freedom of information fear hearing other people's opinions?"
Speaking at a state ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israeli President
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
called Ahmadinejad's appearance at the conference "a deplorable disgrace," commenting on his speech "Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
has been crushed, but anti-Semitism is still alive. The gas has evaporated, but the poison remains." In a letter to parliamentary counterparts abroad, Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin
Reuven Rivlin
Reuven "Rubi" Rivlin is an Israeli lawyer, politician, currently serving as a speaker of the Knesset. He belongs to conservative Likud. A former Speaker of the Knesset, in 2007 he ran in the election for President as the Likud candidate...
wrote "This time, Hitler has a beard and speaks Persian," and compared the conference to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, calling on legislators to take action against the Iranian president and not to ignore his anti-Israel pronouncements and threats.
The Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
's Foreign Ministry, which held the European Union's rotating presidency at the time, announced shortly after the speech that it was breaking off its attendance at the conference in protest. A statement issued by the ministry described as unacceptable Ahmadinejad's description of the Israeli government as racist, stating that Prague therefore did not wish to lend weight to his "anti-Israeli attacks" by remaining present at the conference.
Foreign Minister of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Jonas Gahr Store, who addressed the conference after Ahmadinejad's statements, said "Norway will not accept that the odd man out hijacks the collective efforts of many," adding the statements "run counter to the very spirit of dignity of the conference."
The presidency of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
said in a statement: "The European Union rejects in strongest terms views expressed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labelling Israel as (a) racist regime."
French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
officials described it as a "hate speech".
Peter Gooderham
Peter Gooderham
Peter Gooderham is a British ambassador.Gooderham completed a BA in Politics and Economics at Newcastle University in 1975. After a short spell as a management trainee, Gooderham spent the period 1976 to 1978 completing a PhD in Modern History at Bristol University...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's envoy to the U.N., stated that his nation "unreservedly condemns Iranian President Ahmadinejad's offensive and inflammatory comments. Such outrageous, anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum."
Andrej Logar, the Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n ambassador, said Ahmadinejad's remarks were "detrimental to the dignity of this conference".
The Vatican described Ahmadinejad's comments as "extremist and unacceptable".
Russia's foreign ministry criticised Ahmadinejad's attack on Israel as "hard and lacking balance."
The Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
government called for the international community to end its criticisms and focus on the conference's goals. "We hope relevant parties can step up dialogue, eliminate disputes and concentrate on a consensus so as to combat racism with one voice," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu.
Brazil's foreign ministry, in a statement, declared that: "Ahmadinejad trivialized the meaning of tragic and historically established events like the Holocaust" and "Such comments damage the climate for dialogue and the understanding necessary for international efforts to end discrimination". Brazil confirmed Ahmadinejad's visit to the country at 6 May, when these concerns would be expressed to him.
Officials from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which boycotted the conference, stated that Ahmadinejad's comments will "feed racial hatred." Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N., called Ahmadinejad's remarks "vile," "hateful" and "inciteful," and praised Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
for condemning them.
Alternative summits
On 19 April, the day before the opening of the UN conference, UN WatchUN Watch
UN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council and an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information...
and other non-governmental organizations hosted the "Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy," in order to raise public awareness to the issues of discrimination and racially-motivated torture. Invited speakers included survivors of the genocide in Rwanda and former dissidents from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
. UN Watch also hosted a "Conference Against Racism, Discrimination, and Persecution" in Geneva. Speakers at the latter conference included former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler
Irwin Cotler
Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, MP was Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal government of Paul Martin lost power following the 2006 federal election. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the constituency of Mount Royal in a by-election...
, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French public intellectual, philosopher and journalist. Often referred to today, in France, simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" movement in 1976.-Early life:...
and former Miss Canada
Miss Canada
Miss Canada was a scholarship competition for young women in Canada. It was founded in Hamilton in 1946. The first broadcast of the Miss Canada pageant aired in 1963 on CTV. The late Peter Jennings was host of the pageant in 1964....
and President of Stop Child Executions Nazanin Afshin Jam. Other events in Geneva opposing the UN conference were attended by Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
, Harvard law professor and liberal activist Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
, former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky was born in Stalino, Soviet Union on 20 January 1948 to a Jewish family. He graduated with a degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As a child, he was a chess prodigy. He performed in simultaneous and blindfold displays, usually against...
, and film star Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
.
A "Durban II counter-conference" was held in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on the same dates as the conference in Geneva. The counter-conference was sponsored by the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and co-sponsored by more than 20 organizations. According to the organizers, the event was held to "address the real issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance which the Durban I and Durban II were officially convened to address; but as happened at Durban I, the Durban II proceedings in Geneva will likely ignore, distort, or misrepresent these issues."
Parallel summits
Palestinian and anti-Israel NGOs held a parallel meeting to official events, entitled the "Israel Review Conference: 'United Against Apartheid, Colonialism and Occupation, Dignity & Justice for the Palestinian People,'" in a Geneva hotel on 19 April, before the Durban Review Conference had begun. The anti-Israel conference was organized by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist NetworkInternational Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network is a network of anti-Zionist Jews pledged to "Oppose Zionism and the State of Israel".- Advocacy and activity :The IJAN views Zionism as a racist movement, and Israel as an apartheid state...
, the International Coordinating Network on Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Committee, and was attended by some 160 participants. A related initiative was the "NGO Civil Society Forum March against Racism," attended by Israeli Arab Member of Knesset Jamal Zahalka
Jamal Zahalka
Dr Jamal Zahalka is an Israeli Arab who serves as a member of the Knesset representing the democratic Balad party. He is a Balad party leader.-Background:...
, who presented himself as a Palestinian victim of "Israeli racist apartheid," and by former UN Human Rights Council Rapporteur on Racism Doudou Diene
Doudou Diène
Doudou Diène of Senegal was United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in 2002—2008....
. Yet another event was the "Civil Society Forum for the Durban Review Conference," in which Diene also spoke.
Statement by Libyan torture victim
In a pre-summit planning meeting, Ashraf Ahmed El-Hojouj, a Palestinian doctor who had been tortured in LibyaLibya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n prisons after being accused of deliberately infecting children with HIV
HIV trial in Libya
The HIV trial in Libya concerns the trials, appeals and eventual release of six foreign medical workers charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV in 1998, causing an epidemic at El-Fatih Children's Hospital in Benghazi, Libya.The defendants were a Palestinian...
, announced he was filing a legal complaint to the UN Human Rights Council. "The United Nations should condemn countries that scapegoat, falsely arrest, and torture vulnerable minorities," said Hojouj, who addressed Najjat Al-Hajjaji, the Libyan chairwoman of the proceedings. Hajjaji was reported to have been visibly uncomfortable during the proceedings and interrupted Hojouj three times during his testimony. She then gave Libya the floor to make an objection, and finally cut Hojouj off. Hojouj was slated to testify before the summit on 17 April.
Expulsions
The UN expelled from the conference three activist groups for "unacceptable disruptive behavior." The Iranian Neda Institute for Political and Scientific Research was kicked out for distributing inflammatory material to meeting participants, while the Union of Jewish Students of France and the London-based group CoexistCoexist
The Coexist Foundation is a charitable organization based in London, England which aims to improve religious relationships between people of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian faiths...
were removed for disrupting Ahmadinejad's speech. In all, the credentials of 64 representatives from the three groups were revoked. Two journalists representing the conservative magazine and website Townhall
Townhall.com
Townhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...
were also expelled for disrupting the proceedings after one tried to take over the podium while the other filmed the scene.
Outcome document
On 21 April, the second day of the conference, the delegates agreed on a 143-point declaration to combat racism and discrimination against minorities. The declaration also warned against stereotyping people because of their religion, a key demand of Islamic states who said that Muslims have been unfairly targeted since the 2001 11 September attacks on the United States. In addition, the declaration reaffirmed principles agreed at the 2001 Durban Conference. The document did not include the concept that the defamation of religion is racist and should be banned.Approval of the declaration was originally scheduled for 24 April. Delegates said that the controversial opening speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strengthened their resolve to adopt the declaration as soon as possible, so they advanced the adoption to 21 April. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described the declaration as an answer to Ahmadinejad's tirade. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
echoed Pillay's comment, saying, "The text was adopted, therefore he [Ahmadinejad] has failed."
Amos Wako, president of the meeting in Geneva, described the 16-page document as a "historic outcome." Navi Pillay called the declaration a "carefully balanced and yet meaningful" final document, which enshrined "a common aspiration to defy racism in all its manifestations and work to stamp it out wherever it may occur."
Outcome document of the Durban Review Conference, United Nations
See also
- World Conference against RacismWorld Conference against RacismThe World Conference against Racism are international events organised by the UNESCO to struggle against racism ideologies and behaviours. Four conferences have been held so far, in 1978, 1983, 2001 and 2009...
- World Conference against Racism 2001
- Anti-racismAnti-racismAnti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed to oppose racism. In general, anti-racism is intended to promote an egalitarian society in which people do not face discrimination on the basis of their race, however defined...
- Israel, Palestinians, and the United Nations
- Antisemitism
- New antisemitism
- Israel and the apartheid analogy
- UN WatchUN WatchUN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council and an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information...
External links
- Durban Review Conference Geneva, 20-24 April 2009 at the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
- Durban Review at DurbanReview.org
- Durban II: An Inside View & Analysis @FinalCall.com
- Preparing for Durban II at UN WatchUN WatchUN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council and an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information...
- Durban Watch at Eye on the UN
- Durban Conference 2009 at NGO MonitorNGO MonitorNGO Monitor is a non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem, Israel whose stated aim is to generate and distribute critical analysis and reports on the output of the international NGO community for the benefit of government policy makers, journalists, philanthropic organizations and the...
- Durban Review Resource Page at ICARE