UN Watch in Durban II Debate: "Don't Ignore Victims in Chechnya, Darfur, and Tibet"

http://www.unwatch.org The Moral Voice of Anti-Racism

UN Watch Oral Statement
Durban Review Conference
Preparatory Committee, 2nd Substantive Session
Delivered by Hillel Neuer, Geneva, 6 October 2008


Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

As we meet this year to address racism and the follow-up Durban Conference, we mark the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. In the struggle for black equality, the founder of UN Watch, the late Morris B. Abram, marched arm in arm with Reverend King, as we continue to do with the anti-racism cause worldwide.

The real question today is this: How can we use the limited tools of the UN human rights system to protect victims of racism?

After all, this body has no power to put boots on the ground. One is reminded of the attitude expressed by Josef Stalin. When told that persecution of Catholics would antagonize the Pope, he replied: The Pope? And how many divisions has he got? But history teaches us that a moral voice can move mountains. We learned this from Mahatma Gandhi, whose birthday we celebrated last week, with the second International Day of Non-Violence. We learned this from Reverend King, from Nelson Mandela, and from Pope John Paul II, whose moral voice, it turned out, helped defeat the evils of Soviet totalitarianism. It is true: we have no boots, no weapons, no divisions. But we do have the power to use our moral voice to send a message. A message to the perpetrators of racism that the world bears witness to their crimes.

Seven years after the Durban declaration, we must ask: during this time, did we confront the crimes of racism and xenophobia? Did we use our moral voice?

As the Islamic group rightly noted, in this period, Muslims, among others, were victims. For example, Chechens were subjected to crimes against humanity. In 2004, a resolution for Chechen victims was introduced at the Commission on Human Rights. Tragically, an alliance of powerful blocs rallied to defeat it.

Second, during this same period, Black Muslims in Darfur were subjected to mass murder and mass rape, crimes that the ICC prosecutor categorized as genocide. Accordingly, in 2005, a resolution was introduced in the General Assembly for the victims of Darfur. Once again, however, the same powerful blocs defeated it. And once again, ironically, the Islamic group failed to support these Muslim victims.

Finally, this past March, while the Human Rights Council was in session, the world witnessed unprecedented xenophobic violence and repression in Tibet. When some states and NGOs tried to speak in the Council for the protection of this minority, they were immediately stifled, by the same powerful blocs.

All of this should be cause for alarm, because the most vocal advocates for the upcoming Durban conference are in fact those very same blocs—those that act systematically against the victims of racism, and against the moral principles of Martin Luther King. On what basis should we in the anti-racism cause expect anything other than empty rhetoric, which will achieve absolutely nothing for the worlds victims of racism?

Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

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