In 2001, more than three thousand people participated in the Non-Governmental Forum of the United Nations third World Conference against Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) to chart a course for future generations to eradicate racism, discrimination and intolerance.
Participants pledged to adhere to established international human rights standards and operate with transparency and respect for democratic discourse.
Many civil society representatives were disappointed, when the NGO process, which raised the profile of important contemporary racism problems and the historic wounds of slavery and discrimination, was discredited.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson spoke out against what she called the “hateful, even racist” antisemitic atmosphere that plagued the NGO forum.
She refused to commend it to governments for their consideration.
Leading international human rights organizations called some of the human rights language in the declaration inaccurate, inappropriate and even counterproductive.
They regretted that progress on vital issues such as discrimination against Roma and caste discrimination was thereby diminished. Observers were shocked by violations of procedure in the preparatory and drafting processes, the racist treatment including violence, exclusion, and intimidation against Jewish participants, and the misuse of human rights terminology in the document related to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.
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With a few notable exceptions, the vast majority of groups was silent or refused to speak out. In the years since, many have reflected that the result was a regrettable vacuum of moral leadership.
The organizations below pledge to reject hatred and incitement in all its forms, including antisemitism, to learn from the shortcomings of the 2001 WCAR, and to work together in a spirit of mutual respect.
1. We are united in our deep commitment to the goals of the WCAR to chart a course for future generations to eradicate racism, discrimination and intolerance in all its forms.
2. Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance afflict peoples in many Member States. We are committed to the important mission of NGOs to monitor and hold accountable those responsible for policy failures and for lack of implementation of measures to prevent and punish such acts.
3. However, the global effort to eradicate racism cannot be advanced by branding whole peoples with a stigma of ultimate evil, fomenting hateful stereotyping in the name of human rights.
4. The UN and its human rights fora must not serve as a vehicle for any form of racism, including antisemitism, and must bar incitement to hatred against any group in the guise of criticism of a particular government. We pledge to prevent this from happening again.
5. We pledge to uphold language and behavior that unites rather than divides. As NGOs we commit to use language in accordance with international human rights standards and conduct ourselves with civility and with respect for human rights standards. |
Balder Blog March 2, 2009 - 
