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U.N. Racism Conference Adopts Final Declaration
DURBAN, South Africa, Sept 8 (News Agencies) - A U.N. conference on racism adopted its final declaration Saturday a day behind schedule after securing last minute and hard-fought compromises on the Middle East and slavery.
Delegates adopted a text after eight days of tough and acrimonious talks in Durban, South Africa, that recognized the Palestinians' right to an independent state and described slavery as a crime against humanity.
The two issues have dominated the U.N. World Conference Against Racism and prompted the withdrawal Monday by the United States and Israel, which rejected originally proposed anti-Israeli language that they described as "hateful".
"This is no small achievement," commented Mary Robinson, secretary general of the conference and U.N. high commissioner for human rights, at the final plenary session.
She described as "exhausting" but "worth it" the efforts of to reach a consensus; something she said many people had questioned whether would be possible.
"The past has been very present in Durban," she added, saying the declaration dealing with slavery and colonialism was "historic".
Round-the-clock negotiations between country delegations succeeded early Saturday in reaching compromise deals on how the conference should address the Arab-Israeli conflict and slavery in its final documents.
But the Middle East issue once again almost torpedoed the conference at the eleventh hour, when Syrian Foreign Minister Faruk Al-Shareh tried to indirectly condemn Israel as racist.
He proposed the inclusion of a statement that "colonization by settlers and foreign occupation" be considered as racist. The motion failed after a heartfelt plea from conference president Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's foreign minister.
"My appeal is all of us should be focused on not doing anything that would cause this conference to collapse at this late hour," she urged delegates.
The text agreed by the conference on slavery dropped a call for reparations and a demand for apologies for the practice, but acknowledged "that slavery and the slave trade are a crime against humanity and should always have been so", a formula that avoided specifically labeling historic slavery as such a crime.
It also said the conference "profoundly regrets" the suffering inflicted by slavery and notes that "some states have taken the initiative to apologize and have paid reparation where appropriate, for grave and massive violations committed".
And it said the international community recognizes the need "to develop programs for the social and economic development of these [Third World] societies and the diaspora."
Western powers had resisted calls for an explicit apology, fearing it could open the door to lawsuits for monetary compensation.
The text on the Middle East includes recognition of the "inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent state".
It also calls for recognition of the "right to security for all states in the region, including Israel", but refrains from any explicit condemnation of the Jewish state.
Canada and a number of other countries expressed reservations about the adopted texts. Hedy Fry, Canadian secretary of state for multiculturalism and head of the country's delegation, said they were not satisfied with the conference.
"Not enough time has been dedicated to advancing its objectives, that is, developing forward looking, action oriented strategies to eradicate the many forms of discrimination that exist today," he said.
"Instead, too much time has been spent on an issue that does not belong here," he said.
The conference's documents also cover issues including indigenous peoples, Roma, women, children, globalization and other minority groups.
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