U.S. will boycott U.N. conference on racism
Sun Apr 19, 7:44 AM
By Laura MacInnis and Sue Pleming
GENEVA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will boycott a United Nations
conference on racism next week, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday,
citing objectionable language in the meeting's draft declaration.
The United Nations organized the forum in Geneva to help heal the wounds from
the last such meeting, in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel
walked out of that 2001 conference when Arab states tried to define Zionism as
racist.
The Obama administration, which kept its distance from preparations for the
"Durban II" meeting, has come under strong pressure from Israel not to attend.
"With regret, the United States will not join the review conference," said
State Department spokesman Robert Wood, ending weeks of deliberations inside
the Obama administration over whether to attend.
Wood said significant improvements were made to the conference document, but
the text still reaffirmed "in toto" a declaration that emerged from the Durban
conference which the United States had opposed.
"The United States also has serious concerns with relatively new additions to
the text regarding "incitement," that run counter to the U.S. commitment to
unfettered free speech," he added.
The announced boycott came about three months after President Barack Obama
became the first African-American to lead the United States.
Canada also has said it will not go next week because of fears of a repeat of
the "Israel-bashing" that occurred at the last conference. The European Union
is still deliberating.
The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, has called a
meeting for Sunday evening to evaluate the bloc's stance on attending.
"There are still several member states of the EU that are not decided yet,"
Czech foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said. "We are in touch
with them and there will be a decision on a common position before the
conference starts."
Britain, however, confirmed that it would send a delegation to the conference,
albeit without a high-level official.
RIGHTS GROUPS CONCERNED
Juliette de Rivero of Human Rights Watch said the meeting in Geneva would lack
needed diplomatic gravitas without Washington's presence.
"For us it's extremely disappointing and it's a missed opportunity, really, for
the United States," she said.
A draft declaration prepared for the conference removed all references to
Israel, the Middle East conflict and a call to bar "defamation of religion" --
an Arab-backed response to a 2006 controversy over Danish cartoons of the
Prophet Muhammad that Western states see as a way to quash free expression.
Wood conceded there had been improvements to the document, but he said it was
not enough.
"The United States will work with all people and nations to build greater
resolve and enduring political will to halt racism and discrimination wherever
it occurs," he said.
Diplomats said the high-profile presence of Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad at the forum made it probable that touchy subjects would still
dominate the proceedings.
Ahmadinejad, who has previously said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and
questioned whether the Nazi Holocaust happened, will address the plenary and
hold a news conference on Monday -- coinciding with Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Iran's sentencing of U.S.-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi to eight years in
prison on Saturday may also have dampened White House enthusiasm about the
chance of direct diplomatic contact with Tehran at the conference.
Ahmadinejad is one of only a handful of heads of state who have confirmed they
will attend the conference at the U.N.'s Palais des Nations.
Iranian dissidents on Saturday expressed dismay about his taking center stage,
saying his participation "would only serve to discredit the conference."
Western officials have said they are preparing for a response if Ahmadinejad
were to make "unacceptable" comments in his Monday remarks. Some said they
would respond with rebuttals on the spot, and others signaled they could leave
the forum.
One diplomat said: "We don't normally walk out of conferences run by the United
Nations and we'd rather avoid doing it. But that doesn't mean that there aren't
red lines that if breached would prompt us to take action."
(Writing by Sue Pleming and Laura MacInnis; editing by Paul Simao)
(Additional reporting by Kate Kelland in London, Holger Hansen in Berlin, Jan
Strupczewski in Brussels; editing by Robert Woodward)
(yahoo news)
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