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UNITED
NATIONS, Aug 16 (IPS) - A coalition of U.S. civil rights organisations
Thursday chided the United States for threatening to boycott an
upcoming U.N. conference against racism and vowed to participate
with or without their government.
''No
country should be immune from an examination of its domestic racial
problems,'' Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights said.
''We
know this conference is highly controversial,'' he added, ''but
we want the U.S. to be actively engaged.''
The
coalition - which includes the National Association for the Advancement
of Coloured People, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the
Native American Rights Fund - says it will play ''a pivotal role''
in leading and mobilising U.S. non-governmental organisations participating
in the conference.
''We
will go - with or without the United States,'' Henderson said, adding
that the coalition also plans to release a report identifying ''systemic
discrimination'' in the United States against African-Americans,
Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans.
The
World Conference against Racism is scheduled for Aug. 31-Sep. 7
in Durban, South Africa.
The
U.S. administration has laid two preconditions for participating
in the conference: First, there should be no revival of a 1975 U.N.
resolution equating Zionism with racism. Second, there should be
no discussion of reparations for past slavery.
If
these two issues remain on the agenda, the United States will either
boycott the conference or send a low-level delegation.
''We
want to go,'' a State Department official said, ''but not at any
cost.''
At
the close of a two-week preparatory meeting in Geneva last week,
the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) reportedly agreed to
drop the Zionism-is-racism issue from the agenda.
At
the same time, however, the OIC refused to abandon its right to
characterise Israel as a ''racist occupying power'' in the West
Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
A
final U.S. decision on participation is expected in the next week.
Henderson
said his coalition has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell asking him to lead the American delegation to the conference.
He
said that some of the other member states are sending cabinet-level
ministers and heads of government. The United States, he said, will
not be able to bargain effectively if its delegation is composed
of ''low-level'' officials.
The
coalition has also asked the United States to increase its level
of funding for the conference - over and above the 250,000 dollars
pledged by the former Clinton administration last year.
''And
we don't want any U.S. preconditions if we want to have meaningful
discussions,'' Henderson added.
The
preparatory process leading up to the conference has been mired
in controversy over a wide range of issues, including xenophobia,
racial and gender discrimination, caste, the rights of indigenous
people, treatment of refugees and migrants, and the exploitation
of women and children.
The
two most contentious issues on the agenda, however, are reparations
for past slavery and colonialism (opposed by the United States and
former colonial powers such as Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany,
the Netherlands and Spain) and the racist policies of Israel in
the occupied territories (opposed by the United States and Israel).
Representative
Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from the U.S. state of Georgia, said
she thinks the Bush administration's reluctance itself smacks of
racism.
''I
have to wonder if the Bush administration's position on the world
conference against racism is just politically dumb or if it is perhaps
indicative of something more malignant,'' McKinney said.
An
attempt by Arab delegates to describe Israeli attacks against Palestinians
as a ''holocaust'' was vehemently opposed by Israel, which insists
that label can only be used to describe the Nazi genocide against
Jews.
The
United States and former European colonial powers have refused to
tender a public apology for slavery and colonial exploitation, apparently
for fear that victims of slavery and colonialism could later use
this in court proceedings against them.
Mary
Robinson, the U.N. human rights commissioner and secretary-general
of the Durban conference, said there should be ''a collective recognition
of the terrible exploitation and violations of human rights and
crimes against humanity of the past.''
''I
see great merit in a willingness to have that recognition in the
form of an apology,'' she added.
Israel,
which has strongly supported Jewish claims for reparations from
Germany for past atrocities against Jews by the Nazis, is opposing
the very concept of reparations.
It
has its own reasons for doing so: any attempt to internationally
recognise the concept of reparations could put Israel in jeopardy
because of potential Palestinian claims stemming from past and ongoing
atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza.
The
descendants of Jews used by the Nazis as forced labour are receiving
payments from a 4.4 billion dollar reparations fund. In June, some
44 million dollars were transferred to the U.S.-based Jewish Claims
Conference.
Eleven
U.S. lawyers for the Nazi-era victims have already walked away with
about 52 million dollars in legal fees.
Henderson
said the United States has been a strong supporter of compensation
for Nazi-era holocaust victims and reparations for Japanese nationals
interned in the United States during World War II.
Therefore,
he said, Washington's attempt to take reparations out of the conference
agenda is ''hypocritical.''
Barbara
Arnwine, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law, said Latin American countries at the United Nations
had ''aggressively'' supported the reparations issue at meetings
of the preparatory committee.
She
added that France has passed legislation not only apologising for
past slavery and has also indicated an interest in raising the issue
before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
''The
U.S. fears that French efforts will lead Washington to legal liability,''
Arnwine said. (END/IPS/WD/HD/TD/AA/01)
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