Subject: [fem-women2000 692] FWD: WCAR: NGO Declaration: Inclusions, Exclusions
From: Makoto TERANAKA <teramako@jca.apc.org>
Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2001 19:17:42 +0900
Seq: 692
Forward to fem-women2000@jca.apc.org. ------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 03 Sep 2001 12:15:08 +0800 >From: Kathy Clarin <kathy@isiswomen.org> Subject: WCAR Update 19 from Isis International-Manila NGO Declaration: Inclusions, Exclusions The final draft declaration from the NGO Forum at the World Conference Against Racism was presented, haphazardly, to the general body this morning. Spliced into four parts, and only partially translated, the elusive document finally made it into the discussion hall two hours after its appearance was first announced. As the meeting dispersed into smaller 'caucus' discussions to ensure that all caucus views are included in the final document, most people seemed satisfied. Deborah Robinson from the US, promoting the inclusion of environmental racism, a topic that appeared to be being sidelined in the earlier stages of the process, said that she was pleased with that section of the draft. Stalin K, a representative from the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, was also, generally, pleased with the draft. "I think the document has covered all the points fairly well, it has gone on record saying that caste is not an issue only of India, which is what the Indian government is claiming, that caste is an internal matter to India and therefore should not be discussed in a world conference. The document very clearly puts the figure at 260 million across South Asia, Asia Pacific and African regions." He was also pleased that 'untouchability' was described as a crime against humanity and that it was included in other sections, such as labour and migrant workers. The declaration also sparked controversy. Tibetan delegates were upset that, despite having been passed through the various stages leading up to the Durban conference, all references to Tibet were deleted from this draft. The Tibetans accused the Chinese, allegedly government-organised NGOs, of hijacking the draft and acting as representatives of the Chinese government. This view was presented at the Asia-Pacific Caucus. As the tent filled with delegates, it became apparent that there was a pariah section of seven people, separated from other NGOs. They were not at ease, and as soon as the discussion began, one started agitating for the right to speak. It soon became lively. Tibetans were accused of not representing the people of Tibet. The Chinese reiterated that the meeting had to follow a particular procedure, laid out earlier in the day, defined as tightly as possible, allowing no changes. A man from East Turkistan accused the Chinese government of crimes against the Uyghur people. The chair attempted to hide his obvious sympathies with the Tibetan people, and allowed all the Chinese representatives a chance to speak. Eventually the matter was decided by a vote. A young Chinese man accused the caucus of lacking democracy, pointing out that either side could have packed the room with their supporters. Nevertheless, the decision taken -- to include country-specific proposals and allow amendments based on earlier drafts -- both reflected what the Tibetans, and most Asia-Pacific NGOs, wanted. Oddly, the most explosive discussion in the Asia-Pacific caucus was not on Tibet, but on Bhutan, in which representatives from Bhutanese refugee organisations prevailed. The most suprising inclusion in the draft document was a paragraph on anti-Semitism equating anti-Zionism. Considering the pronounced pro-Palestinian slant of the entire conference, coupled with paragraphs on Palestine further on, this one paragraph looked oddly out of place. Tawfiq Jabareem is from an organisation called the 'Association of 40 Unrecognised Arab Villages in Israel'. He said that although he was generally pleased with the document, his group would be proposing an amendment to the offending paragraph. He asserted, "We think that really they are contradictory with the Palestinian issue and with the human rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people." The draft document has to undergo this final process of revision, which was supposed to have been completed in time for the closing ceremony this afternoon. Only once this is done the final document will be presented, letting the world know the issues and concerns of the NGO community on the topic of racism. Sonia Randhawa is a Malaysian journalist with Radiq Radio. She is a member of the WCAR Women's Media Team of ISIS International-Manila. _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem