Libya's Durban II Chair Cuts Off Libyan Victim
News and Analysis from UN Watch in Geneva Briefing No. 190 | April 18, 2009 UN Watch Turns Tables on Libyan Chair, Exposes Durban 2 Hypocrisy
Qaddafi rep panics and cuts off torture victim testimony http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=741148&campaign_id=63111 The U.S. has decided not to attend the Durban II conference opening Monday in Geneva -- click here for more. Meanwhile, the top story on Swiss TV news last night was the surpise "coup d'eclat" by UN Watch, when it turned the tables on the Libyan chair of the Durban II planning committee, in a showdown yesterday that exposed the U.N. hypocrisy whereby the chief organizers of a world "anti-racism" conference are themselves the worst perpetrators of racism and discrimination. See the full exchange below, and related legal brief. Click here for dramatic video (in French). Stay tuned for the YouTube video of the full debate. ___________________ United Nations Durban Review Conference
Preparatory Committee, Third Substantive Session
17 April 2009, Geneva Statement by United Nations Watch
Delivered by Ashraf Ahmed El-Hojouj Thank you, Madame Chair. I don't know if you recognize me. I am the Palestinian medical intern who was scapegoated by your country, Libya, in the HIV case in the Benghazi hospital, together with the five Bulgarian nurses. LIBYAN CHAIR NAJJAT AL-HAJJAJI, BANGING ON GAVEL: Stop... stop.... I ask you to stop. You are, you are not addressing the agenda item... I will allow you to resume only if you address the agenda item we are discussing. [Victim resumes testimony] Section 1 of the draft declaration for this conference speaks about victims of racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance. Based on my own suffering, I wish to offer some proposals. Starting in 1999, as you know, the five nurses and I were falsely arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned, brutally tortured, convicted, and sentenced to death. LIBYAN CHAIR NAJJAT AL-HAJJAJI, AGAIN BANGING ON GAVEL: Stop... You are again not addressing the agenda item. I urge you to address the agenda item. [Victim resumes testimony] All of this, which lasted for nearly a decade, was for only one reason: because the Libyan government was looking to scapegoat foreigners. Madame Chair, if that is not discrimination, then what is? On the basis of my personal experience, I would like to propose the following amendments regarding remedies, redress and compensatory measures: One: The United Nations should condemn countries that scapegoat, falsely arrest, and torture vulnerable minorities. Two: Countries that have committed such crimes must recognize their past, and issue an official, public, and unequivocal apology to the victims. Three: In accordance with Article 2, paragraph 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, such countries must provide victims of discrimination with an appropriate remedy, including adequate compensation for material and immaterial damage. Madame Chair, Libya told this conference that it practices no inequality or discrimination. But then how do you account for what was done to me, to my colleagues, and to my family, who gave over thirty years serving your country, only to be kicked out from their home, threatened with death, and subjected to state terrorism? LIBYAN CHAIR NAJJAT AL-HAJJAJI, AGAIN BANGING ON GAVEL: There is a request for a point of order. I give Libya the floor for a point of order. LIBYAN DIPLOMAT: Madame Chair, I object to the testimony by UN Watch. This is not the correct agenda item. Thank you, Madame Chair. LIBYAN CHAIR NAJJAT AL-HAJJAJI: We shall now move on to the next speaker... [Due to the unjustified cut-off by the Chair, the following portions were unable to be read.] How can your government chair the planning committee for a world conference on discrimination, when it is on the list of the world's worst of the worst, when it comes to discrimination and human rights violations? When will your government recognize their crimes, apologize to me, to my colleagues, and to our families? This week, at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, the five nurses and I will present our complaint and compensation claim against Libya, filed with the UN Human Rights Committee, the highest international tribunal for individual petitions. The slogan for this Conference is "Dignity and justice for all." Does this include your own country's victims of discrimination? Thank you, Madame Chair. _________________ Bulgarian Nurses Sue Libya in International Tribunal; UN Watch as Co-Counsel Related to the above testimony, click here for the new 100-page legal complaint filed by the Bulgarian nurses against Libya with the UN Human Rights Committee, the highest international tribunal for individual human rights complaints. See excerpt below, from pages 98-100, focusing on Libya's role as chair of the Durban II preparatory committee. UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, an international lawyer formerly with the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, is serving as co-counsel in the action together with Dr. Liesbeth Zegveld, an international law professor and attorney in the Netherlands. The complaint is released here for the first time to the public. (Click here for the related complaint filed by Dr. El-Hojouj last year.) Both Dr. Dr. El-Hojouj and Bulagrian nurse Kristiyna Valcheva will speak tomorrow at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, on Sunday, 19 April 2009. Watch live webcast at www.genevasummit.org This time Dr. El-Hojouj will be able to deliver his full speech — without interruptions. ____________________ Following is the excerpt from the Bulgarian Nurses vs. Libya lawsuit dealing with the Durban II conference. Significantly, Libya today holds itself out as a world leader in combating racism and discrimination. In August 2007, Libya undertook to lead the worldwide struggle against racism when it was elected by the United Nations Human Rights Council to chair the Preparatory Committee for the Durban Review Conference. Also known as "Durban II," the conference is mandated to review progress made on implementation of measures adopted in the final declaration of the 2001 World Conference against Racism held in Durban, South Africa ("the Durban Declaration"), including assessment of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Upon being named Chairperson on August 27, 2007, Libyan ambassador Najjat al-Hajjaji thanked "all member states of the UN for the confidence you have placed in my country," Libya, to chair the racism review conference.[1] In the context of the battle against discrimination, the Libyan representative specifically called attention to "[p]ersecution of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, those of particular ethnic groups."[2] She expressed pride that the Durban process allowed "victims of racism to speak loud" about their suffering; for enabling "those who have been excluded and ostracized to break the bonds of silence"; and that "we have been able to diagnose face of racism today. To agree to practical steps."[3] However, she omitted to mention Libya's own actions since the adoption of the 2001 Durban Declaration, which, as documented extensively by the CERD and human rights NGO's,[4] includes precisely the persecution of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and those of particular ethnic groups, including Libya's crimes committed against the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor on the basis of racist and xenophobic discrimination.[5] Speaking in October 2008, at the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee, the Libyan representative said that "the fact that we are here today shows the commitment of our countries to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance." She called for "dignity and justice for all" and said: Let us remember the countless victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance throughout the world who are counting on us to make the right decisions to alleviate the problems that they are facing and which they risk facing for a long time to come as a result of our inaction. Their struggle is our struggle, their challenges are our own.[6] Once again, Libya deliberately omitted to mention – as documented extensively by the CERD and human rights NGO's – its own "racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance," including against the Bulgarian nurses.[7] Nor did it mention Libya's own failure to "make the right decisions" to alleviate the problems faced by the authors while suffering in Libyan prisons. It is noteworthy that, according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, an important concern of the Durban Review Conference is racism against migrant workers.[8] However, in the extensive Durban Review sessions, debates, and other proceedings that have taken place since August 2007, Libya's oral and written submissions have deliberately omitted any mention of its documented practices of discrimination against migrant workers, or any mention of its specific violations against the authors. On the contrary, in response to the Durban Review questionnaire circulated by the UN as part of the Durban Review process, where countries were asked about their implementation of the 2001 Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, Libya insisted on its unequivocal respect for non-discrimination principles, and cited in particular the treatment of foreign workers: The sixth principle of the Green Charter defines Libya's society of non discrimination. The law of 1991 number 20 in its first article introduced the non discrimination framework between male and female. The penal code does not discriminate between local or foreign workers in Libya.[9] Asked to identify concrete measures for racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Libya declared: The legislations [sic] incriminate all forms of discrimination and exploitation and racial discrimination. They are not only contained in the provisions of criminal or civil laws but also special codes like the 1991 (20) law and the green Charter. Libya provides equal work opportunity with full respect to gender equality.[10] The remainder of Libya's submission included declarations such as "Libya does not have the practice of racial discrimination, it is combating it through the struggle against imperialism, fascism and racism at the global level. Many countries have not yet abided by their international treaty obligations";[11] Libya "is a harmonic country which provides equality to all people on its ground";[12] "Libya's legislations [sic] prohibited and criminalized all forms of discrimination even before Durban Declaration for combating racism as it was described before through adopting national legislation that prohibit discrimination mainly in law 5 and 20 of 1991."[13] Nowhere in Libya's response to the pertinent questions of the Durban Review questionnaire did Libya acknowledge its documented practices of racism and discrimination against foreign workers in general – as detailed above by the CERD and human rights organizations[14] – or its years of violations of human rights, inter alia on grounds of discrimination, perpetrated against the Bulgarian nurses in particular. Libya violated its duties under Articles 2(1), 26 and 14 ICCPR, to respect the rights of the authors, recognized in the ICCPR without distinction of any kind, to guarantee equal treatment before the law, and the equal protection of the law and its specific duty to provide the authors with equal protection before courts and the entitlement, in full equality, to the minimum guarantees. There is substantial evidence of widespread discrimination by Libya against authors, all of which supports the conclusion that Libya's actions were in intent and effect acts of prohibited discrimination.
[4] See, supra, section entitled "Evidence of Libya's racist discrimination against foreign workers". [7] See, supra, section entitled "Evidence of Libya's racist discrimination against foreign workers". [9] Libyan submission in Replies to the Questionnaire by States of the African region, A/CONF.211/PC/RPM/2/2, 18 July 2008, para. 16. [10] Libyan submission in Replies to the Questionnaire by States of the African region, A/CONF.211/PC/RPM/2/2, 18 July 2008, para. 18. [11] Libyan submission in Replies to the Questionnaire by States of the African region, A/CONF.211/PC/RPM/2/2 (18 July 2008), para. 19. [12] Libyan submission in Replies to the Questionnaire by States of the African region, A/CONF.211/PC/RPM/2/2 (18 July 2008), para. 20. [13] Libyan submission in Replies to the Questionnaire by States of the African region, A/CONF.211/PC/RPM/2/2 (18 July 2008), para. 21. [14] See, supra, section entitled "Evidence of Libya's racist discrimination against foreign workers".
Onder meer Duitsland, Zweden en Polen zouden eveneens verstek laten gaan bij de Durban II conferentie, zo werd vandaag bericht. Het zou goed zijn als welwildende VN instanties en mensenrechtenorganisaties zich eens achter de oren gaan krabben en zich herbezinnen op hun standpunten en handelswijze. Wouter ____________ Westen niet naar VN-top over racisme http://www.trouw.nl/nieuws/wereld/article2733873.ece/Westen_niet_naar_VN-top_over_racisme_.html Ruzie over kritiek op religies Tot eind vorige week is onderhandeld over de slotverklaring van de anti-racismeconferentie die vandaag in Genève begint. De VS en Europese landen wilden dat de bijeenkomst niet net als in 2001 in Durban zou ontaarden in een aanval op Israël en het Westen. Na moeizame onderhandelingen zijn expliciete verwijzingen naar Israël uit de conceptslotverklaring verdwenen, maar dat blijkt niet genoeg. De Verenigde Staten, Australië, Israël, Canada en veel EU-landen blijven weg. Ze hebben vier redenen. In de eerste plaats bevestigt de slotverklaring de omstreden Durban-verklaring uit 2001. De VS, die de verklaring toen niet aanvaardden vanwege bijvoorbeeld de verwijzing naar de 'benarde toestand van Palestijnen onder bezetting', vinden dat onverteerbaar. Ook nu staat er overigens een zinsnede over 'degenen onder buitenlandse bezetting' in. Navi Pillay, VN-Hoge Commissaris voor de Mensenrechten, deelt deze kritiek niet. Er kan expliciet worden vastgesteld dat de VS de tekst uit 2001 erkennen noch bevestigen, vindt zij. Het tweede argument is dat het anti-Israël sentiment ook buiten de slotverklaring de kop kan opsteken. Het Westen vreest vooral de toespraak van de Iraanse president Ahmadinejad vandaag. Hij zei eerder Israël te willen vernietigen en niet te geloven dat de Holocaust heeft plaatsgevonden. Gisteren herhaalde Ahmadinejad dat „de zionistische ideologie en regime de vaandeldragers van het racisme" zijn. Waar bijvoorbeeld de VS en Nederland zijn speech niet willen afwachten, gaan de Britten wel – zij het met een lagere diplomaat. Als de Iraniër de aanval op Israël opent, verlaten zij de zaal. Het derde en belangrijkste argument is de discussie over anti-religieuze uitingen. Kritiek op het 'belasteren van religies', waarmee moslimlanden bijvoorbeeld de Deense Mohammed-cartoons bedoelen, is geschrapt. In de slotverklaring staat dat vrijheid van meningsuiting essentieel is voor een democratie. Maar de conceptverklaring veroordeelt nog wel „de minachtende stereotypering en stigmatisering van mensen op grond van hun religie". En er staat 'zorg' in over de 'recente toename' van het aanzetten tot haat tegen religieuze minderheden via gedrukte of audiovisuele media. Dit soort teksten vindt bijvoorbeeld de Nederlandse minister van buitenlandse zaken Verhagen onaanvaardbaar: „Een aantal landen dat zelf nog heel wat te doen heeft op het gebied van mensenrechten, misbruikt de top om religie boven de rechten van de mens te stellen." En ten vierde ontbreken er tal van groepen, zoals homo's en geloofsafvalligen. De slotverklaring veroordeelt discriminatie van de ene groep wel, en discriminatie van andere groepen niet, zo luidt de kritiek. Mensenrechtenbewegingen veroordelen de westerse boycot. Volgens Human Rights Watch „keren deze landen racismeslachtoffers de rug toe" en missen met name de VS een kans de ruzie uit 2001 achter zich te laten „nu de meeste van hun eisen zijn ingewilligd". © Trouw 2009, op dit artikel rust copyright. ------------ Top tegen racisme verdeelt Westen Van onze correspondent Diederik van Hoogstraten
gepubliceerd op 19 april 2009 23:17, bijgewerkt op 23:19 NEW YORK - Nederland, de VS, Israël en andere westerse landen waaronder Duitsland boycotten de conferentie tegen racisme die vandaag begint in Genève. Dit werd zondag duidelijk, tot grote teleurstelling van de VN, die de 'Durban II'-bijeenkomst organiseren. Volgens diplomaten in New York en Brussel is het vrijwel zeker dat ook Zweden en Polen zich terugtrekken. EU-voorzitter Tsjechië en andere Europese landen zullen wel afgevaardigden op een lager diplomatiek niveau naar Genève zenden. De afwezige lidstaten vrezen, ondanks geluiden over vooruitgang in de onderhandelingen, dat de top zal worden 'gekaapt' door islamitische landen en zal uitmonden in een anti-Israëlische bijeenkomst. De vrijheid van meningsuiting dreigt te worden ingeperkt om de islam te beschermen, zo wordt verwacht. Mensenrechtengroepen hebben gewaarschuwd dat verdeeldheid kan worden gezaaid door omstreden deelnemers, onder wie de Iraanse president Ahmadinejad. Hij spreekt vandaag in Genève. Maar de Iraanse wens om het 'besmaden van religies' op de agenda te zetten, vond de afgelopen weken weinig weerklank. Desondanks noemde minister Verhagen van Buitenlandse Zaken de sfeer waarin werd onderhandeld 'grimmig' en anti-westers. Een 'aanvaardbare' verklaring was volgens hem onmogelijk. President Obama liet weten dat de VS 'helaas' evenmin kunnen deelnemen. De commissaris voor de mensenrechten van de VN, Navi Pillay, zei 'gechoqueerd' en 'diep teleurgesteld' te zijn. Verwijzingen naar het Israëlisch-Palestijnse conflict, en het besmaden van religie zijn uit de beginselverklaring gehaald, zei zij. Volgens Pillay was de sfeer juist coöperatief, en concentreren de boycottende lidstaten zich nu onnodig op de omstreden kwesties.
Citaat van de Volkskrant vandaag: 'De conferentie tegen racisme is te belangrijk om te laten misbruiken voor politieke doeleinden en aanvallen op het Westen,' aldus Verhagen zondag. 'Daar doet Nederland niet aan mee.' Verhagen noemt de slotverklaring die op tafel ligt onaanvaardbaar en een gemiste kans. 'Een aantal landen die zelf nog heel wat te doen hebben op het gebied van mensenrechten, misbruikt de top om religie boven de rechten van de mens te stellen en de vrijheid van meningsuiting onnodig in te perken, discriminatie op grond van seksuele geaardheid te negeren, en impliciet Israël als enige land in de beklaagdenbank te zetten', zegt Verhagen zondag in een verklaring van zijn ministerie.
Nederland heeft diverse keren zonder succes geprobeerd alternatieve teksten in de verklaring te krijgen. Desondanks bleef de sfeer 'grimmig' en waren westerse landen 'doelwit van politieke aanvallen.' Buitenlandse Zaken denkt niet dat de conferentie 'werkelijk kan bijdragen aan de bestrijding van racisme'.
Het lijkt erop dat Nederland en Italië (hieronder niet genoemd) de enige landen in de EU zijn die de conferentie boycotten, samen met Israël, de VS, Canada en Australië. Een moedig standpunt en een duidelijk signaal. Je zou hopen dat het ook Merkel te ver zou gaan om op de geboortedag van Hitler naar een speech van Achmadinejad te luisteren, maar dat is wellicht wishful thinking. Groot-Brittanië had vorige maand ook met een boycot gedreigd.
RP GENEVA (AFP) — A UN conference on racism was hit by new boycotts by Western nations on Sunday amid concerns that the meeting will serve as a platform against Israel, which called it a "tragic farce".
The outlook for Geneva conference, which starts Monday, was also thrown into doubt by the prospect of an opening day speech by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has stirred outrage by repeatedly calling the Holocaust a "myth".
Australia and the Netherlands joined the United States, Canada and Israel in boycotting the five-day Durban Review Conference, which is meant to take stock of progress in fighting racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.
"Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the review conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith said in a statement.
Most European Union nations were still mulling their presence in Geneva, diplomats said, but the Netherlands broke ranks on Sunday and said it would not attend because it feared the event would be abused.
"The conference is too important for it to be abused for political ends and attacks on the West," Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen said in a statement. "The Netherlands will not be a party to that."
Calling the UN meeting a "tragic farce," Israeli foreign ministry spokeman Yossi Levy said: "Officially it is aimed at denouncing racism, but it has invited a Holocaust denier who has called for the destruction of Israel."
On Friday, negotiators for Western and Muslim states in Geneva had agreed on a draft declaration that they believed had ironed out the most controversial issues relating to religious discrimination, Israel and the Middle East.
But those efforts after months of controversy proved insufficient, leading to an even bigger walkout than the one by the United States and Israel at the landmark World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001.
US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said that while significant progress had been made, the latest text still reaffirmed unacceptable parts of the 2001 declaration and infringed on freedom of speech.
"Therefore, with regret, the United States will not join the review conference," he said in a statement late Saturday.
US-based campaign group Human Rights Watch slammed the growing Western boycott.
"These countries are turning their backs on the victims of racism and are gravely endangering the UN's work against racism," HRW spokeswoman Juliette de Rivero told AFP.
Other human rights groups on Sunday challenged Ahmadinejad to eliminate severe discrimination in Iran.
The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Baha'i International Community (BIC) and the Iranian League for Human Rights (LDDHI) said he must tackle discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, women, and halt incitement to hatred.
"By coming to the Durban Review Conference, President Ahmadinejad signals a commitment to the conference's goals of eliminating all forms of discrimination and intolerance," said Diane Ala'i, the BIC's representative at the UN in Geneva.
"His first move on returning home, then, should be to address the severe discrimination and persecution that have flourished under his tenure," she added.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
Als je sommige kranten mag geloven valt Israel Iran geregeld aan. Ook nu weer is men ervan overtuigd dat een Israelische aanval aanstaande is - of toch niet? Als je iets verder leest worden deskundigen aangehaald die menen dat Israel niet zonder de toestemming van de VS zal aanvallen, dat men eerst de diplomatieke acties van de VS en de internationale gemeenschap zal afwachten, dat Israel vooral wil dreigen om de druk op de internationale gemeenschap op te voeren. Maar dat klinkt natuurlijk een stuk minder spannend en dramatisch. RP -----------
It is spring, and London Times is reporting yet another Israeli attack in Iran. If it were up to the London Times, Iran would be a smoking ruin by now. If you read closely, this story says a lot less than you think. For example, the advanced version of the Arrow missile mentioned in the story will not be operational for at least three years. And what do you make of this: "The American defence establishment is unsure that the operation will be successful. And the results of the operation would only delay Iran's programme by two to four years," he said. ... "Many of the leaks or statements made by Israeli leaders and military commanders are meant for deterrence. The message is that if [the international community] is unable to solve the problem they need to take into account that we will solve it our way," Mr Kam said. ------------ The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran's nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government. Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack. Two nationwide civil defence drills will help to prepare the public for the retaliation that Israel could face. "Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words," one senior defence official told The Times.
Officials believe that Israel could be required to hit more than a dozen targets, including moving convoys. The sites include Natanz, where thousands of centrifuges produce enriched uranium; Esfahan, where 250 tonnes of gas is stored in tunnels; and Arak, where a heavy water reactor produces plutonium. The distance from Israel to at least one of the sites is more than 870 miles, a distance that the Israeli force practised covering in a training exercise last year that involved F15 and F16 jets, helicopters and refuelling tankers. The possible Israeli strike on Iran has drawn comparisons to its attack on the Osirak nuclear facility near Baghdad in 1981. That strike, which destroyed the facility in under 100 seconds, was completed without Israeli losses and checked Iraqi ambitions for a nuclear weapons programme. "We would not make the threat [against Iran] without the force to back it. There has been a recent move, a number of on-the-ground preparations, that indicate Israel's willingness to act," said another official from Israel's intelligence community. He added that it was unlikely that Israel would carry out the attack without receiving at least tacit approval from America, which has struck a more reconciliatory tone in dealing with Iran under its new administration. An Israeli attack on Iran would entail flying over Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, where US forces have a strong presence. Ephraim Kam, the deputy director of the Institute for National Security Studies, said it was unlikely that the Americans would approve an attack. "The American defence establishment is unsure that the operation will be successful. And the results of the operation would only delay Iran's programme by two to four years," he said. A visit by President Obama to Israel in June is expected to coincide with the national elections in Iran — timing that would allow the US Administration to re-evaluate diplomatic resolutions with Iran before hearing the Israeli position. "Many of the leaks or statements made by Israeli leaders and military commanders are meant for deterrence. The message is that if [the international community] is unable to solve the problem they need to take into account that we will solve it our way," Mr Kam said. Among recent preparations by the airforce was the Israeli attack of a weapons convoy in Sudan bound for militants in the Gaza Strip. "Sudan was practice for the Israeli forces on a long-range attack," Ronen Bergman, the author of The Secret War with Iran, said. "They wanted to see how they handled the transfer of information, hitting a moving target ... In that sense it was a rehearsal." Israel has made public its intention to hold the largest-ever nationwide drill next month. Colonel Hilik Sofer told Haaretz, a daily Israeli newspaper, that the drill would "train for a reality in which during war missiles can fall on any part of the country without warning ... We want the citizens to understand that war can happen tomorrow morning". Israel will conduct an exercise with US forces to test the ability of Arrow, its US-funded missile defence system. The exercise would test whether the system could intercept missiles launched at Israel. "Israel has made it clear that it will not tolerate the threat of a nuclear Iran. According to Israeli Intelligence they will have the bomb within two years ... Once they have a bomb it will be too late, and Israel will have no choice to strike — with or without America," an official from the Israeli Defence Ministry said.
Het is een goede zaak dat Lybië en Iran, twee kartrekkers van de Durban II 'anti-racisme' conferentie, op hun eigen 'mensenrechten beleid' worden aangesproken door ervaringsdeskundigen... Wouter______________Anti-Israel NGOs get head start in Geneva ahead of Durban II
Apr. 19, 2009
Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST
Geneva was abuzz with activity over the weekend, as NGOs from around the world began preliminary activities and side-meetings in the run-up to the Durban Review Conference, which will begin Monday in the Swiss city.
At least one group met over the weekend to address the outcome and implementation of Durban's original declaration, namely, that Israel's policies, along with Zionism, were tantamount to racism.
The Israel Review Conference, a body of Palestinian and anti-Israel NGOs, met on Saturday with the stated goal of examining "the progress made in implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) adopted by the World Conference Against Racism (2001) and strengthen its recommendations."
The conference also planned on bringing together experts and actors for social and political justice to examine "how the UN anti-racism instruments apply to Israel's policies and practices regarding the Palestinian people and develop practical recommendations on how to make Israel accountable to international law and protect the rights of the Palestinian people"
On Sunday, according to the IRC, are to be workshops and meetings of the global Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, an initiative that aims to target the Jewish state economically, "until it complies with international law."
No mention is made on the IRC's Web site of Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, nor are the reported human rights violations committed by Hamas members against Fatah supporters in the Gaza Strip, which the former took control of in a bloody coup in 2007.
But in addition to the anti-Israel activity gearing up in Geneva over the weekend, a planning meeting chaired by Libya was given a bit of jolt on Friday, when Dr. Ashraf Ahmed El-Hojouj, a now-famous Libyan political prisoner, announced the delivery of the legal complaint he is filing, along with five Bulgarian nurses, to the UN Human Rights Council.
Hojouj and his colleagues were imprisoned for the HIV epidemic that broke out at Libya's Bengazi Hospital in 1999, and all six medical professionals were tortured, convicted, and sentenced to death in the case.
"The United Nations should condemn countries that scapegoat, falsely arrest, and torture vulnerable minorities," said Hojouj, who addressed Najjat Al-Hajjaji, the Libyan chairwoman of the proceedings.
"Countries that have committed such crimes must recognize their past, and issue an official, public, and unequivocal apology to the victims."
Hajjaji was reported to have been visibly uncomfortable during the proceedings and interrupted Hojouj three times during his testimony. She then gave Libya the floor to make an objection, and finally cut Hojouj off.
Both Hojouj and Bulgarian nurse Kristiyna Valcheva will testify before the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy on Sunday, and Hojouj will be able to deliver his full speech.
Also over the weekend, it was announced that a well-known former Iranian political prisoner will address an NGO human rights gathering to call attention to the human rights victims and political prisoners in Iran, the day before Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to address the Durban Conference.
Former prisoner Ahmed Batebi was made famous when his picture appeared on the cover of The Economist, holding the bloodied T-shirt of a fellow student demonstrator. The photo was called "an icon for Iran's student reform movement."
Shortly after the photograph hit the newsstands, Batebi was arrested and sentenced to death, a sentence that was reduced to 15 years in prison after an international outcry.
Batebi was regularly tortured during his time in prison, and managed to escape to Iraq, later Austria, and eventually the United States while he was temporarily hospitalized for medical care after two strokes and numerous seizures.
"I never intended to be a famous dissident," says Batebi. "Now that I have been granted asylum and am safe, it is my responsibility to tell my story and speak out for all those in Iran who still cannot. I take this responsibility very seriously."
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1239710721114&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull
Achmadinejad zal niet alleen deelnemen aan de conferentie, maar deze ook toespreken tijdens de opening op 20 april. Wouter _____________
Durban II Boycott Swells
Friday, April 17, 2009
By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor
(CNSNews.com) – As negotiations come down to the wire ahead of Monday's opening of the United Nations' politically charged racism conference in Geneva, several European countries are expected on Friday to announce that they will boycott the event.
U.N. officials' attempts to avert a widening boycott of the gathering appear to have been undermined by continued wrangling over wording in the conference's draft declaration, and by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to attend.
"Germany, like several other E.U. nations, will very likely not be taking part in the conference," Guenter Nooke, the top human rights official at the foreign ministry in Berlin, told the DPA press agency, adding that a final decision would be taken on Friday.
Germany's Welt newspaper on Friday quoted Nooke as saying that he could see more reasons to stay away from the conference, known as Durban II, than to attend, citing among others Ahmadinejad's planned participation. The paper said Germany had never before skipped a U.N. conference.
Canada in January 2008 became the first country to announce a boycott, attributing the decision to what it called "intolerance and anti-Semitism" at the U.N.'s last such event, the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in the South African port city of Durban in 2001. Later last year, Israel confirmed that it too would not attend.
The State Department this week signaled that the United States still did not intend to go, and Australia, Italy and the Netherlands have taken similar positions.
Other E.U. countries thought likely to declare Friday that they will stay away include Denmark and Britain. There is even speculation that the Czech Republic, which holds the E.U. presidency, may do so on behalf of the entire 27-member bloc.
Czech officials on Thursday said the latest version of the often-amended draft outcome document remained problematic. They pointed in particular to language on religion (the controversial "defamation of religion" was excised earlier, but terms such as "negative stereotyping of religions" remain) and the recently-reinserted reference to "foreign occupation."
A preparatory committee finalizing the draft document was meant to meet in Geneva on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week for three days of negotiations.
Instead, it met for 45 minutes on Wednesday, and for less than two hours on Thursday, according to Internet Center Anti-Racism Europe (I-Care), a non-governmental organization monitoring the proceedings. Groups of delegates were otherwise engaged in behind-closed-doors haggling.
Among the issues impeding progress during the truncated public session on Thursday, I-CARE reported:
-- E.U. members said the religious stereotyping and foreign occupation paragraphs were unacceptable.
-- Iran and other Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) members opposed a paragraph stating that "the Holocaust must never be forgotten." Australia's representative insisted the paragraph was non-negotiable.
-- South Africa, on behalf of the African Group, proposed that the Holocaust paragraph be replaced by one on genocide. Its suggested wording including a reference to genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda but not to the Nazi genocide of European Jews during World War II.
-- Armenia wanted to insert a paragraph rejecting denial of genocide; Turkey objected. (Turkey is sensitive to charges that the mass killings of Armenians in the crumbling Ottoman Empire in 1915 and the years following amounted to genocide.)
-- Sudan raised concerns about a paragraph urging states to cooperate with international criminal tribunals in the context of crimes of genocide. (Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.)
The aim of next week's conference is to review progress made in implementing the declaration adopted at the end of the 2001 WCAR.
The Bush administration sent a downgraded delegation to that event, unhappy about aspects of the draft declaration including exclusive condemnations of Israel and calls for reparations for slavery.
Attempts to liken Israeli policies to those of apartheid-era South Africa roiled the official conference, while a parallel non-governmental forum was characterized by anti-Semitic rhetoric and the intimidation of Jewish participants.
Part way through the week-long event, then Secretary of State Colin Powell withdrew the delegation, saying a conference that condones "hateful language," that "supports the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust" and that singles out Israel "for censure and abuse" could not be successful. Israel also pulled out.
Een duidelijk signaal van de Amerikaanse regering. Obama heeft zijn woord gehouden dat de VS Durban 2 zou boycotten behalve wanneer de tekst substantieel zou worden verbeterd.
RP The Obama administration will "with regret" boycott a UN conference on racism next week over objectionable language in the meeting's final document that could single out Israel for criticism and restrict free speech, the State Department said Saturday.
The decision follows weeks of furious internal debate and will likely please Israel and Jewish groups that lobbied against US participation. But the move upset human rights advocates and some in the African-American community who hoped that President Barack Obama, the nation's first black president, would send an official delegation.
The administration had wanted to attend the April 20-25 meeting in Geneva, although it warned in late February it would not go unless significant changes were made to the draft text.
==================
U.S. says will not attend U.N. conference on racism
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE53H24720090418?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will boycott next week's United Nations conference on racism in Geneva because of "objectionable" language in the meeting's final document, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday.
"It now seems certain these remaining concerns will not be addressed in the document to be adopted by the conference next week. Therefore, with regret, the United States will not join the review conference," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
The United Nations organized the forum to help heal the wounds from its last such forum, in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel walked out of that 2001 conference when Arab states sought to define Zionism as racist.
(Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Todd Eastham)
Het Iraanse verzet is tegen Achmadinejads deelname aan de VN antiracisme conferentie komende week, omdat hijzelf juist een symbool van racisme is en zou moeten worden berecht vanwege oorlogsmisdaden. RP ------------ Saturday, 18 April 2009 Iranian Resistance condemns Ahmadinejad's Participation in Durban II conference in SwitzerlandNCRI - The Iranian Resistance condemns participation of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criminal president of the Iranian regime, in the Durban Review Conference of the UN World Conference Against Racism (known as Durban II conference) in Geneva, Switzerland. It also calls on the Swiss government, the UN Secretary General and all member states to oppose Ahamadinejad's visit to Switzerland and his participation in the conference. Ahmadinejad along with the regime's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, are the most outstanding symbols of racism in the world. They have committed crimes against ethnic minorities and different races in Iran and ordered their suppression. His participation in the conference would only serve to discredit the conference. Khamenei and his president are on the top of the list of those who should be tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity as well as suppression and discrimination against minorities. The clerical regime with its president is the biggest enemy of peace and tranquility in the region and world over for terrorist meddling in the Middle East on one hand and efforts to acquire nuclear weapons on the other and it should not be allowed to exploit international conferences as a platform to press forward its ominous policies. Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 18, 2009
Op de eigen website van "PEACE" echter nog geen woord over de tegenaktie met de lege enveloppen naar het antwoordnummer. Ik vond het een erg ludieke aktie die in het linkse aktiewereldje niet had misstaan. Helaas hoorde ik er pas achteraf van. Een rechtszaak tegen het NIK lijkt me een goede zaak. Het is kansloos en tegelijkertijd leidt het tijd, geld en energie van "PEACE" af van het uitvoeren van schadelijker aktiviteiten. ;-)! Wouter _____________
Last update - 13:25 17/04/2009
Pro-Israel boycott group: Dutch Jewish leadership 'abusing' our postal system
By Cnaan Liphshiz, Haaretz Correspondent
A Dutch consumer rights group promoting a ban on Israeli goods is planning to take legal action against one of the Netherland's largest Jewish institutions for alleged "abuse" of the postal system. The Jewish group denies foul play.
Peace, which is advocating a boycott of Israeli goods from the West Bank, says the umbrella group for the Jewish Orthodox communities in the Netherlands, NIK, deliberately caused it losses of thousands of euros.
Peace argues that NIK did this by using its Web site to encourage people to send thousands of Peace's prepaid envelopes through a mailing service that allows anyone to send mail to certain organizations at no charge, since the organizations pay the postal fees after delivery.
"For two weeks now we have been receiving empty envelopes which we put out for people to support our campaign," said Peace chairman Joost Hardeman. "We of course had to pay for this traffic. This illegal manipulation by NIK of the Royal Mail service has forced us to cancel our mail arrangement, and we are preparing a lawsuit against them to cover our costs."
The Amsterdam-based group is also planning to take legal action against two operators of pro-Israel Web sites, including a blog, that advertised Peace's prepaid mailbox.
Ruben Vis, secretary general of NIK, confirmed that the address of Peace's prepaid mailbox was posted on his organization's site, but said that was part of a report about Peace's claims that the Israeli Embassy was pressuring a publisher to drop a pro-boycott ad campaign. The embassy has denied this.
"Certain individuals may have decided to mail back to Peace their own prepaid envelopes, but NIK is certainly not involved," Vis said.
Hardeman, who is Jewish and says he supports Israel but opposes its occupation of Palestinian land, said Peace will nonetheless attempt to show NIK is to blame for "the abuse of the mail system."
The Israel Products Center, a Netherlands-based online store specializing in Israeli goods, recently complained to the Dutch advertising ombudsman organization that Peace's campaign against Israeli products has caused it financial damages because it directly targets their livelihood and brand.
Hardeman rejects the allegation. "We do not propose a comprehensive ban on Israeli goods, and we are opposed to this," he said. "We only demand that consumers be made aware, through labeling, of the origins of the goods they are purchasing. That way they can decide whether they want to buy a product which comes from Palestinian land that is illegally occupied by Israel."
| 
