ZAMBIA

STATEMENT BY

HON. ENOCH. P. KAVINDELE,
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA

TO THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE,

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, 2ND SEPTEMBER 2001

• THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD CONFERENCE MADAM DR ZUMA,
• YOUR EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA,
• YOUR EXCELLENCIES HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENTS,
• YOUR EXCELLENCIES HEADS OF DELEGATIONS,
• DISTINGUISHED DELEGATES,
• LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.
ALLOW ME FIRST AND FOREMOST TO CONVEY ON BEHALF OF MY PRESIDENT, DR. FREDERICK J.T. CHILUBA, THE PEOPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA AND INDEED ON MY OWN BEHALF, OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF AN ICON OF AFRICAN FREEDOM, MR. GOVAN MBEKI. WE PRAY TO THE ALMIGHTY GOD THAT HE GIVES STRENGTH TO THE FAMILY AND IN PARTICULAR THE PRESIDENT OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY, MR. THABO MBEKI DURING THIS TRYING AND DIFFICULT TIME.
MAY 1 TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO CONGRATULATE THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT, THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY, FOR HOSTING THIS HISTORIC EVENT. MAY 1 THANK THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEOPLE FOR THE WARM RECEPTION ACCORDED TO MY DELEGATION AND ME SINCE OUR ARRIVAL IN THIS BEAUTIFUL COASTAL CITY OF DURBAN.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT ACTION AGAINST RACISM WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS GAVE ITS FULL EXPRESSION THROUGH THE DRAFTING AND ADOPTION, BY A UNANIMOUS RESOLUTION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN 1965, OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. BEARING THIS IN MIND, THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE FAMILY OF NATIONS IS TO COME UP WITH A WORKABLE PROGRAMME OF ACTION THAT WILL MOVE THE WORLD A STEP FURTHER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL AND TRIBAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE WITHIN NATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND/OR DOMESTIC JURISDICTIONS.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

THIS HISTORIC CONFERENCE, THE THIRD OF ITS KIND, ORGANISED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE UNITED NATIONS, AFFORDS US AN OPPORTUNITY AS A COMMUNITY OF NATIONS TO REFLECT AND TAKE STOCK OF PAST EFFORTS MADE TO ADDRESS THE SCOURGE OF RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, AND TO CHART A PRACTICAL WORKABLE WAY FORWARD WHICH WILL SERVE FUTURE GENERATIONS FROM THIS CENTURIES OLD INHUMAN PRACTICE.
AFRICA AS A CONTINENT HAS HAD ITS FAIR SHARE OF THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE.
THE APARTHEID ERA HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA EPITOMIZED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND COLONIALISM PUT TOGETHER. FAR IN THE HISTORY OF THE HUMAN SOCIETY, SLAVERY AND RACIAL DIVIDE, SEPARATED ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE FROM ANOTHER. THE PRACTICE WAS BRUTAL AND INHUMAN. THE DISCRIMINATION WE SEE TODAY IS A SOCIAL ATAVISM OF THE CENTURIES OF INHUMAN PRACTICES. WE HAVE A CHANCE AND AN OPPORTUNITY TODAY TO CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER WORLD WHERE RACISM AND DISCRIMINATION WILL COME TO AN END.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

LET US ACCEPT THAT EVEN AS WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY, RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND RELATED INTOLERANCE AROUND THE WORLD STILL AFFECT OUR ATTITUDES TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER AND EVEN OUR CAPACITY TO DEVELOP A COMMON UNDERSTANDING ON HOW TO HANDLE THIS RETROGRESSIVE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DIVIDE IN OUR MIDST.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

THIS YEAR, WE WITNESSED THE BEGINNING OF THE HISTORIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (O.A.U.) INTO THE AFRICAN UNION (AU) OF WHICH ZAMBIA IS PRIVILEGED TO CHAIR. IT IS HOPED THAT THE A.U. WILL EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH AFRICAN MATTERS. AS CHAIR OF THE A.U, ZAMBIA PLEDGES ITS TOTAL COMMITMENT TO THE AFRICAN PEOPLE, TO DO THAT WHICH THE CONTINENTAL BODY WANTS HER TO DO. I KNOW FOR SURE THAT PROBLEMS OF RACIAL, TRIBAL/ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION ON OUR CONTINENT MAKE ONE OF THE MAJOR HINDRANCES TO HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT, AND GENERAL SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT OF OUR PEOPLE.
THE AFRICAN UNION WILL BE FACED WITH THE UNDAUNTED TASK OF ENSURING PEACE AND HARMONY ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT AND SHOULD THEREFORE, RISE TO THE OCCASION OF DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE CONFLICT RESOLUTION MECHANISMS WITH EARLY WARNING SIGNALS THAT WILL PREVENT FUTURE CATASTROPHES. MANY OF THE CONFLICTS ARE EMBEDDED IN THE OLD RACIAL AND TRIBAL/ETHNIC PRACTICES OF DISCRIMINATION, ESPECIALLY WHERE SUCH DISCRIMINATION MANIFESTS ITSELF IN THE ALLOCATION OR DEPRIVATION OF RESOURCES BY ONE RACIAL, TRIBAL/ETHNIC GROUP OVER ANOTHER.

MADAM PRESIDENT, YOUR EXCELLENCIES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE COME TO DURBAN TO LIBERATE OURSELVES FROM HISTORICAL INJUSTICES COMMITTED AGAINST MANKIND IN THE FORM OF SLAVERY AND SERVITUDE AND NOW TO EMPHASIZE THAT SLAVERY SHOULD NOT BE REMEMBERED AS AN APPALLING TRAGEDY, BUT ALSO AS A FACTOR THAT FOR CENTURIES DEPRIVED AFRICA OF HER HUMAN AND NATURAL RESOURCES.
WE MUST ACCEPT THE FACT THAT IT IS THE RESOURCES PLUNDERED OVER CENTURIES, THE OPPRESSION AND DISPLACEMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL, WHICH HAVE SERIOUSLY IMPAIRED AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT TO THIS VERY DAY.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

AFRICA WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN HER EXPERIENCE FROM 1870, THE TIME THAT SLAVERY IS CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN ABOLISHED WORLDWIDE TO THE PRESENT.
1 WANT TO SUM UP HOWEVER, BY SAYING THAT AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE INHUMAN SLAVE TRADE AND COLONIALISM, AFRICAN PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED GREAT INEQUALITY. HISTORY IS REPLETE WITH ONE RACIAL GROUP SUFFERING IN SLAVERY OF ANOTHER. EVEN THE HOLY BIBLE GIVES US A MOVING ACCOUNT OF SLAVERY AND LIBERATION OF COMMUNITIES. OUR TASK IS TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF OUR MODERN HISTORY FOR THE BETTER.
THE BERLIN CONFERENCE OF 1886 ON THE PARTITION OF AFRICA, DREW ITS MORAL AUTHORITY FROM THE FACT THAT PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE AFRICAN CONTINENT WERE TOO INFERIOR TO BE CONSULTED WHEN ARBITRARY BOUNDARIES AND OWNERSHIP OF THEIR NATIVE LANDS WERE BEING DECIDED.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

AFRICA REQUESTS FOR AN AUDIENCE, SO THAT THE WORLD CAN HONOUR AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE MEMORY AND RECOGNITION OF THE CRIME OF SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM IN RECENT HISTORY. FAILURE TO THAT, BLACK PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO BE VIEWED AS PROPERTY, WHOSE VALUE FLUCTUATES ACCORDING TO THE LAWS OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY. OUR MODERN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT CANNOT ALLOW THAT.
AFRICA'S FRACTURED COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT MUST BE REPAIRED, AND ALLOWED TO RUN ITS OWN COURSE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE ADVANTAGES OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY AND THE POLITICAL DEMOCRATIC DISPENSATION IN THE WORLD TODAY.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

AFRICA WANTS TO REMIND THE WORLD THAT THERE IS NO NEED TO LOOK FOR THE SOURCES, CAUSES, FORMS AND CONTEMPORARY MANIFESTATION OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE, IN THE DARKNESS OF OUR MINDS AND HEARTS.
THE CHURCH HAS INDEED DONE A GREAT DEAL WITH RECONCILING HUMAN RELATIONS OVER THE YEARS. THE CHURCH AT LEAST ACCEPTS THE FACT THAT "SLAVE TRADE WAS THE GREATEST PRACTICAL EVIL WHICH HAS EVER AFFLICTED THE HUMAN RACE."
MADAM PRESIDENT,
INDEED ZAMBIA SHARES THE DOUBTS OF LORD GEORGE GRENVILLE, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BETWEEN 1809 TO 1807, WHO WONDERED, "CAN WE FLATTER OURSELVES THAT THE MISCHIEF WHICH THE (SLAVE) TRADE HAS CREATED WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED FOR MANY AGES, TO OUR REPROACH?"
THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE FEEL, HE WAS VERY CORRECT OF THAT ASSESSMENT BECAUSE ALTHOUGH SLAVERY WAS A LEGAL TRADE, AS SHOWN BY THE CHARTER OF THE ROYAL AFRICA COMPANY, 1672, NO ONE WAS BORN A SLAVE, BECAUSE EVERYONE IS BORN WITH ALL HIS HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIGNITY. IN THIS REGARD, THEREFORE, THE SLAVE TRADE AND SLAVERY WAS AND STILL REMAINS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

ZAMBIA AGREES WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD THAT MANY OTHER PEOPLES AND RACES AROUND THE WORLD ARE VICTIMS OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE. HOWEVER, THE CRY
FOR AFRICA IS THAT ALL THE VICTIMS OF ALL ABUSES OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE RECENT PAST AND THE VERY RECENT TIMES HAVE BEEN ADEQUATELY REDRESSED FOR THE WRONGS OF THE PAST, BUT AFRICA REMAINS SUFFERING AND BLEEDING FROM THE AFTERMATH.
AFRICA MUST SHARE THE VIEW OF LORD PALMERSTON WHO, PARTICIPATING IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS DEBATE IN 1844, SAID:
"IF ALL CRIMES WHICH THE HUMAN RACE HAS COMMITTED FROM CREATION DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY, WERE ADDED TOGETHER IN ONE VAST AGGREGATE, THEY WOULD SCARCELY EQUAL THE AMOUNT OF GUILT WHICH HAS BEEN INCURRED BY MANKIND IN CONNECTION WITH THIS DIABOLICAL SLAVE TRADE." MADAM PRESIDENT,
THIS STATEMENT MADE 156 YEARS AGO, IS AS CORRECT NOW AS IT WAS THEN. THE BLACK PEOPLE DESERVE FULL REDRESS OF THE INJUSTICES OF SLAVERY.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

IN RECOGNITION OF THE INJUSTICES THAT AFRICANS FACE ON THE CONTINENT AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA, IT PLEASES ME TO KNOW THAT AFRICA HAS TAKEN A POSITION ON THE TOPICAL ISSUES OF THIS CONFERENCE THROUGH THE ADOPTION OF THE AFRICAN DECLARATION OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE OF DAKAR (1999).
IT IS AGAINST THIS BACKGROUND THAT ZAMBIA, AS A PARTY TO THE AFRICAN DECLARATION AND AS CHAIR OF THE AFRICAN UNION (FORMERLY ORGANISATION OF AFRICAN UNITY), CALLS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INTERNATIONAL COMPENSATION SCHEME FOR VICTIMS OF THE SLAVE TRADE AND A DEVELOPMENT REPARATION FUND TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY COLONIALISM.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

ZAMBIA WOULD LIKE TO URGE ALL THE COMMUNITY OF NATIONS TO TAKE IMMEDIATE MEASURES OF PREVENTION, EDUCATION AND PROTECTION AIMED AT THE TOTAL ERADICATION OF RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE AT THE NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS.
ZAMBIA ALSO URGES THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO PREVENT ALL EXCLUSION TENDENCIES, WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO STEREO TYPED SOCIAL ATTITUDES. IT IS NOT FOR AFRICA TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANY OTHER RACE, NO! AND I CALL ON ALL AFRICANS NOT TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ANYONE. EQUALLY, I CALL UPON ALL OTHER RACES NOT TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST AFRICANS. THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE HAS A DUTY TO LIVE TOGETHER HARMONIOUSLY ON THIS ONE PLANET.

MADAM PRESIDENT,

ON BEHALF OF THE AFRICAN UNION, AND ITS 53 MEMBER STATES, 1 WISH TO PROPOSE THAT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD SHARE A COLLECTIVE MEMORY FOR PAST INJUSTICES AGAINST HUMANITY UPON WHICH A JUST FUTURE HAS TO BE BUILT. INDEED THE WAY FORWARD, FOR MANKIND IS TO WORK TOWARDS THE PROVISION OF MUTUALLY AGREED UPON EFFECTIVE REMEDIES,
RESOURCE, REDRESS AND OTHER MEASURES AT THE NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS.
ZAMBIA APPEALS TO THE COMMUNITY OF NATIONS THAT THE FOLLOW-UP NATIONAL LEGISLATION AGAINST RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION BE ACCOMPANIED BY POSITIVE ACTIONS THAT STRENGTHEN THE HUMANITY OF ALL THEIR NATIONALS.

MADAM PRESIDENT, YOUR EXCELLENCIES, DISTINGUISHED DELEGATES, THE ZAMBIAN PEOPLE REQUEST THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO ACHIEVE FULL AND EFFECTIVE EQUALITY FOR ALL PERSONS REGARDLESS OF THEIR RACE, COLOUR AND RELIGION. FURTHER ZAMBIA REQUESTS INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION BASED ON EQUALITY AND MUTUAL PARTNERSHIP PREMISED ON INTERNATIONALLY AGREED HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS SHOULD BE THE YARDSTICK FOR ALL NATIONS.
ZAMBIA LAUDS THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION FOR CONVENING THIS CONFERENCE.
1 HOPE THAT PRACTICAL STEPS WILL BE TAKEN TO IMPLEMENT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS IMPORTANT CONFERENCE AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL MECHANISMS IN COMBATING RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE.

I THANK YOU AND WISH YOU GODSPEED!