Racism and racial discrimination – Third Cttee debate – Summary record (excerpts)

Third Committee

Summary record of the 60th meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 28 November 2003, at 3 p.m. 

Chairman:   Mr. Belinga-Eboutou ……………………………………  (Cameroon)

Contents

/…

Agenda item 115: Elimination of racism and racial discrimination (continued )

(b)   Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (continued)

/…

  The meeting was called to order at 3.15 p.m.

/…

Agenda item 115: Elimination of racism and racial discrimination: ( continued)

 (b):   Comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (continued)

Draft resolution A/C.3/58/L.34: World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

/…

43.   At the request of the representative of Italy, a recorded vote was taken on paragraph 31.

In favour:

Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against:

Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America.

Abstaining:

Armenia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine.

44.   Paragraph 31 was adopted by 105 votes to 40, with 8 abstentions. 

45.   At the request of the representative of the United States of America, a recorded vote was taken on draft resolution A/C.3/58/L.34 as a whole. 

In favour:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republ ic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. 

Against:

Israel, United States of America.

Abstaining:

Australia, Canada.

46.   Draft resolution A/C.3/58/L.34 was adopted by 155 votes to 2, with 2 abstentions.

47.  Mr. Fox (United States of America) said that his delegation had not been able to join consensus on the draft resolution. However, it appreciated the fact that the sponsors had continued to recognize the persistent problems of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, a subject on which the Special Rapporteur had commented at length in his interim report. The United States remained committed to combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance wherever they occurred.

48.  Ms. Kleitman (Israel) said that the events that had transpired in Durban had constituted an affront not only to Israel and the Jewish people but to anyone who valued the true objectives of national efforts to combat racism and racial discrimination. Indeed, the hijacking of the Durban Conference in order to isolate and attack the State of Israel had done a great disservice to those who would have benefited from genuine action against racism. Instead of contributing to the efforts of the international community to eliminate racism and racial discrimination, the proceedings at Durban had represented a decisive step backwards. Certain delegations and NGOs had aggravated the situation by singling out one country for hatred, slander and defamation. Her delegation further regretted that the Palestine-Israel conflict had been repeatedly invoked at the Durban Conference. That conflict was not a racial one but rather a political and territorial conflict that had absolutely no place in a conference dealing with racism. It was a conflict involving two peoples, both with rights, grievances and aspirations, which could be resolved only by a renunciation of violence and a commitment to negotiations conducted in a spirit of compromise and mutual recognition.

49.   Her delegation also regretted that in the course of consultations on resolution A/C.3/58/L.34, certain delegations had sought to eliminate any reference to anti-Semitism at a time when there was a worrisome surge in attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in various parts of the world.

50.   Notwithstanding her delegation’s opposition to the draft resolution, she wished to be perfectly clear in stating that Israel fully supported national efforts aimed at the eradication of racism and racial discrimination and related forms of intolerance. In the past, that heinous phenomenon had visited upon the Jewish people the most horrible acts of genocide in history, including the Holocaust, in which fully a third of the Jewish people had been brutally exterminated. It was precisely because of its opposition to racism that Israel could not support the outcome of the Durban Conference. Israel was committed to the unrealized goals of the Conference and was deeply disappointed that those values had been so shamefully trampled upon. It was Israel’s conviction that all nations must stand together in confronting intolerance, xenophobia and racism by means of education, legislation and public awareness, until such a time as true tolerance for one’s fellow man became a foundation of all societies in the world.

51.  The Chairman suggested that the Committee should decide to recommend to the General Assembly that it should take note of the following documents: Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (A/58/18) and Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance (A/58/324).

52.   It was so decided.

53.  Mr. Fox (United States of America) said it was his understanding that the Committee took note of all reports considered at the present meeting consistent with General Assembly decision 55/488.

/…

The meeting rose at 6.10 p.m.

This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned within one week of the date of publication to the Chief of the Official Records Editing Section, room DC2-750, 2 United Nations Plaza, and incorporated in a copy of the record.

Corrections will be issued after the end of the session, in a separate corrigendum for each Committee.

03-63342 (E)

*0363342*