wfn.org | The Power of Words at UN World Conference Against Racism

["Frank Imhoff" <franki@elca.org>]

LWF Delegation in Durban, South Africa

DURBAN, South Africa/GENEVA, 21 September 2001 (LWI) - The power of the written
word was evidenced during the recent United Nations World Conference Against
Racism in Durban, South Africa. From August 28 to September 8, more than 12,000
representatives of states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) debated
definitions and formulations. Often there were arguments about accepting single
words.

Disagreements on the concept of a "racist state" with regard to Israel as well
as the demand to equate Zionism with racism in the final UN declaration,
finally led to a walk-out of the US and Israeli delegations from the
conference. The title itself-"Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance"-became a subject of debate.

"In the end, it was just one word we cared about," Dr. Rajah Selvakumar from
India summed up his experience. A member of the 23-person Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) delegation to the World Conference in Durban, Selvakumar is
himself a victim of discrimination, since he is a Dalit, an "untouchable". His
aim was to have the term "caste" included in the written categorization of
"victims of racism". Vehement protests from the Indian government prevented the
Dalit lobby from succeeding in this purpose.

Nevertheless, the mood was good among the Dalits. "I am going back a happier
person," said Mr. Bennet Benjamin, another member of the LWF delegation. "The
whole world took note that there is something like caste and discrimination on
the basis of caste in India. Talking openly about the problems of caste and
internationalizing the issue was very important," he noted.

Two distinct processes could be observed at the UN conference in Durban. The
NGO Forum which preceded the conference aimed at providing space for the voices
of those directly affected. Victims of racism from around the world wanted to
be seen and heard. They demanded specific recognition in the United Nations
declaration, whether as Dalits, migrants, Roma/Sinti, people of African descent
or indigenous peoples.

In contrast, at the main UN conference itself there was scarcely any room for
victims of racism themselves to be heard. The conference of government
representatives turned out to be a forum against human rights groups from
everywhere in the world, and often against citizens of individual countries.
Words were used as obstacles to ward off the waves of accusations from the
varied groups of NGO lobbyists. The delegates' aim was to delete words such as
"caste", and instead retain generalized concepts like "victims of racism."
There was preference for relative expressions such as "crimes against humanity"
when applied to slavery and colonialism as opposed to mentioning particular
states by name and to blur the clarity and distinct nature of formulations.

"This is a meeting of the officials who, after being directly or indirectly
accused of racism, will finally have to bear the consequences of the words
which are chosen to be in the UN final document," said a speaker for the
European governments. "From the way in which words and concepts are recorded,
and the content which occupies them, legal claims can be derived and domestic
political or international pressure can be applied."

The LWF delegation as an NGO was committed to giving victims of racism a chance
to speak. South African LWF delegate Dr. Ramathate Dolamo from the University
of the North said, "I was especially moved by the forum that allowed the voices
of the victims to be heard publicly, telling their personal experiences. We as
church also have the responsibility to become the victims' voice, also here in
South Africa where racism is continuing."

The LWF delegation also wanted to give representatives of LWF member churches,
and communities with which the LWF works in its country programs worldwide, an
opportunity to see how the problem of racism is dealt with at international
level. "One of our primary aims was to expose representatives of a cross
section of our constituency of member churches, as well as communities that are
served by our field programs throughout the world, to how the issue of racism
is addressed or not addressed, as the case may be, at the international level,"
said Peter Prove, LWF Assistant to the General Secretary for International
Affairs and Human Rights. Communities directly affected at the grassroots by
experiences of racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance have a
right to know how governments address these issues "when they come together in
these diplomatic settings," he noted.

Prove believes that this aim was fulfilled. The experiences and learning
processes in Durban informed, motivated and mobilized the delegation members to
become more purposefully active in their local churches and in national
lobbying groups. They not only experienced how processes work at the diplomatic
level. "They also experienced how important they themselves are in these
processes, as civil society representatives and as churches, and that without
strong pressure from their side on governments and international forums,
nothing much will change."

"The Dalits managed to get their demands onto the international agenda," Prove
said in summing-up. "Other issues, especially country-specific concerns failed
to receive the attention that they should, for example in the case of the
Bhutanese refugees. Both the rights of the Palestinian people and the issue of
antisemitism, in which we had an interest unfortunately became totally stuck in
accusation and counter-accusation. It is unfortunate that we failed to really
address these issues from the perspectives of human rights and individual human
dignity. This is a great shame."

Rev. Dr. Molefi Tsele from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa,
and General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, underlined that
"the problem of continuing racism in South Africa has not been prominently
addressed at this conference. On the one hand, South Africans as host to this
conference were very happy to take a back seat and provide space to all
participants to discuss the different categories of racism in the world."

On the other hand, South Africa as the host country wanted to mediate between
those who perpetrate racism and their victims. "We know from our own experience
after apartheid that reconciliation is not only about victims," said Tsele. "We
have to restore society's humanity, and this includes both the victims and
perpetrators. Our South African experience has shown us that you cannot heal
the victims without affirming the dignity and humanity of the perpetrators."

Tsele however felt that South Africa played an important mediating role towards
the end of the conference, especially when the "naming of perpetrators and
victims," such as Israel and Palestine, was being discussed, as well as the
issue of apologies by former colonial powers to African countries. "We have not
insisted that an apology has to be followed by reparations," Tsele stressed. "I
personally say: here is a major power like Germany that makes a public apology,
acknowledges that there were wrongs in the past. That in itself is enough.
...It means that future relationships between such countries and Africa will be
influenced by that statement ....Europe has made some proposals ...We will
accept these words as genuine and give them a chance," he added.

But not all those involved in the struggle against racism, and who had hoped
for more from the UN conference, share Tsele's assessment. Over 24 hours beyond
the conference's scheduled closing time they were still struggling over every
letter. On Saturday afternoon, September 8, the UN Conference Against Racism in
Durban was over. In a final statement adopted by a consensus of 160 of the
participating states, after two weeks of hard work, the written word now
stands. But even words which were not written, or were crossed out, will
continue to play a role and be brought into future discussions, thanks to the
lobbying work of a great many NGOs.

(By LWI Correspondent Erika von Wietersheim from Namibia, a member of the
WCC/LWF journalists' team at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban,
South Africa)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. 
Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133 member churches in 73 
countries representing over 60.5 million of the 64.3 million Lutherans 
worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common 
interest such as ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human 
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. 
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.) 

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the Lutheran 
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented does not 
represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the 
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely 
reproduced with acknowledgement.] 

* * * 
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION 
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland 
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org 
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54 
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30 
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Articles/EN/LWI