wfn.org | LWI 2009-031 Global Church Organizations Welcome Durban II Outcome, With Some Regrets

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Global Church Organizations Welcome Durban II Outcome, With Some
Regrets 
No Mention of "Hundreds of Millions" Affected by Caste-Based
Discrimination 

GENEVA, 24 April 2009 (LWI) - Two global church organizations
have congratulated the United Nations Durban Review Conference
against racism on the adoption of its outcome document, but
regret that the latter makes no mention of the plight of hundreds
of millions of people affected by caste-based discrimination. 

In a joint oral intervention at the conference today in Geneva,
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of Churches
(WCC) welcomed the reaffirmation of the 2001 Durban Declaration
and Programme of Action, as well as the international
community’s commitment to overcome all forms of racism "in
all parts of the world, including those 'under foreign
occupation.'" 

However, the LWF and WCC stated their regret that the conference
had "failed to acknowledge the suffering of the more than 200
million people discriminated against on the basis of work and
descent." Formerly known as untouchables, the Dalits are
"invisible" in the 21 April outcome document, despite their
situation falling squarely under the definition of racial
discrimination by UN standards. 

In March, both organizations convened a conference in Bangkok,
Thailand, at which representatives of churches and church-related
organizations from around the world expressed their solidarity
with the Dalit struggle for justice. 

The LWF/WCC intervention at the UN conference today affirmed,
"Racism is a sin because it destroys the very source of humanity
- the image of God in humankind. Racism desecrates God's likeness
in every person."

Both organizations said they were satisfied that anti-Semitism
and the Holocaust, along with a number of other groups and
situations, had been explicitly addressed in the outcome
document. But they expressed regret that "controversies over one
single situation have so consumed the attention and energy of the
Durban process, from 2001 until now."

They welcomed the proposal made by the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights to create an "observatory on discrimination," which
may help throw further light on the situation of the millions of
victims of untouchability practices. There are some 260 million
Dalits worldwide, 200 million of them in India. 

Another welcomed development is the exclusion of the concept of
"defamation of religions" from the conference outcome document.
By not allowing the concept to "inappropriately intrude into [the
document's] human rights framework," the document instead
"properly addresses itself to the 'stigmatization of persons
based on their religion or belief’," stated the LWF and WCC.
(408 words)

The full text of the LWF/WCC intervention at the Durban Review
Conference is available at:
www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/WCC-LWF_Statement_Durban_Review_Conference.pdf

More information about the global ecumenical conference in
Bangkok is at:
www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/OIahr/OIAHR-Dalit_Justice.html

Learn more about WCC work in solidarity with Dalits: 
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3249 

*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of 68.5 million. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith 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 LWF's information
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