[WA-News] NGO Declaration: Inclusions, Exclusions

[Jennifer Radloff]

>NGO Declaration: Inclusions, Exclusions
>
>The final draft declaration from the NGO Forum at the World Conference
>Against Racism was presented, haphazardly, to the general body this
>morning. Spliced into four parts, and only partially translated, the
>elusive document finally made it into the discussion hall two hours after
>its appearance was first announced.
>
>As the meeting dispersed into smaller 'caucus' discussions to ensure that
>all caucus views are included in the final document, most people seemed
>satisfied. Deborah Robinson from the US, promoting the inclusion of
>environmental racism, a topic that appeared to be being sidelined in the
>earlier stages of the process, said that she was pleased with that section
>of the draft.
>
>Stalin K, a representative from the National Campaign on Dalit Human
>Rights, was also, generally, pleased with the draft. "I think the document
>has covered all the points fairly well, it has gone on record saying that
>caste is not an issue only of India, which is what the Indian government
>is claiming, that caste is an internal matter to India and therefore
>should not be discussed in a world conference. The document very clearly
>puts the figure at 260 million across South Asia, Asia Pacific and African
>regions."
>
>He was also pleased that 'untouchability' was described as a crime against
>humanity and that it was included in other sections, such as labour and
>migrant workers.
>
>The declaration also sparked controversy.
>
>Tibetan delegates were upset that, despite having been passed through the
>various stages leading up to the Durban conference, all references to
>Tibet were deleted from this draft. The Tibetans accused the Chinese,
>allegedly government-organised NGOs, of hijacking the draft and acting as
>representatives of the Chinese government.
>
>This view was presented at the Asia-Pacific Caucus. As the tent filled
>with delegates, it became apparent that there was a pariah section of
>seven people, separated from other NGOs. They were not at ease, and as
>soon as the discussion began, one started agitating for the right to
>speak. It soon became lively.
>
>Tibetans were accused of not representing the people of Tibet. The Chinese
>reiterated that the meeting had to follow a particular procedure, laid out
>earlier in the day, defined as tightly as possible, allowing no changes. A
>man from East Turkistan accused the Chinese government of crimes against
>the Uyghur people. The chair attempted to hide his obvious sympathies with
>the Tibetan people, and allowed all the Chinese representatives a chance
>to speak. Eventually the matter was decided by a vote. A young Chinese man
>accused the caucus of lacking democracy, pointing out that either side
>could have packed the room with their supporters. Nevertheless, the
>decision taken -- to include country-specific proposals and allow
>amendments based on earlier drafts -- both reflected what the Tibetans,
>and most Asia-Pacific NGOs, wanted.
>
>Oddly, the most explosive discussion in the Asia-Pacific caucus was not on
>Tibet, but on Bhutan, in which representatives from Bhutanese refugee
>organisations prevailed.
>
>The most suprising inclusion in the draft document was a paragraph on
>anti-Semitism equating anti-Zionism. Considering the pronounced
>pro-Palestinian slant of the entire conference, coupled with paragraphs on
>Palestine further on, this one paragraph looked oddly out of place.
>
>Tawfiq Jabareem is from an organisation called the 'Association of 40
>Unrecognised Arab Villages in Israel'. He said that although he was
>generally pleased with the document, his group would be proposing an
>amendment to the offending paragraph.
>
>He asserted, "We think that really they are contradictory with the
>Palestinian issue and with the human rights and self-determination of the
>Palestinian people."
>
>The draft document has to undergo this final process of revision, which
>was supposed to have been completed in time for the closing ceremony this
>afternoon. Only once this is done the final document will be presented,
>letting the world know the issues and concerns of the NGO community on the
>topic of racism.
>
>
>Sonia Randhawa is a Malaysian journalist with Radiq Radio. She is a member
>of the WCAR Women's Media Team of ISIS International-Manila.