Fight against racism “undermined” by boycott

Doudou Diène believes the absence of certain countries from the Geneva conference undermines the fight against racism swissinfo.ch

Monday's controversial speech by the Iranian president at the anti-racism conference in Geneva provoked several countries to walk out in protest.

Doudou Diène, the former UN special rapporteur on racism, tells swissinfo countries boycotting the conference are playing into the hands of racists.

Diène was actively involved in preparing the conference.

swissinfo: What is your interpretation of the provocative speech by the Iranian president?

Doudou Diène: On the one hand, there was a provocative aspect to this speech in its description of Zionism as a form of racism – and this despite the fact that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is a political one, nothing to do with this ethnic and racial reading of it.

As for the political part of his speech, it reflected the understanding of certain developing countries about capitalism and the current state of the world.

That said, the speech by the Iranian president also showed some opening up. For the first time, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recognised the victims of the Holocaust, while one of the main things he has been attacked for is Holocaust denial.

This progress perhaps reflects how far the discussion has come between Iran and the United States.

swissinfo: The United States, along with some other western countries, decided not to attend the Geneva meeting at all. What’s your reaction to that?

D.D.: It’s a decision I really can’t understand. We have a basic document, accepted by consensus on Friday, including by the western countries, and it contains none of the points which they regard as unacceptable. So the reasons they cite for not attending the conference simply lack credibility.

Washington’s decision is particularly regrettable, since it comes from a country – the United States – which has one of the strongest historical experiences of racism and which has made extraordinary progress in fighting it, most recently the election of Barack Obama himself.

swissinfo: Isn’t this conference driving an even deeper wedge between the western countries and the Islamic ones?

D.D.: This divide is part of the talk about the clash of civilisations, which is a flawed analysis. No, this conference demonstrates that human rights are the main area for a dialogue between civilisations. Starting from different positions, the various countries are moving towards the adoption of international instruments which bind everyone.

Obviously, this is a painful and difficult process fraught with controversy. But it will allow us to build an international community on the basis of shared principles.

What the 2001 Durban conference showed, and what may be confirmed by the Geneva conference, is that despite the historical and political divisions in the world, it is possible to agree on fundamental questions.

All those countries which decide to withdraw from the conference will bear a very heavy responsibility for undermining the fight against racism at a time when this phenomenon is increasing throughout the world, whether it is anti-semitism in Europe and in continents where it was historically non-existent, anti-black or anti-white racism, or racism towards Muslims.

swissinfo: In Geneva, the ambassador of one Arab country described the Holocaust commemoration outside UN headquarters as a provocation. And yet this crime against humanity was key in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 60 years ago.

D.D.: Absolutely. One paragraph in the final declaration of Durban I, states explicitly that the Holocaust should not be forgotten despite the attempts of certain states to get that paragraph dropped. So in this context it is perfectly legitimate to commemorate the Holocaust.

One of the main obstacles in the universal fight against racism is the division among victims, when each community considers its own historical memory to be unique and unlike any other.

The great challenge we face is to persuade all victims of discrimination to recognise the unique feature of each of these cases, while building bridges towards other communities which have also been victims, sharing the emotions and understanding the sufferings of the others.

So it should be perfectly normal for the Holocaust to be commemorated in Muslim countries, just as the abolition of slavery is commemorated in western countries.

swissinfo-interview: Carole Vann and Frédéric Burnand in Geneva

Doudou Diène and Switzerland

Senegalese diplomat Doudou Diène was UN special rapporteur on racism-related topics from 2002 to 2008.

In March 2007 he issued a hard-hitting report about Switzerland, in which he accused the authorities of lacking a coherent strategy against racism and xenophobia.

The government responded by deploring specific incidents, but saying that the generally successful integration of foreign residents was a sign of the country’s openness.

Later that year Diène criticised as racist the “black sheep” election campaign of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party.

The party used a poster showing white sheep kicking a black sheep out of Switzerland.

The government said racism was unacceptable, but it was up to the courts to decide whether statements violated anti-racism laws.