African Group Reiterates Commitment to WCAR SuccessThe African ministers and heads of delegations Thursday reiterated their full commitment to ensuring the full success of the on-going World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) and pave the way for greater understanding and solidarity of humankind.The group here expressed concern over the slow pace in drafting the declaration and program of action, while reviewing the progress made in the proceedings of the WCAR. The draft declaration and the draft program of action will touch on issues of slavery, slave trade, colonialism, apartheid, genocide and the Middle East and other related issues. During the African Regional Conference held in Dakar in January 2001, the African ministers adopted a common position on these issues and others, saying if the injustices of the past are not properly acknowledged, the problem of racism cannot be addressed. Based on the Dakar African common position, the African group developed a non-paper on the injustices of the past, noting that a constructive spirit and the aim to achieve consensus on these issues are critical to Africa, Africans and peoples of African descent all over the world. The African group stressed at the conference the WCAR should recognize that slavery, slave trade including the trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism, apartheid and genocide are the major historical sources and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and that they should be considered as crimes against humanity. Remembering the wrongs of the past, condemning its major racist tragedies and telling the truth about history are essential elements for international reconciliation and for the creation of global community based on justice, equality and solidarity, they said. The group also viewed that explicit apology should be extended by states which practiced, benefited, or enriched themselves from slavery, slave trade and colonialism to all victims of these acts and their consequences. They noted the present situation of poverty, underdevelopment and marginalization of developing countries and particularly of Africa are a consequence of slavery, slave trade and colonialism. Therefore, they said, the WCAR should call upon those states to provide reparations to countries and peoples concerned, and adopt appropriate remedial and other measures in order to halt and reverse these and other consequences. The African group said that in the ongoing consultations being pursued in Durban, they are demonstrating necessary flexibility in accommodating the views of other groups and is adjusting the language of its non-paper in a spirit of compromise intended to move the process forward and to ensure the success of the conference. The ongoing WCAR constitutes a unique opportunity for the international community to decisively address the scourge of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. |
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