News Service from House Harris

EUR: UN chief decries boycotts at racism conference

GENEVA, April 20 AFP - UN chief Ban Ki-Moon decried Western boycotts of an anti-racism conference on Monday as others threatened to walk out if Iran's president uses anti-Semitic language at the event.

"We speak of finding a new unity, as the times demand. Yet we remain weak and divided and stuck in old ways," Ban said as he opened the meeting in Geneva.

"Some nations, who by rights should be helping to forge a path to a better future, are not here," he said, telling delegates that he was "profoundly disappointed."

"I deeply regret that some have chosen to stand aside."

Poland became the latest nation Monday to boycott the meeting after the United States, Israel, Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand over fears it would degenerate into a forum for anti-Semitic views.

France decided to attend the event but warned that Europeans would walk out if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was due to address the conference, made "anti-Semitic accusations" during the event.

Ahmadinejad launched a new broadside against Israel before heading to the meeting, saying "the Zionist ideology and regime are the flag bearers of racism."

The Iranian leader has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" and described the Holocaust as a "myth."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France Info radio: "We will have to be very clear. We will not tolerate any slips."

"If he utters racist or anti-Semitic accusations, we will leave the room immediately," Kouchner said.

Similar sentiments expressed by Arab and African countries eight years ago prompted a US and Israeli walkout during the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

The five-day Geneva follow-up has angered Israel, with the Jewish state describing the event as a "tragic farce" even before it started.

Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland on Monday over the Swiss president's meeting with Ahmadinejad and the start of the conference.

"Israel's ambassador in Switzerland is recalled for consultations following the start of the Durban II conference and the meeting between the Swiss president with his Iranian counterpart," an Israeli foreign ministry official told AFP.

"This is not a break in relations, but an expression of Israel's discontent for the lax Swiss attitude towards Iran," he said on condition of anonymity.

The Paris-based European Jewish Congress said in a statement that Ahmadinejad's presence meant the United Nations had "put the fox in charge of the hen house."

The US government's decision Saturday to join Canada and Israel in staying away from Geneva snowballed as others followed.

"Regrettably, we cannot be confident that the review conference will not again be used as a platform to air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.

But the European Union's traditional show of unity on international human rights unravelled, as Britain, France and Ireland decided to attend.

Advocacy group Human Rights Watch also criticised nations for boycotting the conference.

"The sad truth is that countries professing to want to avoid a 'reprise' of the contentious 2001 racism conference are now the ones triggering the collapse of a global consensus on the fight against racism," said Juliette de Rivero, the group's Geneva advocacy director.

The Geneva meeting is meant to take stock of progress in fighting racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance since the 2001 Durban World Conference Against Racism.

But the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights underlined recently that the international goals set in Durban had simply not been achieved.

Monday is the 120th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth and also marks the start of Holocaust commemoration events, including a ceremony in Geneva attended by Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel among leading Jewish figures.