[WCAR] Palestinian and Arab response to Mary Robinson

For Immediate Release             Contact: Shawqi Issa, +972-50-219747
6 September 2001

PALESTINIAN AND ARAB RESPONSE TO MARY ROBINSON
Durban, South Africa, 5 September 2001

We are shocked and dismayed by the refusal of Mrs. Mary Robinson, United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to receive and endorse the
NGO Forum Declaration and Programme of Action. The International Steering
Committee on 4 September 2001 reaffirmed the endorsement and adoption of
the Declaration and Programme of Action by the majority vote of the NGO
Forum during the final plenary session on 1 September. In accordance with
agreed procedures, at the final plenary session of the NGO Forum each
caucus held one vote in adopting each section of the text, proposals made
by individual caucuses, and for the final adoption and endorsement
process.

As High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Robinson has an obligation to
carry the message of the voices of victims throughoutn the world to the
governments who will in turn implement mechanisms to address these needs.
Her failure to support the Declaration and Programme of Action, which was
voted in through a legitimate, transparent and democratic process,
reinforces the position of those forces at the World Conference Against
Racism (who were also present at the NGO Forum) who are seeking to pursue
specific governmental political agendas.

In refusing to accept the document and pass it on the Government plenary,
and thereby delaying receipt of the document by Government
representatives, Mrs. Robinson has rejected the voices of all the victims
of racism and the thousands of delegates who were present at the NGO
Forum. Mrs. Robinson's action has prejudiced the ability of all the NGO
communities to influence the processes at the on-going Governmental
plenary through their agreed document. We voice our strong support and
solidarity for all the victims of racism and their rights to be heard.

Mrs. Robinson has voiced objection to language used by Palestinians in
the Declaration of the NGO Forum. Palestinians as victims of racism have
exercised their rights at the NGO Forum to describe their experiences of
racially-motivated human rights violations perpetrated against them, and
have done so with specific reference to international human rights and
humanitarian law standards and norms, including in relation to acts of
genocide, systematic perpetration of war crimes, and the crime of
apartheid.

Specific acts of genocide have included the massacre of 3,500 Palestinian
civilians of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon of 1982, in respect of which
the Israeli Kahan Commission found the then Defence Minister, Ariel
Sharon indirectly responsible. The UN General Assembly itself in UN
Resolution 123 (A/RES/37/123) and the UN Commission of Human Rights in a
resolution (E/CN.4/RES/1985/4) have both described the massacre as
an "act of genocide" and imputed responsibility to the State of Israel.
Likewise, references of "acts of genocide" in the NGO Forum Declaration
impute genocidal intent to those perpetrators of, or those responsible,
for such acts, who have included individual Jewish Israelis and the State
of Israel. These references do not impute genocidal intent to all Jews or
all Jewish Israelis. No individual or State should enjoy impunity for
their crimes - references to "acts of genocide" are an accurate
reflection of specific historical incidents on the basis of the Genocide
Convention of 1948. Accordingly, Palestinians should not be precluded
from using such terms. The rejection of this term also preempts the
outcome of any future prosecutions including the current investigation in
the Belgium courts in which victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre are
seeking the prosecution of those responsible.

Israel's systematic perpetration of grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva
Convention 1949 (namely war crimes) have been documented by a number of
national, regional, international, NGOs, Governmental and UN bodies,
including the UN Inquiry Commission in their report of March 2001.

There has been evidence of the use of ethnic cleansing methods to drive
out Palestinians including during the 1948 war, and since 1967 to date
from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Ethnic cleansing methods used
have included uprooting by military attacks; arbitrary arrests and
detention/unfair trials; attacks on specific vulnerable groups including
women and children; destruction and confiscation of property, land and
homes; and harassment designed to make life so unbearable that people
leave.

Palestinians have called for acknowledgement that what underlies these
violations is racism, and have called for solidarity in their struggle to
fight all forms of that racism including Israel's brand of apartheid.
Israeli practices fulful the elements of the crime of apartheid as
defined by the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment
of the Crime of Apartheid, including by racial segregation and
discrimination, and inhuman acts designed to establish domination of one
group over the other. In addition, South African governmental and civil
society representatives have drawn clear parallels with the system of
apartheid practiced in South Africa with that used by the Israeli
apartheid regime.

We condemn in the strongest terms any and all anti-Semitic and anti-
Jewish materials including any that may have been circulated during this
conference. Those materials that condemn the State of Israel for its
systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law
or condemn those racist practices conducted in the name of Zionism are
not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish.

We call for the Government plenary to accept the document endorsed at the
NGO Forum as the voice of the victims of racism from around the world.
The victims of racism cannot be blamed for the ultimate success or
failure of the World Conference Against Racism by seeking to have their
daily suffering from racism addressed, whomever they may be, including
the Palestinians and those victims seeking reparations. The
responsibility lies with the Governments to hear the victims. Governments
should not derail the Conference in order to avoid responsibility for
their racist practices.

/END

Contact: Shawqi Issa, mobile +972 (0)50 219747, office +972 (0)2 583350,
Fax. +972 (0) 2 5833317