The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference was called under the mandate of United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/149 (passed in 2006) with a mandate to review the implementation of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance which took place in Durban, South Africa.
The conference was boycotted by Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, and the United States. The Czech Republic discontinued its attendance on the first day, and twenty-three other European Union countries sent low-level delegations. The western countries had expressed concerns that the conference would be used to promote antisemitism and laws against blasphemy perceived as contrary to the principles of free speech,Growing Western boycott threatens U.N. racism forum by Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 19 April 2009.racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, tml Boycotts hit U.N. racism conference , CNN, 19 April 2009.Western nations boycott UN anti-racism conference by Peter Capella, France 24, AFP News Briefs List, 19 April 2009. by Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 20 April 2009. and that the conference would not deal with homophobia. European countries also criticized the meeting for focusing on the West and ignoring problems of racism and intolerance in the developing world.
Controversy surrounded the attendance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference due to his past statements on Israel and the Holocaust. On the first day of the conference, Ahmadinejad, the only head of state to attend, made a speech condemning Israel as "totally racist" and accusing the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians. The distributed English version of the speech referred to the Holocaust as an "ambiguous and dubious question". When Ahmadinejad began to speak about Israel, all the European Union delegates left the conference room, while a number of the remaining delegates applauded the Iranian President. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed dismay at both the boycotts and the speech.
Durban III took place on 22 September 2011 in New York, and was boycotted by 14 countries: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Durban IV took place on 22 September 2021 in New York, and was boycotted by 37 countries: Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay.Sweden, Latvia, Denmark bring final Durban IV boycotter count to 37
Committee The Durban Review Conference was run by the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee, which was chaired by Ms. Najat Al-Hajjaji of Libya. The eighteen vice-chairpersons hailed from Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal, India, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Armenia, Croatia, Estonia, Russia, Belgium, Greece, Norway and Turkey, and the vice-chairman-rapporteur was from Cuba.Bureau of the Preparatory Committee, United Nations
Objectives According to the UN website, in August 2007 the Preparatory Committee set forth the following objectives for the Durban Review Conference:Background: objectives, United Nations To review progress and assess implementation of The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action by all stakeholders at the national, regional and international levels, including assessment of contemporary manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, through an inclusive, transparent and collaborative process, and identification of concrete measures and initiatives for combating and eliminating all manifestations of these phenomena; To assess the effectiveness of the existing Durban follow-up mechanisms and other relevant UN mechanisms dealing with the issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in order to enhance them; To promote the universal ratification and implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and proper consideration of the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; To identify and share good practices achieved in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Attendance
Participation
Delegates from 141 countries participated in the conference:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Surinam, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.Resolution adopted by the Review Conference, A/CONF.211/L.1
Other entities represented: Palestine.
Other participants as observers: Council of Europe, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, European Union.
Specialized agencies represented: International Labor Organization, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Industrial Development Organization.
The following intergovernmental organizations and other entities were represented: African Union, European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, Inter-American Development Bank, League of Arab States, The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Also represented: three UN programmes and funds and some twenty Human Rights bodies and mechanisms.
Also represented: 39 national human rights institutions from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and Oceania, and between 400 and 500 NGOs.
Boycotts
Nine countries boycotted the conference entirely.
Canada on 23 January 2008 was the first country to announce it would not participate in the conference. A joint statement by cabinet ministers Maxime Bernier and Jason Kenney said the 2001 conference "degenerated into open and divisive expressions of intolerance and anti-Semitism that undermined the principles of the United Nations and the very goals the conference sought to achieve." Canada said it "had hoped that the preparatory process for the 2009 Durban Review Conference would remedy the mistakes of the past" but Canada had concluded the process was too flawed to make the conference " worthwhile."Canada Takes Firm Stance on United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Canada News Centre 23 January 2008 In a subsequent interview on 20 April, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended the decision to boycott the conference, stating that "Canada will not lend its name and reputation to an international conference that promotes these kinds of things" and that it was clear early on that the conference would be used to "scapegoat the Jewish people." He added that Canada "will participate in any international conference that combats racism. We will not, however, lend Canada's good name to those, such as Durban II, that promote it."Durban II will 'scapegoat' the Jewish people: PM by Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf, Canadian Jewish News (CJN), 23 April 2009.
Israel on 19 November 2008 announced it would boycott the conference. Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, stated, "The documents prepared for the conference indicate that it is turning once again into an anti-Israeli tribunal, singling out and delegitimizing the State of Israel." She said, "The conference has nothing to do with fighting racism. In view of this situation, I decided that Israel will not participate and will not legitimize the Durban II conference."Ravid, Barak. "Israel to boycott 'Durban II' anti-racism conference" Haaretz, 21 November 2008. On 19 April 2009, Avigdor Lieberman, Livni's successor as Foreign Minister, called the conference "a hypocrisy summit,"Lieberman: Durban II conference is 'a hypocrisy summit', Jerusalem Post 19 April 2009 saying the fact that Iranian President and Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been invited to speak at the conference proved its true character. "An international convention that invites a racist such as Ahmadinejad, – who preaches the extermination of the State of Israel day and night – and which allows him to make a central speech, demonstrates both its goal and its character," Lieberman said, adding that Israel could not ignore that a Holocaust-denier had been invited to take part in a convention taking place on the very same day that the Jewish people commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day to remember the six million Jews murdered in Europe by Nazi Germany and its accomplices.Cnaan Liphshiz and news agencies, Lieberman: Ahmadinejad invite to Durban II shows true character of summit , Haaretz, 19 April 2009 Israel had previously withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference.