Cuba Answers Rights Charges: Racism USA, Europe Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit CUBA ANSWERS HUMAN RIGHTS ACCUSATIONS: RACISM IN THE US AND EUROPE "Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and All Forms of Intolerance" Remarks by Rodolfo Reyes, member of the Cuban delegation to the 57th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva March, 2001 Mr. Chairman: As we get closer to the celebration of the Third World Conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination and intolerance, the consideration of this agenda item acquires a higher relevance. The threats of xenophobic and racist forces are becoming stronger and more dangerous, too. It seems as if the lessons of history have been forgotten. Indeed, we are all witnesses to the worrying reappearance and strengthening, in different parts of the world, of new and more sophisticated forms of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia. However, their growing dissemination poses an undeniable reality: it is in the industrialized world where it is present in the most alarming, perfidious and subtle form. In Western and Eastern Europe, and in North America, ultra-rightist and neo-fascist ideas are gaining ground and poisoning a growing portion of public opinion. Political parties with platforms promoting racial exclusion become more powerful and obtain quotas of power within the political scenery of some industrialized nations. There are even countries where financing for these racist political groups comes from the state budget. Cuba urges all States to the immediate application of Rule 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, by unconditionally prohibiting all racist groups and propaganda. Manifestations of racism are generated and intensified by different factors. The unequal wealth distribution within countries and the growing abyss that separates the North from the South, the aggravated economic situation as a result of the liberalization of markets and the globalization of the economy under individualistic principles constitute, without a doubt, the major cause. In addition to discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, we find discrimination and intolerance against immigrants accused of being the evil affecting industrialized societies. They are victims of the verbal and physical violence handed out by ultra-rightist party members and xenophobic and extremist group partisans. They are also victims of an institutionalized racism and repressive police corps. An special challenge to the goal of eradicating racism and racial discrimination is the internationalization of the highways of information. Worldwide networks on the Internet are used for spreading ideas based on racial superiority and hatred. This situation requires closer attention, and concrete action to achieve a better and more responsible use of the network. Mr. Chairman: The latest report presented by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Maurice Glélé Ahanhanzo, gives information about these situations. The most critical situation, which reflects a persistent case of flagrant and massive violations of human rights, is that of the United States of America. No other country reveals a more illustrative case of systematic institutionalization of racism pervading all aspects of political, economic, social and cultural life. The United States got its independence and promulgated a constitution in which slavery was preserved as an institution. Moreover, they even denied formal recognition of the African descendant population and their civil and political rights. This situation lasted until about three decades ago. The murder of the fighter for civil rights, Mr. Shaka Sankofa, convicted and executed unfairly, is evidence of the racist manipulation of justice in the United States. Some other defenders of human rights for the Afro-American population are still in prison, waiting for the moment of their official lynching. For example, in the State of Pennsylvania, only 9% of its population is Afro-American, but 62% of the individuals sentenced to death are blacks. In the whole country, 60% of the women in prison are Afro-American or Hispanic. In the United States, the average annual income of a white family is practically double that of an Afro-American family. Black men are thirteen times more likely to be sentenced to longer sentences than white men when they are convicted of drug-related crimes, even though most of the drug dealers in the US are white men and, in relation to drug addiction, white men surpass black men in a proportion of 5 to 1. In addition, we should mention environmental racism. Afro-Americans are confined to neighborhoods which are really ghettos, where toxic waste is dumped and the most polluting industries are located. Discrimination against Afro-Americans has been added to the crimes committed against indigenous peoples, deprived of their patrimony and their rights, and subjected to a real genocide. The Hispanic population in the United States has also become one of the sectors which suffer exclusion and segregation. They are violently persecuted along the borders and subjected to the worse forms of economic exploitation. They are even deprived of the right to be educated in their mother tongue. The international community cannot remain impassive in the presence of violations of human rights of this nature. The Commission should issue an urgent call to the government of the United States of America to stop the massacre and to put an end to the state racism prevailing in that country. On the other hand, the sordid situation that the Roma minority faces in some European countries has captured the attention not only of the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination but also of the Special Rapporteur, who has had the opportunity to corroborate the accusations of violations against that minority during his visits to some Eastern European countries, and in particular the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, the Roma children are systematically registered in special schools for mentally disabled children. In spite of representing only three percent of the whole population of the country, the Roma children constitute sixty percent of the students in the special schools for mentally disabled persons. Seventy to eighty percent of the Roma children are registered in such institutions. Violence against the Roma population has reached very high levels. During the last eight years, more than 1800 cases of racially motivated attacks against Roma individuals have been recorded, including at least 32 killings. The international concern about this issue is so pronounced that last August, the Sub-Commission for the Prevention and Protection of Human Rights recommended a special study on this matter. Mr. Chairman: The World Conference can be a turning point for the compensation of the victims of racism, particularly those peoples who were victims, and today continue to be suffering the consequences, of colonialism, slavery and the slave trade across the oceans. These were the essential factors in the process of the original accumulation of capital that constitutes the basis of most of the economies of the industrialized countries. Slavery and the transatlantic African slave trade and its current consequences should be considered crimes against humanity and, therefore, the victims and their descendants should receive the moral vindication that they deserve, as well as proper compensation, in accordance with internationally recognized regulations in connection with obligations toward the victims of violations of human rights. Cuba reaffirms its commitment to participate actively within the United Nations on efforts toward the complete eradication of racism and racial discrimination, and reiterates its willingness to contribute to the successful results of the World Conference in Durban, South Africa. Thank you. (c) 2001 NY Transfer News ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-03.31.01-04:45:14-10529