United Nations

A/C.3/64/L.53
Distr.: Limited 3 November 2009 Original: English

General Assembly

Sixty-fourth session

Third Committee
Agenda item 67 (a) Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Angola, Cape Verde, Cuba, Iraq, Myanmar, Russian Federation, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Zimbabwe: draft resolution

Inadmissibility of certain practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
The General Assembly, Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 3 and other relevant human rights instruments, Recalling the provisions of Commission on Human Rights resolutions 2004/16 of 16 April 2004 4 and 2005/5 of 14 April 2005 5 and relevant Human Rights Council resolutions, in particular resolution 7/34 of 28 March 2008, 6 as well as General Assembly resolutions 60/143 of 16 December 2005, 61/147 of 19 December 2006, 62/142 of 18 December 2007 and 63/162 of 18 December 2008 on this issue and resolutions 61/149 of 19 December 2006, 62/220 of 22 December 2007 and 63/242 of 24 December 2008 entitled "Global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action",
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Resolution 217 A (III). See resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 660, No. 9464. See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2004, Supplement No. 3 (E/2004/23), chap. II, sect. A. Ibid., 2005, Supplement No. 3 and corrigenda (E/2005/23 and Corr.1 and 2), chap. II, sect. A. See Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-third Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/63/53), chap. II.

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Recalling also the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the Judgement of the Tribunal, which recognized, inter alia, the SS organization and all its integral parts, including the Waffen SS, as criminal and declared it responsible for many war crimes and crimes against humanity, Recalling further the relevant provisions of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance on 8 September 2001, 7 in particular paragraph 2 of the Declaration and paragraph 86 of the Programme of Action, as well as the relevant provisions of the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference of 24 April 2009, 8 in particular paragraphs 11 and 54, Alarmed, in this regard, at the spread in many parts of the world of various extremist political parties, movements and groups, including neo-Nazis and skinhead groups, Recalling that the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly coincides with the sixty-fifth anniversary of victory in the Second World War, 1. Reaffirms the provisions of the Durban Declaration7 and of the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference,8 in which States condemned the persistence and resurgence of neo-Nazism, neo-Fascism and violent nationalist ideologies based on racial and national prejudice and stated that those phenomena could never be justified in any instance or in any circumstances; Welcomes the report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of 2. racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance 9 prepared in accordance with the request contained in General Assembly resolution 63/162; 3. Expresses its appreciation to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for her commitment, as outlined in her report to the General Assembly, 10 to maintain the fight against racism as one of the priority activities of her Office; 4. Expresses deep concern about the glorification of the Nazi movement and former members of the Waffen SS organization, including by erecting monuments and memorials and holding public demonstrations in the name of the glorification of the Nazi past, the Nazi movement and neo-Nazism, as well as by declaring or attempting to declare such members and those who fought against the anti-Hitler coalition and collaborated with the Nazi movement as participants in national liberation movements; Expresses concern at recurring attempts to desecrate or demolish 5. monuments erected in remembrance of those who fought against Nazism during the Second World War, as well as to unlawfully exhume or remove the remains of such persons, and urges States in this regard to fully comply with their relevant obligations, inter alia, under article 34 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949; 11
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See A/CONF.189/12 and Corr.1, chap. I. A/CONF.211/8, chap. I. A/64/295. A/64/36. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, No. 17512.

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6. Notes with concern the increase in the number of racist incidents in several countries and the rise of skinhead groups, which have been responsible for many of these incidents, as well as the resurgence of racist and xenophobic violence targeting members of ethnic, religious or cultural communities and national minorities, as observed by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in his latest report; Reaffirms that such acts may be qualified to fall within the scope of 7. activities described in article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination3 and that they may represent a clear and manifest abuse of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association as well as the rights to freedom of opinion and expression within the meaning of those rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; 8. Stresses that the practices described above do injustice to the memory of the countless victims of crimes against humanity committed in the Second World War, in particular those committed by the SS organization and those who fought against the anti-Hitler coalition or collaborated with the Nazi movement, and poison the minds of young people, and that those practices are incompatible with the obligations of States Members of the United Nations under its Charter and are incompatible with the goals and principles of the Organization; Also stresses that such practices fuel contemporary forms of racism, 9. racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and contribute to the spread and multiplication of various extremist political parties, movements and groups, including neo-Nazis and skinhead groups; 10. Emphasizes the need to take the necessary measures to put an end to the practices described above, and calls upon States to take more effective measures in accordance with international human rights law to combat those phenomena and the extremist movements, which pose a real threat to democratic values; 11. Reaffirms in this regard the particular importance of education as a compliment to legislative measures, as outlined by the Special Rapporteur in his report to the General Assembly; 12. Emphasizes the recommendation of the Special Rapporteur regarding the importance of history classes in teaching the dramatic events and human suffering that resulted from the ideologies of Nazism and Fascism, especially in view of the upcoming sixty-fifth anniversary of victory in the Second World War; 13. Underlines the potentially positive role that relevant United Nations entities and programmes, in particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, can play in the aforementioned areas; 14. Reaffirms that, according to article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States parties to that instrument are, inter alia, under the obligation: (a) To condemn all propaganda and all organizations that are based on ideas of racial superiority or that attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form;

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(b) To undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination with due regard to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights expressly set forth in article 5 of the Convention; (c) To declare as an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, and incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another colour or ethnic origin, and also the provision of any assistance to racist activities, including the financing thereof; (d) To declare illegal and prohibit organizations and organized and all other propaganda activities that promote and incite racial discrimination and to recognize participation in such organizations or activities as an offence punishable by law; (e) To prohibit public authorities or public institutions, national or local, from promoting or inciting racial discrimination; 15. Reaffirms also that, as underlined in paragraph 13 of the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law, that the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority, hatred, acts of violence or incitement to such acts shall be declared offences punishable by law, and that these prohibitions are consistent with freedom of opinion and expression; 16. Underlines at the same time the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the full respect for the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, can play in combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; 17. Encourages those States that have made reservations to article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to give serious consideration to withdrawing such reservations as a matter of priority; 18. Recalls the request of the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 2005/55 that the Special Rapporteur continue to reflect on this issue, make relevant recommendations in his future reports and seek and take into account in this regard the views of Governments and non-governmental organizations; 19. Requests the Special Rapporteur to prepare, within existing resources, for submission to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session and the Human Rights Council, reports on the implementation of the present resolution based on the views collected in accordance with the request of the Commission on Human Rights, as recalled by the Assembly in paragraph 18 above; 20. Expresses its appreciation to those Governments that have provided information to the Special Rapporteur in the course of the preparation of his report to the General Assembly; 21. Urges Governments and non-governmental organizations to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur in the exercise of the tasks outlined in paragraph 19 above; 22. Decides to remain seized of the issue.

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