Durban Review Conference

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.[1] 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 anti-Semitism and laws against blasphemy perceived as contrary to the principles of free speech,[2][3][4][5][6] and that the conference would not deal with discrimination against homosexuals.[7] 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"[8] and accusing the West of using the Holocaust as a "pretext" for aggression against Palestinians.[9] 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.[10] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed dismay at both the boycotts and the speech.[11]

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.[12]

  1. ^ "Durban Review Conference, 20-24 April 2009, Geneva". www.un.org. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  2. ^ Growing Western boycott threatens U.N. racism forum by Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 19 April 2009.
  3. ^ racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, tml Boycotts hit U.N. racism conference Archived 15 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 19 April 2009.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Klapper was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Western nations boycott UN anti-racism conference Archived 20 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine by Peter Capella, France 24, AFP News Briefs List, 19 April 2009.
  6. ^ Ahmadinejad to address racism summit by Laura MacInnis, Reuters, 20 April 2009.
  7. ^ "AFP: Text on Israel cut from UN racism draft". 17 March 2009. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  8. ^ "Delegates walk out in UN racism row". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Ahmadinejad dropped Holocaust denial from speech". Associated Press. 21 April 2009. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters_Walkout was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Walkout at Iran leader's speech was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Sweden, Latvia, Denmark bring final Durban IV boycotter count to 37