Vernellia R. Randall, The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action with Background Information, 8 Washington and Lee Race and Ethnic Ancestry Law Journal 7 (Spring, 2002). (35 Footnotes)(Full Document)
The Vienna Declaration and Program of Action was the result of a historical meeting of Africans and African descendants that took place on April 28 to 29, 2001 in Vienna, Austria.(1) At that time about 135 African and African- descendant non-governmental organizations and individuals gathered to plan for the third United Nation World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance ("WCAR") to be held in Durban, South Africa from August 31 to September 7, 2001.(2) Prior to that meeting, Africans and African descendants met during the First World Preparatory and the Regional Preparatory Conferences (PrepCon) in Europe, Africa, Asia and America.(3) From these meetings it became clear that the interests of African and African descendants were not being adequately acknowledged in the preliminary meetings and conferences.(4)
BACKGROUND
Since its creation, the United Nations has struggled to find measures to combat racial discrimination and ethnic violence. This commitment is reflected in the adoption of a number of resolutions, conventions and declarations, including:
1. Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide - 1948(5)
2. Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide(6)
3. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - 1963(7)
4. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination - 1965(8)
5. March 21 was designated International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - 1966(9)
6. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid - 1973(10)
7. First Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination--1973-1982 (11)
8. First World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination-- Geneva, 1978
9. Second World Conference to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination-- Geneva, 1983
10. Second Decade for Action to Combat Racial Discrimination 1983-1992 (12)
11. Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination 1994-2003 (13)
In December 1997, the General Assembly called for a third world conference against racism.(14) In 1999, the General Assembly's Third Committee decided that the conference should be preceded by regional meetings. Each regional conference was charged with drafting a declaration and a plan of action on racism that would ultimately be synthesized into a single set of documents to be ratified in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The regional meetings were in Strasbourg, France;(15) Santiago, Chile;(16) Dakar, Senegal;(17) and Tehran, Iran.(18) In addition, the committee also decided to have two preparatory inter-governmental meetings at the United Nations in Geneva.
Previously, the two other world conferences, held in 1978 and 1983, had almost exclusively focused on apartheid in South Africa. The proposed third world conference had no such limitations. Apartheid had ended in South Africa in 1994, and the General Assembly expanded the conference to include not only issues of racism and racial discrimination, but also xenophobia and "related intolerance." Consequently, the groups and issues vying for attention included an extreme range of diversity: the Dalits, the "Russian Panthers," the Romas, the Sikhs, the Palestinians, the Jews and migrants and migrant workers.
With the broad range of constituents struggling for attention, African and African descendants from Asia, Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean attended the Vienna Conference because of a deep concern that the preparations for the third WCAR, had given little attention to issues of "anti- black racism."(19) For instance, at the November 2000 meeting of the European Preparatory Conference for European Non-Governmental Organizations ("NGOs") and state governments in Strasbourg, France, there was very little discussion of anti-black racism. The situation was complicated by the European Union's position (both governmental and non-governmental organizations) regarding the term "race." Specifically, the European Union ("EU") adopted the position that addressing the "problems" of different races was inappropriate because there was only one race - the human race. Thus, according to the EU, "the notion of racism as a theory based on the so-called superiority of a race or ethnic group over another is no longer pronounced, [although] theories of supposedly insurmountable cultural differences between groups can be observed."(20) The EU acknowledged the problems of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia, but was reluctant to address the problems of African descendants. This reluctance did not extend to other groups. Consequently, the EU's Declaration and Program of Action mentions Romas,(21) Jews,(22) and Immigrants.(23) Amazingly, the European Declaration and plan of action makes no specific mention of African and African descendants or of anti-black racism.(24)
Concerned about this lack of focus, a strong statement was issued by people of African descent at the Americas Prepcon in Santiago, Chile in December, 2000.(25) However, subsequent documents from other WCAR-related meetings, most notably the "Inter-sessional" meeting in Geneva in March 2000, continued to ignore issues related to Africans and African descendants, most specifically, anti-black racism.
This is not to say that there was a total absence of any discussion around any issue of concern to Africans and African descendants. Compensation (or reparations) owed to descendants of victims of the slave trade, slavery and colonialism was a central issue of contention at the first World Prepcon in Geneva in February, 2000.(26) Governments from North America and Western Europe clashed with African states and NGOs over whether compensation should be included under the theme of effective remedies for victims of racism. There was also disagreement over declaring slavery and the slave trade "crimes against humanity." Thus, controversy over compensation and over declaring slavery a crime against humanity, coupled with the absence of focus on anti-black racism, left many Africans and African descendants feeling as though issues of importance to them would not be fairly represented in the final document emerging from WCAR. The one exception to this lack of attention was the America's Declaration and Plan of Action which included a number of sections specifically on African descendants(27) and the African Report which addressed the issues of Africans.(28) These circumstances set the stage for the Vienna Meeting of Africans and African Descendants.
THE VIENNA MEETING
The Vienna Meeting was not the first time Africans and African descendants had met to address the globalization of "Anti-Black Racism." Pan- African meetings date back as far as 1900 when the first Pan-African Conference was held in London, England.(29) After World War I and through the 1920s, African American scholar and activist W. E. B. Du Bois organized four Pan- African Congresses held in various sites around Europe.(30) In 1945, the fifth Pan-African Congress, which Du Bois participated in but did not organize, was held in Manchester, England.(31) In 1974 and 1996, the sixth and seventh Pan-African Congresses broke with history and were held on the continent of Africa, in Tanzania and Uganda, respectively.(32) In all of these gatherings, issues of racism, colonialism, the legacy of slavery and the slave trade and Black Diaspora unity were addressed:
[the] exploitation of the continent of Africa and African people ... has driven the engine of capitalism from slavery, colonization to present day globalization. It is ... [the] exploitation of the continent of Africa and African peoples that has resulted in the particular form of anti-Black racism that is pernicious and marginalizes Africans and African descendants socially, economically and politically.(33)
Thus, the Vienna Meeting represented a continuation of those discussions, concerns and issues echoed at previous efforts to bring together Africans and people of African descent.
The Vienna Meeting was called by the Rev. Ihueghian Victor, of the Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa (AHDA) and Chinedu Ene, of the Petadisis Community Organization. The co-chairs of the conference were Amani Olubanjo Buntu and Sithabile Mathe, both of the Afrikan Youth In Norway.(34) The stated purpose of the meeting was to raise important issues and to seek a consensus about these issues in preparation for the WCAR and beyond. The meeting included a number of presentations on issues confronting Africans and African descendants including:
1. transatlantic slave trade and declaring it a crime against humanity;
2. compensation or reparations for victims of the slave trade, colonialism and present injustices related to racism;
3. lack of overall mention of people of African descent in WCAR preparatory declaration and plan of action documents;
4. action to combat racism;
5. legacy of apartheid, colonization and slavery;
6. migrants, asylum seekers and refugees;
7. education and employment;
8. health and health care;
9. youth; and
10. women.
On the second day of the meeting, a coordinating committee was elected to carry the work of the gathering to the Second World Preparatory Conference held in Geneva at the end of May, 2001. The members of this Committee included Vernellia Randall and Mildred Bahati, both from the United States of America, Eleonora Wiedenroth of Germany, Marian Douglas of Macedonia, Cikiah Thomas of Canada, Mutombo Kanyana of Switzerland and Annie Davies of Nigeria. This committee was specifically charged with drafting a Declaration and Program of Action.
THE DRAFTING, APPROVAL AND DISTRIBUTION
During the Vienna Meeting, a small-group process was utilized to brainstorm items that should be included in the Declaration and Program of Action. Each small group presented their list to the entire body where the items were discussed. The drafting committee headed by Professor Vernellia Randall generated a draft that was circulated via email to all the attendees at the Vienna Meeting. After redrafting, the document was circulated to the African Caucus Group. This group included Africans and African descendants who attended any of the preparatory meetings and included several hundred individuals throughout the Black Diaspora. After feedback, comment and redrafting, the final document was adopted by consensus via e-mail.
IMPACT OF THE VIENNA DECLARATION AND PROGRAM
An English version of the declaration was distributed at the Second World Preparatory Conference and was a foundational document for much of the lobbying activity that occurred. French, English and Spanish translations were widely distributed at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. The Vienna Conference and the resulting Vienna Declaration played a pivotal role in the work of Africans and African descendants at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. As noted in the final Report of the Africans and African Descendant Caucus:
A major development in the ability of Africans and African Descendants to independently organize was the international African and African Descendants Conference [("AADC")] held in Vienna, Austria in April, 2001. This historic conference, attended by representatives covering most of the Black World, was convened by Africans and African Descendants in a concerted effort to refute the efforts at Strasbourg and the attempts by the Western European countries to subvert the work and unity of the Africans and African Descendants manifesting itself in the international and regional preparatory meetings. The Vienna Conference produced a groundbreaking declaration which eloquently articulated and delineated many key positions which would be read and advocated by African and African Descendants throughout the WCAR process. Without question the Vienna Declaration's unique and unadulterated, sharpened, and keenly intellectual expression of the key issues and programmes of action for Africans and African Descendants was used as guidance by the Drafting Committee of the AADC and would inform the content of many of the position papers of the AADC.(35)
VIENNA DECLARATION AND PLAN OF ACTION OF AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS
April 28 - April 29, 2001
PREAMBLE:
Africans and African descendants share a common historical and cultural heritage. The richness of African history has been distorted, and the African cultural identity ridiculed by many. As people of Africa we want to revive the presentation of African history and promote pride in our African identity, as well as celebrating the diversity of our peoples. Africans and African descendants also share the common history of slave trade, slavery, and colonization, and a common experience of anti-Black racism. We recognize that people of African descent live on all world continents, although they have been renamed, suppressed and marginalized. All over the world, Africans continue to be subjected to racism, discrimination and intolerance. It is the complexity of these common roots and experiences that bind us together as a community; and as a community we are committed to:
1) Having the world recognize and provide reparation for the Black Holocausts (Slavery and Colonization);
2) Eliminating anti-Black racism every where it occurs, in any part of the World; and
3) Restoring our motherland, Africa, to its full glory.
ACKNOWLEDGING THE BLACK HOLOCAUSTS (SLAVERY AND COLONIZATION)
Whereas, African Slave Trade and Slavery exploited the motherland of Africa; Forced the brutal displacement or removal of over one hundred million of its people (the largest forced migration in history); Directly caused the death of millions Africans; Destroyed African civilizations which were among the most advanced societies of the world; Impoverished African economies which had prospered up to that time; and launched a period of African under-development and marginalization which continues to this day - five hundred years later;
Whereas, Africa was dismembered and divided among European powers, which created Western monopolies for the continued exploitation of vital African natural resource riches for Western industries; and,
Whereas, African Slavery was imposed by and for the benefit of major European and American states to satisfy their appetites for free labour; and the exploitation of Africans and African descendants by these States continued unabated for over three hundred years; and,
Whereas, After the Slave Trade, Africa was subjected to another form of enslavement, namely, Colonization in which the exploitation of Africa's rich natural resource heritage continued unabated by the European powers; and,
ELIMINATING ANTI-BLACK RACISM
Whereas, Africans and African descendants are commonly victims of anti-Black racism and of multiple forms of overt and covert discrimination. The most pernicious are institutional, systemic, structural and cultural discrimination. The impact of institutional, structural and cultural racism is felt in every aspect of life: housing, employment, education, health, civil and criminal justice, economic development. Many of these policies and practices are perpetrated by the states themselves; and, Whereas, anti-Black racism (both past and present) is fundamentally rooted in white supremacist ideology and the economic profits of the colonial and neo-colonial oppressors; and,
Whereas, anti-Black racism cannot be eradicated without the elimination of social ghettoization and demonization of Africans and African descendants; and,
Whereas, Many Africans and African descendants suffer from multi-oppressions structured around class, gender, disability, immigrant status and sexuality. These forms of oppression must be eliminated; and,
Whereas, African and African descendant women play, and have always played, a fundamental role in the development and maintenance of our families, peoples, communities and nations, even though historically they have faced the worst conditions, the greatest marginalization and systematic exclusion. Women and men, and children and youth of both genders are equal and must be treated so; and,
Whereas, Racism is a major health determinant. Historical and current discrimination, as well as colonial and neo-colonial policies against Africans and African descendants have resulted in Africans andAfrican descendants having significantly lower health status, less or no access to health care and poorer quality health care;
Whereas, AIDS represents a human genocide, disproportionally victimizing African people, both on the continent and in the Diaspora and,
Whereas, Media and new technologies (including the internet) play a significant role in the maintenance of structural and cultural anti-Black racism; and,
Whereas, Environmental racism refers to any government, military, industry or other institution's action, or failure to act, which has a disproportionate negative environmental impact on Africans and African descendants, on Indigenous peoples, Latino, Asian, migrant or other ethnic groups or the places where they live Environmental racism, although not new, is a recent example of the historical double standard as to what is acceptable in certain communities, villages or cities and not in others. The mobility of corporations has made it possible for them to seek the greatest profit, the least government and environmental regulations and the best tax incentives, anywhere in the world. Natural resource extraction techniques, chemical uses and disposal of wastes unacceptable in white communities are routinely employed in African descendants communities; and,
Whereas, Africans and African descendants are victims of grave discriminatory treatment in the legal and judicial processes as well as police procedures (specifically police brutality). This includes the framing up of accusations against Africans and African descendants, the duration of prison sentences, the inhuman state of prisons and, where it exists, the death penalty which particularly affects Africans and African descendants; and,
Whereas, To ensure the future of all Africans, special attention must be given to protecting and empowering African indigenous peoples, language groups and cultures both inside and outside the African continent; and,
RESTORING AFRICA, THE MOTHERLAND
Whereas, The development of Africa has been greatly impeded by the global imbalances in power created by slavery, colonialism, and other forms of exploitation and is maintained and extended today by neo-colonial policies and practices including the pillage of the human and material resources of Africa and the draining of its financial resources by foreign debt services; and,
Whereas, Current day slavery has just taken other forms and the right to life and freedom of African people is being regularly violated with complete indifference in Western countries and by African dictators who are very often supported and protected by Western countries; and,
Whereas, The world major powers are plundering the African continent through a "debt" which has already been paid off three times over and to which the African states assign more than 50% of their national budgets; and,
Whereas, To ensure total control over the enslaved Africans and African descendants, the Western slaveholding states resorted to systematic violence, brain-washing, falsifying and negating African history and values while enhancing Western history and values in a policy of cultural imperialism; and,
Whereas, Africans and African descendants have significantly contributed to world history, their achievements need to be re-assessed within the context of the significant positive contributions made by Africa culture, Africans and African descendants; and,
Whereas, In a world where people are valued and devalued according to a given level of economic development, it is essential that the economic development of Africa be promoted as a means of fighting anti-Black racism; and,
NOW, THEREFORE,
Africans and African Descendants from across the world, gathered in Vienna, Austria, in unity and solidarity born of the common African root, recognition of sharing a common history - that of the African Slave Trade, Slavery, and Colonization - and a continuing common experience of anti-Black racism, which root, history and experience bind us as a unique community; and,
Respectful of the Memory of Our Ancestors and the ultimate sacrifice which they paid, and mindful that this memory must never be forgotten; and,
As a Community, Committed to the elimination anti-Black racism wherever it occurs in the World; and,
Cognizant of the Enormity of the depredations of the Black Holocausts (Slavery and Colonization) and the significance of these historical epochs for the world; and,
In fraternity with all peoples imbued with a sense of genuine respect for the rights of people of all races, ethnicities and creeds; and,
In abhorrence of all forms of African Slavery and the African Slave Trade (trans-Atlantic, trans-Saharan and trans-Indian Ocean) and the Colonization of Africa;
BE IT RESOLVED that this Assembly:
Resolutions - Black Holocausts (Slavery and Colonization)
CONDEMNS AFRICAN SLAVERY in all its manifestations (trans-Atlantic, trans- Saharan and trans-Indian Ocean) and calls on the United Nations and the governments of the World to do likewise;
DECLARES AFRICAN SLAVERY AND COLONIZATION and the attendant unprecedented genocide and systematic violations of human rights and the rights of Africans and African descendant People, as Crimes Against Humanity;
CALLS, SPECIFICALLY, ON former European countries and American slave-holding States and all those who benefitted from the slave trade and colonization of Africa to unconditionally and separately adopt a Declaration of recognition of the Black Holocausts (Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization) as Crimes Against Humanity;
CALLS, SPECIFICALLY, ON former European and American slave-holding States and all those who benefitted from the slave trade and colonization of Africans to unconditionally and separately adopt a Declaration which asks for forgiveness for the exactions committed during the Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization and for their lasting effects on the Africans and African Descendants, in psychological spheres as well as on economical, social, political and cultural ones;
CALLS ON THE UNITED NATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS of the World to make it an offence, punishable by law, for anyone to deny the existence of the Black Holocausts (African Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization);
CALLS ON FORMER EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN SLAVE-HOLDING STATES and all those who benefitted from the slave trade and colonization of Africans to acknowledge the principle of reparations for the cultural, demographic, economic, political, social and moral wrongs of the Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization and that the Africans and African descendants victims of the Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization reserve the right to determine the form and manner of reparations; and,
DEMAND THAT THE Governments of the World condemn the trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean slave trade which, like the trans-Atlantic slave trade, brought serious damages to Africa . Unlike the trans-Atlantic slave trade, vestiges of the trans-Saharan slave trade continues this day unabated (specifically in Mauritania and Sudan); and, call on the governments of Mauritania and Sudan to recognize this problem and to eradicate it completely.
CALL on the German and Italian Government to ask for forgiveness for the exactions and genocide committed during the World War by the Nazis and Fascists against Africans and African descendants; recognizing that African and African descendant victims of Nazism have the same right to compensatory measures as Jews or Romas; and,
CALLS ON STATES, SURVIVING CORPORATE INTERESTS, CHURCHES AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the resulting slavery and colonization to acknowledge their wrongdoings and accept the principle of restitution and that the Africans and African descendants victims of the Slave Trade / Slavery and Colonization reserve the right to determine the form and manner of reparations; and,
Resolutions - Eliminating Anti-Black Racism
DEMANDS THAT GOVERNMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS recognize anti-Black racism as a form of racism which has its own specificity in the same way as anti-Semitism and to be differentiated from all other forms of racism, discrimination and intolerance; and,
CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS AND OTHERS TO condemn any political, economic or social structure that has the effect of promoting, encouraging, or facilitating anti- Black racism; and,
DEMAND THAT States eliminate racial disparities in education, housing, economic development, health and health care, environment, civil and criminal justice; and,
DEMAND THAT States adopt effective mechanisms for monitoring and eliminating all forms of overt and covert racial discrimination, placing particular emphasis on institutional and structural anti-Black racism in education, housing, economic development, health and health care, environment, civil and criminal justice; and,
CALL ON States, and United Nations organizations (such as World Health Organization) to routinely and systematically collect race, gender and socio- economic class data related to education, housing, economic development, health and health care, environment, civil and criminal justice; and,
DEMAND THAT STATES stop the criminalization of blackness immediately.
REQUEST THAT a representative of the Africans and African Descendants Caucus be allowed to address the World Conference against Racism, Racial discrimination Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance in South Africa; and,
DEMAND THAT ALL ORGANIZATIONS (multilateral, financial, development and human rights) formulate diagnostic indicators of the impact of their policies and programs on African and African descendant communities; and,
DEMAND THAT States, and the international community, develop effective anti- discrimination laws which provide an adequate institutional framework for redress that is specific to eliminating institutional and structural anti-Black discrimination (both overt and covert); and,
URGE states to institute educational steps to combat racism including challenging racist language and eradication of words and terms with a racist content especially when used by authorities; and adopting a prohibition against racist documents particularly books for children which convey a depreciative image of Africans and African descendants; and,
CALL on civil society groups to help develop advocacy strategies that link environmental issues (including environmental racism) to human rights; and Governments adopt and enforce legislation and policies that protect society from environmental racism; and,
CALL on the United Nations to support a world institute dedicated to research, fact finding and resource networking for Africans, African descendants and related issues. The research should serve to bridge the gap between the past, by presenting African history according to credible African resources, the present, by monitoring the overall life conditions of Africans and African descendants worldwide and the future, by implementing its research in informal and formal education to change attitudes, perceptions and promote understanding; and,
REQUEST the media of the world and providers of Internet services to implement initiatives for increasing public awareness of anti-racist and tolerant behavior towards Africans and promote a positive and valorizing image of Africans; and,
URGE States and organizations to give special attention to adolescents and young people of African descent in terms of empowerment, training, mentoring and possibilities to exercise responsibilities; Attention must be given to activities promoting a healthy and balanced African identity for children and youth; Youth participation must be secured on national and international levels of political decision making; and,
URGE the international community to take practical steps to understand the political nature of the AIDS epidemic and to improve prevention strategies, testing material, access to medicines and care for those infected with AIDS; and,
CALLS ON AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS to recognize that the struggle against anti-Black racism is inevitably linked with the struggle against poverty, racism against others, imperialism, globalization and war. Africans and African descendants express solidarity with other peoples who are similarly oppressed and exploited; and,
Resolutions - Restoring Africa, The Motherland
CALL ON AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS TO END conflicts based on ethnic divisions which is tearing the African continent apart through ethnic genocide, ethnic cleansing and ethnic culture war; the struggle against racism must go hand in hand with struggle against negative ethnicity in Africa; and,
CALL ON AFRICAN NATIONS to take legal action and give priority to the equitable redistribution of stolen, possessed and occupied land on the continent; and call on the international community to support such actions; and,
CALL on African governments to adopt policies to grant all Africans and African descendants the possibility to return home and settle without limitations or discrimination; and,
DEMAND that European, American and other governments repatriate funds stolen from African countries/people and stored in European and American banks to the African countries of their origin; and,
URGE the debt-holding countries to take practical steps toward the cancellation of the "debt" of African States; and,
DEMAND THAT THE MANY ARTEFACTS AND ANTIQUITIES of African civilization which have been stolen or taken out of the country without permission be returned or that the countries from which these antiquities were taken be compensated; and,
DEMAND THAT THE TRAFFICKING OF AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DESCENDANT women, children and youth for sex, and for forced labour and various forms of enslavement be stopped in both locations receiving victims of trafficking, and in locations of origin.
International, local/national, and other media are urged to continue and increase their much-needed work of reporting on these crimes; and,
CALL ON AFRICANS AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS to urgently free themselves from slave and colonial mentality and attitudes. The rich African cultural heritage at our disposal serve as the first step in a real liberation and renaissance of Africa and its people all over the World.
Footnotes
[FNa1]. Professor of Law, University of Dayton, School of Law, B.S.N. 1971 University of Texas, M.S.N. 1978 University of Washington, J.D. 1987 Lewis and Clark College Northwestern School of Law.
1. [FN1]. Press Statement, African Caucus Group, Africans and African Descendants Unite to Raise Concerns in Vienna Meeting, at (last visited March 7, 2002) (discussing upcoming UN World Conference Against Racism in South Africa August- September 2001).
2. [FN2]. Association for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, Historic meeting in Vienna: Africans and African Descendant Met in Vienna Last Weekend, at (last visited Mar. 7, 2002)
3. [FN3]. United nations World Conference Against Racism, Report of African and African Descendants Caucus, at (last visited Mar. 7, 2002).
5. [FN5]. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, G.A. 78, U.N.T.S. 277 (1948).
6. [FN6]. Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, G.A. Res. 260 (III), U.N. GAOR 78 U.N.T.S. 277 (1948).
7. [FN7]. United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, G.A. Res. 1904 (XVIII), U.N. GAOR, 18th Sess. (1963).
8. [FN8]. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Dec. 21, 1965, 660 U.N.T.S. 195.
9. [FN9]. G.A. Res. 2142 (XXI), U.N. GAOR, 21st Sess. (1966), at (explaining that the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws" in Sharpesville, South Africa).
10. [FN10]. International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, Nov. 30, 1973, 1015 U.N.T.S. 243.
11. [FN11]. First Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1973-1982), G.A. Res. 3223, U.N. GAOR, 29th Sess., Supp. No. 31-A/9631, U.N. Doc. A/RES/3223 (1974).
12. [FN12]. Second Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1983-1992), G.A. Res. 77, U.N. GAOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 158, U.N. Doc. A/47/49 (1992).
13. [FN13]. Third Decade for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1994-2003), G.A. Res. 146, U.N. GAOR, 49th Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 162, U.N. Doc. A/49/49 (1994).
14. [FN14]. Third World Conference Against Racism, G.A. Res. 149, U.N. GAOR, 52nd Sess. (1997).
15. [FN15]. Reports of Preparatory Meetings and Activities at the International Regional and National Levels, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.187/PC.2/6 (2000), available at (last visited:Mar. 7, 2002) (final documents of the European Conference Against Racism held in Strasbourg, France on Oct. 11-13, 2000).
16. [FN16]. Reports of Preparatory Meetings and Activities at the International Regional and National Levels, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.189/PC.2/7 (2000), available at (last visited Mar. 7, 2002) (final documents of the Americas Conference Against racism held in Santiago, Chile on Dec. 5-7, 2000).
17. [FN17]. Reports of Preparatory Meetings and Activities at the International Regional and National Levels, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.189/PC.2/8 (2001), available at (last visited: Mar. 7, 2002) (final documents of the Report of the Regional conference for Africa in Dakar on Jan.22-24 2001).
18. [FN18]. Reports of Preparatory Meetings and Activities at the International Regional and National Levels, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.189/PC.2/9 (2001), available at (last visited: Mar. 7, 2002) (final documents of the Report of the Asian Prepatory Meeting in Tehran on Feb. 19-21 2001).
19. [FN19]. Although South America and Asia were underrepresented in Vienna.
20. [FN20]. U.N. Doc. A/CONF.189/PC.2/6, supra note 16.
22. [FN22]. See Violent acts against members of Jewish communities and dissemination of anti-Semitic in U.N. Doc. A/CONF. 189/PC.2/6, supra note 16.
23. [FN23]. U.N. Doc.A/CONF. 189/PC.2/6), supra note 16.
25. [FN25]. Preparatory Conference of the Americas Against Racism Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Declaration of African Descendants, December 5-7, 2000, Santiago, Chile (Last Visited: March 7, 2002).
26. [FN26]. PREPARATORY MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS, Report of the expert seminar on remedies available to the victims of racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and on good national practices in this field, held in Geneva from 16 to 18 February 2000: note by the Secretary-General, Preparatory Committee, First session Geneva, 1-5 May 2000, (Last Visited: March 7, 2002)
27. [FN27]. REPORTS OF PREPARATORY MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS, Final documents of the Americas Conference against Racism (Santiago, Chile, 5-7 December 2000 (A/CONF.189/PC.2/7) (Last Visited: March 7, 2002)
28. [FN28]. REPORTS OF PREPARATORY MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES AT THE INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS, Final documents of the Report of the Regional Conference for Africa (Dakar, 22-24 January 2001) A/CONF.189/PC.2/8 Visited: March 7, 2002)
29. [FN29]. Walter H. White, Jr., A REPORT FROM THE CHAIR, 26-SUM Hum. Rts. I (Summer, 1999) The conference was convened by Henry Sylvester-Williams, a Barrister from Trinidad. W.E.B. Du Bois participated and was appointed to chair a Committee on Address to the Nations of the World. The address contains one of Dr. Du Bois's most famous statements: The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race-which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair-will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to their utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization. (PHILLIP S. FONER AND SHIRLEY GRAHAM DU BOIS, W.E.B. DU BOIS SPEAKS: SPEECHES AND ADDRESSES 1890-1919 Copr.1970.)
30. [FN30]. See e.g., Nathaniel Berman, Shadows: du Bois and the Colonial Prospect, 45 Vill. L. Rev. 959 (2000)
31. [FN31]. Edward A. Laing, The Norm of Self-determination, 1941-1991, 22 Cal. W.Int'l L.J. 209 (1991-1992)
32. [FN32]. Edward A. Laing, The Norm of Self-determination, 1941-1991, 22 Cal. W.Int'l L.J. 209 (1991-1992)
33. [FN33]. African Canadian Coalition Against Racism, (Last Visited: March 7, 2002)
34. FN34]. Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, (Last Visited: March 7, 2002)
35. [FN35]. "WCAR Report of African and African Descendants Caucus" (Last Visited March 7, 2002
