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Only nine states do not join Durban declaration

Other News Materials 21 April 2009 21:24 (UTC +04:00)

All but nine of the 192 United Nations member states adopted Tuesday the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference on racism taking place in Geneva, officials said.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that except for nine states who boycotted the conference including Germany, the United States and Israel, all others accepted it without objections, dpa reported.

The document, which includes 143 articles, including the opening one which refers back to the original declaration from the conference in Durban, South Africa in 2001, contains calls to fight various forms of racism, discrimination and intolerance.

The legacy of slavery, the impact of poverty, the Holocaust and other topics are mentioned in the text, as are calls for states to use mechanisms to track their progress in combating racism.

The text does not mention Israel and does not propose to limit free speech to curb criticism of religions, as some had feared in earlier stages of negotiations on the language.

The original document has been criticized by some for specifically mentioning the plight of the Palestinians.

The new follow up document does not mention the Middle East issues, but does highlight racism against the Roma and intolerence towards people with HIV and AIDS.

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