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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)
INTRODUCTION
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 culturalidentity 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:
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,
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,
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.
[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).
4. [FN4]. Id.
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.
21. [FN21]. Id.
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.
24. [FN24]. Id.
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
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