Connection between racism and mass atrocities addressed by panel

Mark Weitzman of the Simon Weisenthal Center and Yvette Rugasaguhunga, a survivor of the Rwanda genocide of 1994, were among nine speakers at a discussion titled "Eliminate Racism: Prevent Mass Atrocities." Two United Nations ambassadors and representatives of the U.N. human rights office also spoke.

NEW YORK
7 April 2008 (BWNS)

The relationship between racism and mass atrocities was the focus of a panel discussion co-sponsored by the Baha'i International Community to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

"Genocide is not a natural disaster," said Payam Akhavan, an associate professor of law at McGill University, whose appearance was sponsored by the Baha'is. "It is a man-made disaster, an instrument through which ruthless leaders exercise power at the expense of millions."

Professor Akhavan and eight others spoke on 27 March 2008 at the Church Center at United Nations Plaza in New York.

The event, titled "Eliminate Racism: Prevent Mass Atrocities," was sponsored by the Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racism of the NGO Committee on Human Rights at the United Nations, in cooperation with the Dutch and Jamaican U.N. missions and the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Nine other organizations were co-sponsors.

Craig Mokhiber of the U.N. human rights office in New York had a somber assessment: "The struggle against racism is unfortunately not on the forward path many of us thought it was on a decade ago."

Racism is a global phenomenon, he said, made worse by impunity for the perpetrators of atrocities committed under its influence. The concept of "the other" is what perpetuates racism, he said.

Payam Akhavan of McGill University said governments sometimes turn a blind eye to events that lead up to atrocities against groups of people.

Mr. Mokhiber suggested that racism is the result of "us," plus "the other," added to an unequal power structure and hatred inflamed by politicians and the media.

"Defeating this paradigm is the central struggle against racism today," he said.

The Dutch ambassador to the United Nations, Piet de Klerk, agreed that racism is alive in many forms and that making a connection between racism and atrocities is "very appropriate."

Reducing individuals to representatives of specific groups makes it easy to perpetrate mass atrocities, he said.

Among the others who spoke at the event were Raymond O. Wolfe, the Jamaican ambassador to the United Nations; Yvette Rugasaguhunga, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan massacre; and Mark Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The discussion was moderated by Tahirih Naylor, a representative to the United Nations of the Baha'i International Community.

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