Tolerance

В столице Катара, Дохе, с 9 по 13 декабря прошел Форум Альянса цивилизаций ООН. Я смог принять участие в Форуме благодаря поддержке российского благотворительного Фонда Горчакова, который взял на себя основную часть командировочных расходов. Раньше я никогда не слышал про Доху, но хорошо знал, что восток - дело тонкое, и не удивлялся, что до последнего момента у меня не было ни визы, ни программы Форума. На сайте Форума организаторы написали, что всю информацию мы получим в Дохе, в аэропорту. Там меня ждал первый сюрприз. Я сидел в хвостовой части авиалайнера и, когда открыли второй выход я, вместе с другими пассажирами, сел в автобус, и нас повезли в аэропорт. Там выяснилось, что я нахожусь в терминале для транзитных пассажиров. Я думал, что доехать до нужного терминала будет проблематично, но... первый же местный служащей посадил нас в автобус и отправил куда надо.

 

One volunteer work is not enough to counter intolerance.

Our organisation, the Center for Interethnic Cooperation, carried out seminars and trainings in 27 regions of Russia. We also organized study visits for representatives of the authorities, the militia and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. We have seen that in those regions where the authorities not in words but in fact cooperate with NGOs the level of intolerance is significantly lower than in those regions where such work is not conducted or only formally conducted. I am sure that the same pattern is observed in countries – members of the OECD – where the State really renders support to NGOs; that there is less intolerance and violation of minority rights. Government structures are not in a position to effectively fight xenophobia and intolerance without the support of the society. In turn, NGOs on their own cannot cope with racism and xenophobia without the support of the authorities. It is time to understand that one volunteer work is not enough to counter intolerance.

 

The State can and has to protect national minorities. Education is one of the most effective ways to do so. Several examples of that support. After the collapse of the Soviet Union a great number of migrants went on the search for work in Moscow. Now, many of them do not have an official permission to live and work in Russia. In Russia’s law they are considered as illegal migrants. However, the children of the migrants have the possibility to learn in the schools of Moscow. Moreover, by decision of the government of Moscow, more than 100 schools are founded where the children can study some subjects in their native language. The government of Moscow provides all charges for these schools. As a result the children not only do not hang on the streets, but also receive a good education.

This summer I participated in two conferences in Germany (Hanover) and Italy (Senigallia). Both conferences were dedicated to the familiarization of children in secondary schools with the diversity of other peoples and cultures. At the conference in Hanover we learned that in the schools in Saxony special sessions are held where the children talk about children in their age who live in Africa and South America. Moreover, a part of the children is able to go to these countries and live there some weeks. But that’s not all; the German side invites children from these countries. In schools of Saxony we saw young dance and music groups from Brazil and South Africa. We saw with which delight the German children met these young artists. I want to mention that this project was supported by the authorities of Saxony. On the conference in Senigallia in Italy, schoolchildren and students from 24 countries took part, including Israel, Iraq, USA, Palestine, Greece, Ukraine, Russia, etc. In the first morning, Italian and German specialists told the participants about the contemporary multicultural world and the necessity to respect all peoples and cultures. Then the children and teachers participated in different activities; the task was to better get to know each other. This project was supported by the Ministry for Education of Italy. I want to note that in Germany and Italy we saw a particular attitude towards the children from Israel. In these countries the children receive at school detailed information about the genocide of the Jews. In Turkey, the children learn that in 1914 the Armenians themselves abandoned their historic homeland – Western Armenia, and if someone was killed by the regular Turkish troops, this was dictated by “the conditions of war times”. If in Germany the denial of the genocide of the Jews is a criminal, punishable crime, at the same time, in Turkey the mentioning of genocide of the Armenians is a criminal offence. In some countries of the former socialist camp the children are taught that during the Second World War the SS forces were the saviors of the peoples. And then we begin to wonder where the people denying the Holocaust are coming from and why the number of Neo-Nazis is constantly rising in Europe. Surprisingly, some European politicians who love to criticize Russia for violations of Human Rights and discrimination of national minorities turned blind to these facts. In ten years, today’s children will play an active role in the life of their countries. Therefore, teaching the children tolerance in their relation towards other peoples, cultures and religions is a necessary condition for the future wellbeing of Europe.

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Dear Chairman, dear representatives of States and non-governmental organisations!

I represent an organisation which is for almost twelve years fighting against racism and xenophobia in the Russian Federation.

Unfortunately, I did not hear on this conference about the most important thing: the evaluation of the implementation of the recommendations of the World Conference in Durban. Unfortunately, racism and xenophobia became significantly more since the last holding of the Durban Conference. This is due to the following reasons:

First, the vast majority of the countries have not created anti-discrimination legislation and state structures to fight racism and xenophobia, and they did not render the needed support to non-governmental organisations which are working professionally in this field.

Second, the existing economic system furthers the increasing gap between poor and rich countries, giving rise to the flow of migrants and the possibility to the rich countries to use these migrants for the less prestigious and lowest paid jobs.

Our organisation appreciates the efforts of the representative of the Russian Federation Yuri Boychenko to search for a compromise on the creation of the final document on the results of this conference. But there is no need to deceive ourselves. Only a temporary compromise is at issue. This conference showed that many states use its platform to achieve their political objectives. By the fact itself, the fight against racism and xenophobia have left to the second stage.

In our opinion, the United Nations in the future have to clearly distinguish problems of inter-state relations and problems of racial, national and religious minorities within a state. These are very important, but very different problems. The next attempt to unite them in the framework of this conference led to the adoption of an acceptable, but in no way binding decision.

It is symbolic that the last day of the work of this conference happens to be on the 24th of April – the day when all mankind mourns the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. This is a day of remembrance and mourning. The genocide of the Armenians was the first example of appalling extermination of one people by another. The task of this conference is to ensure that such crimes will never happen again.

Victoria Shukhat

Even the UN cannot cope with racism

 

Staff members of the Center for Interethnic Cooperation took part in the work of the Sixth Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action devoted to the confrontation with racism and xenophobia.

Unfortunately, the Working Group has spent a lot of time to agree on the final text and actually not discussed the situation in different countries and continents. We got the impression that the distinguished members of the Working group – representatives of State structures, members of the United Nations – cared more about the interests of their States than to think about the causes of increasing racism and xenophobia in many and primarily developed countries. For example the EU member countries tried to avoid the analysis of the situation in different countries because in namely the member countries of the European Union can be observed the biggest surge of racism.

 

A group of African countries periodically tried to raise the question about the payment of compensation of the developed countries for the period of slavery. Some Muslim countries proposed to include in the final document a point condemning caricatures on religious values – consequence of the “cartoons controversy”.

 

 

 

 

 

On the 18th March, a meeting between a Council of Europe delegation, from the consultative committee on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and leaders of a number of ethnic organizations was held at the Center for Interethnic Cooperation in Moscow. The aim of this meeting was to research the situation of national minorities in the capital and the interaction of ethnic organizations with the government. According to Council of Europe protocol at least 20 leaders of ethnic organizations should have taken part, accordingly we invited twice as many. Consequently, approximately 20 representatives of various ethnic organizations attended the meeting. Similar meetings with leaders of ethnic organizations were organized in Ekaterinburg and Krasnodar also by the Center for Interethnic Cooperation. In both these cities the delegation from the Council of Europe met with local authorities and with representatives of human rights organizations. On the basis of these meetings, the Council of Europe will publish recommendations for Russia.

 

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The UN World Conference Against Racism and Discrimination, held in Durban in September 2001, showed that in contrast to the twentieth century, in the new century standoff between the countries are not there because of ideological reasons, but because of economic ones. According to economic criteria the modern world consists of rich and poor nations. And poor states tend to believe that they are poor because they were subject to oppression and exploitation by rich nations. In this case the United States as the richest and most powerful country, having dictated fashion in world politics, enjoys a special "dislike". This phenomenon is more psychological. If rich people feel that they are rich because of his intelligence, talent and hard work, and thanks to these qualities of their relatives, the poor people tend to believe that the cause of their bad lives are the rich people who live well at the expense of the poor. The fact that rich countries tend to profess Christianity, and the poor ones the Islam, gives rise to radical Islamists to assess efforts by the U.S. against Iraq as a new crusade.

Unlike Afghanistan, where the US won the ground operation thanks to the Northern Alliance, in Iraq is not such a powerful military ally. Ground-based military operation against Iraq could last for months. Bombing from the air will lead to many casualties among the civilian population. As a result, resentment against the United States will increase sharply in Muslim countries. And then the events may develop on the "Chechen scenario" where the only effective resistance becomes a guerrilla war, and in some cases simply open terror. The experience of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict shows that modern society is not protected against suicide bombers.

Thus, the war with Iraq may have significant negative consequences for U.S. citizens. Hussein is a dictator and not a good man. But the U.S. should not be because of him so badly to spoil relations with the Muslim world. And not only with them.

On the 11th February an international seminar took place in the conference room of the hotel “Arbat” in Moscow. It was dedicated to the use of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities ratified by Russia in 1998. Center for Interethnic Cooperation (CIEC) initiated and organized the seminar; the Council of Europe gave the financial support. In the seminar participated leaders of 25 national communities representing 17 Russian Regions, as well as a delegation of the Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Worth mentioning that in the whole history of national public communities this is the only meeting of representatives of the Council of Europe with regional national communities of Russia. The Council of Europe will publish official results after its analysis. Nevertheless we want to acquaint you with the results of the inquiries among the seminar’s participants. The overwhelming majority of leaders of regional national communities think that:1. There was a unsatisfactory situation concerning to the protection of national minorities in Russian Federation,2. At allocation of financing bolstering development of cultures of national minorities on federal and at an aboriginal level, the representatives of national minorities in decision-making process were not involved, 3. The system of a registration does not correspond to fulfillment of Article 15 (effective participation of the representatives of national minorities in state affairs, which one concern these minority) and other requests of the Skeleton Convention concerning the people belonging to national minorities, 4. In the Russian mass media national minorities are as a whole figured negatively,5. The authorities did not consult with Public Organizations during drawing up of the state report to Council of Europe about the totals of application in Russia of the Skeleton Convention,And at last,6. Not much would be changed substantially for national minorities, if Russia in 1998 has not signed the Skeleton Convention.