Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
April 19, 2009

US, Australia to Shun UN Racism Conference
------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=23AF069:A6F02AD83191E16053041B798AC261C0B3350E090FE6A6E8&
 
State Department official says the US will boycott the conference 'with
regret' because declaration will not address US concerns about
restrictions on freedom of expression 
The United States announced Saturday it will not attend a United Nations
conference on racism set to start Monday in Geneva. State Department
Acting Spokesman Robert Wood (file photo)State Department spokesman
Robert Wood says the U.S. will boycott the conference "with regret"
because of objectionable language in the meeting's draft declaration.
Wood said that despite some improvements, it seemed clear the
declaration will not address U.S. concerns about restrictions on freedom
of expression. Still, he said the United States "will work with all
people and nations" to put an end to racism and discrimination.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement Sunday
that Canberra has also decided to boycott the conference, because
Australia is concerned that the meeting will be used as a platform to
air offensive views, including anti-Semitic views. Smith said Canada
will also skip the conference. European Union members have yet to decide
whether they will attend. The five-day meeting is a follow-up to a 2001
conference in Durban, South Africa. The United States and Israel walked
out of those talks over an attempt by some participants to link Zionism
with racism. Human rights groups had been urging the U.S. to take part
in the conference, and called the boycott a "missed opportunity." New
York-based Human Rights Watch says the draft declaration has improved
considerably since negotiations first began. Many Muslim nations want
curbs to prevent what they say are insults to Islam. Riots erupted
across the Muslim world in 2006 after a Danish newspaper published
cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
is expected to attend the conference. The Iranian leader has raised
concerns by questioning whether the Holocaust happened and has said that
Israel should be wiped off the map. Some information for this report was
provided by AFP and Reuters.


.