Czech Republic voices concerns over ‘Durban II’ and freedom of speech
Europe Concerned About Freedom of Speech – Czech EU Presidency
published: 04.03.2009, 20:04 | updated: 04.03.2009 20:15:29
Geneva – The Czech Republic, as the EU presiding country, and other European
countries today expressed fears that the freedom of speech would be at risk if
Islamic countries pushed for a ban on “defamation of religion” at the
conference on racism in April, Reuters has reported.
Representatives of the EU countries also warned in their speeches to the U.N.’s
Human Rights Council today that they could not accept any pillorying of Israel
as “racist” and any promotion of anti-Semitism at the April conference in
Geneva.
Reuters reported that the same opinions were expressed in the U.N. Human Rights
Council this week by the delegations of the Czech Republic, holding the EU
presidency in the first half of 2009, Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands,
Poland and Switzerland.
“The freedom of expression must be the cornerstone of our fight against
racism,” Reuters quotes Sweden’s delegate Frank Belfrage as saying in the U.N.
The draft declaration for the Geneva conference has also been criticised by
Israel, which, along with Canada previously decided to boycott the event. The
United States and France are considering this step.
The World Conference Against Racism, also called Durban II, will be held at the
UN headquarters in Geneva on April 20-24, as the continuation of the conference
in Durban, South Africa, in
2001.
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