Racism – From Rhetoric to Reality
As delivered by Ambassador Keith Harper
The government of the United States of America is deeply engaged in combating racism and racial discrimination. We have welcomed and will continue to welcome opportunities to work together with other countries in implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. But we have significant concerns about this resolution. Our objections to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action are well known. In addition, we cannot accept the resolution’s legally incorrect implication that any and all reservations to articles 18, 19, and 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are per se contrary to the object and purpose of those treaties; we note that this resolution has no effect as a matter of international law. As a result, the United States will call for a vote, and vote “no.”