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139-614: The 2001 World Conference against Racism ( WCAR ), also known as Durban I , was held at the Durban International Convention Centre in Durban , South Africa, under UN auspices, from 31 August to 8 September 2001. The conference covered several controversial issues, including redress for transatlantic slavery and the second-class citizenry issue in Palestine-Israel. The language of

278-694: A crime against humanity , and reparations called as such. The Europeans pulled together behind the UK and the best the Africans could get was a call for support for the New African Initiative , debt relief, funds to combat AIDS, the recovery of stolen government funds transferred to the West by former dictators and their cohorts, and an end to the trafficking in people . But the word 'reparations' did not survive. The 2009 World Conference Against Racism

417-533: A 1969 law abolished those seats and stripped Coloureds of their right to vote. Since Indians had never been allowed to vote, this resulted in whites being the sole enfranchised group. Separate representatives for coloured voters were first elected in the general election of 1958 . Even this limited representation did not last, being ended from 1970 by the Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act, 1968 . Instead, all coloured adults were given

556-587: A Communist. Since the law specifically stated that Communism aimed to disrupt racial harmony, it was frequently used to gag opposition to apartheid. Disorderly gatherings were banned, as were certain organisations that were deemed threatening to the government. It also empowered the Ministry of Justice to impose banning orders . After the Defiance Campaign , the government used the act for the mass arrests and banning of leaders of dissent groups such as

695-633: A century. The National Party's election platform stressed that apartheid would preserve a market for white employment in which non-whites could not compete. On the issues of black urbanisation, the regulation of non-white labour, influx control, social security, farm tariffs and non-white taxation, the United Party's policy remained contradictory and confused. Its traditional bases of support not only took mutually exclusive positions, but found themselves increasingly at odds with each other. Smuts' reluctance to consider South African foreign policy against

834-550: A compromise was preferred at any price. And this, despite the fact that in the documents prepared for the rendezvous in Geneva, apart from a few minor improvements, a basic approach has been maintained equating Israel with a racist country rather than a democracy. There are still unacceptable phrases which, if there had been a smidgen of consistency with what was said at the EU ministers' meeting, should have convinced people to forgo attending

973-499: A conclusion on those people whose race was unclear. This caused difficulty, especially for Coloured people , separating their families when members were allocated different races. The second pillar of grand apartheid was the Group Areas Act of 1950. Until then, most settlements had people of different races living side by side. This Act put an end to diverse areas and determined where one lived according to race. Each race

1112-592: A consequence of the Conference, the United States did not support the continuation of Mary Robinson as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, where once U.S. President Bill Clinton had called her a "splendid choice" for the post and the U.S. had considered her its favorite candidate for the job. She stepped down from the post in September 2002. Many faults were attributed to Ms. Robinson, with

1251-443: A crime against humanity today, it did not apply that legal principle to an era before the principle actually existed. The Durban Declaration provides that states recognize "that these historical injustices [slavery, colonialism, genocide, apartheid] have undeniably contributed to the poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, social exclusion, economic disparities, instability and insecurity that affect many people in different parts of

1390-491: A cumulative effect on the U.S. position. Some people stated that she lacked mediation and bureaucratic experience, and thus was unable to resolve sensitive issues at the Conference. News reports attributed her differences with the U.S. to four things: First, her views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict differed from U.S. policy. Second, the U.S. did not approve of the detached way in which she acted as secretary-general to

1529-597: A different and independent legislative path from the rest of the British Empire. The United Kingdom's Slavery Abolition Act 1833 abolished slavery throughout the British Empire and overrode the Cape Articles of Capitulation. To comply with the act, the South African legislation was expanded to include Ordinance 1 in 1835, which effectively changed the status of slaves to indentured labourers . This

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1668-468: A lesser extent, to those of Indian and Coloured people. Further laws had the aim of suppressing resistance, especially armed resistance, to apartheid. The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 banned the Communist Party of South Africa and any party subscribing to Communism . The act defined Communism and its aims so sweepingly that anyone who opposed government policy risked being labelled as

1807-647: A majority "no" vote in Natal . Later, some of them recognised the perceived need for white unity, convinced by the growing trend of decolonisation elsewhere in Africa, which concerned them. British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's " Wind of Change " speech left the British faction feeling that the United Kingdom had abandoned them. The more conservative English speakers supported Verwoerd; others were troubled by

1946-536: A pass from their master or a local official. Ordinance No. 49 of 1828 decreed that prospective Black immigrants were to be granted passes for the sole purpose of seeking work. These passes were to be issued for Coloureds and Khoikhoi but not for other Africans, who were still forced to carry passes. During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , the British Empire captured and annexed

2085-743: A permit. The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act of 1949 prohibited marriage between persons of different races, and the Immorality Act of 1950 made sexual relations between whites and other races a criminal offence . Under the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act of 1953, municipal grounds could be reserved for a particular race, creating, among other things, separate beaches, buses, hospitals, schools and universities. Signboards such as "whites only" applied to public areas, even including park benches. Black South Africans were provided with services greatly inferior to those of whites, and, to

2224-566: A racist government in the occupied Palestine". He continued, through an interpreter: "And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine." French Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei said: "As soon as he started to address the question of the Jewish people and Israel, we had no reason to stay in

2363-540: A single nation, but was made up of four distinct racial groups: white, black, Coloured and Indian. Such groups were split into 13 nations or racial federations. White people encompassed the English and Afrikaans language groups; the black populace was divided into ten such groups. The state passed laws that paved the way for "grand apartheid", which was centred on separating races on a large scale, by compelling people to live in separate places defined by race. This strategy

2502-566: A suggestion for the need "to bring the foreign occupation of Jerusalem by Israel together with all its racist practices to an end". By the end of the meeting, all of this text had either been removed or toned down. One such phrase removed was a mention of "holocausts" suffered by other peoples, which had been seen as an affront to the memory of the Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust . South African diplomats had already told Arab and Muslim countries that they would have to offer text that could describe

2641-519: A system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia ) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap ( lit. 'boss-ship' or 'boss-hood'), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population . Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held

2780-711: A transcript. In September 2021, the UN General Assembly commemorated the 20th anniversary of its 2001 conference by pledging to redouble its anti-racist efforts. The event was boycotted by Albania, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay. The European Union also did not participate or speak at

2919-635: A two-thirds majority in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament was needed to change the entrenched clauses of the Constitution . The government then introduced the High Court of Parliament Bill (1952), which gave Parliament the power to overrule decisions of the court. The Cape Supreme Court and the Appeal Court declared this invalid too. In 1955 the Strijdom government increased

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3058-569: A veneer of intellectual respectability to the controversial policy of so-called baasskap . In total, 20 homelands were allocated to ethnic groups, ten in South Africa proper and ten in South West Africa. Of these 20 homelands, 19 were classified as black, while one, Basterland , was set aside for a sub-group of Coloureds known as Basters , who are closely related to Afrikaners. Four of the homelands were declared independent by

3197-589: Is a form of racism.". Their position was that they were, rather, trying to underline that the actions being committed by Israel against Palestinians were racist. This stance was in part influenced by the U.S. threat of boycott, which would have made it impractical to insist upon harsh language condemning Israel or equating the suffering of the Palestinians with that of Holocaust victims. According to one Arab diplomat, no Arab state except for Syria had insisted upon any language linking Israel to racist practices. At

3336-595: Is also noted by Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, France, Guyana, Jamaica, Japan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Switzerland, and Thailand. Several, including France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malta, Monaco, Nepal, the United Kingdom, note that they consider the provisions of the treaty to be restricted by and subject to the freedoms of speech and assembly set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . According to John Font, in order to comply with

3475-900: Is for national governments to provide the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with reports on their actions towards implementing the recommendations in the Programme of Action. Another is for the Secretary General of the United Nations to appoint an expert body with the remit of following up on implementation. A third is a call for the establishment of a database of practical means for addressing racism, racial discrimination, and related intolerance. World Conference against Racism The 1978 World Conference Against Racism

3614-601: The Landdrost and Heemraden , local officials, of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet extended pass laws beyond slaves and ordained that all Khoikhoi (designated as Hottentots ) moving about the country for any purpose should carry passes. This was confirmed by the British Colonial government in 1809 by the Hottentot Proclamation , which decreed that if a Khoikhoi were to move they would need

3753-830: The African National Congress (ANC), the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). After the release of the Freedom Charter, 156 leaders of these groups were charged in the 1956 Treason Trial . It established censorship of film, literature, and the media under the Customs and Excise Act 1955 and the Official Secrets Act 1956. The same year,

3892-618: The African National Congress , and the Council of Non-European Trade Unions began demanding political rights, land reform, and the right to unionise. Whites reacted negatively to the changes, allowing the Herenigde Nasionale Party (or simply the National Party) to convince a large segment of the voting bloc that the impotence of the United Party in curtailing the evolving position of nonwhites indicated that

4031-730: The Asiatic Registration Act of the Transvaal Colony required all Indians to register and carry passes. Beginning in 1906 the South African Native Affairs Commission under Godfrey Lagden began implementing a more openly segregationist policy towards non-Whites. The latter was repealed by the British government but re-enacted in 1908. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was created as a self-governing dominion , which continued

4170-673: The Cape Colony , which previously had a liberal and multi-racial constitution and a system of Cape Qualified Franchise open to men of all races, the Franchise and Ballot Act of 1892 raised the property franchise qualification and added an educational element, disenfranchising a disproportionate number of the Cape's non-White voters, and the Glen Grey Act of 1894 instigated by the government of Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes limited

4309-772: The Dutch East India Company 's establishment of a trading post in the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, which eventually expanded into the Dutch Cape Colony . The company began the Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars in which it displaced the local Khoikhoi people , replaced them with farms worked by White settlers , and imported Black slaves from across the Dutch Empire . In the days of slavery , slaves required passes to travel away from their masters. In 1797,

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4448-661: The European Commissioner for security and justice) had told the Italian newspaper Il Giornale that Europe's failure to agree on a common approach was "a very serious mistake, because it shows our inability, despite all the words uttered in this connection, to come up with at least a lowest common denominator on a basic problem: namely the struggle against discrimination, on behalf of which we in Brussels so often speak out". Frattini continued, "I should imagine that

4587-713: The International Criminal Court (see United States and the International Criminal Court ) by removing language that strengthened the ICC. The draft documents had stated "deep concern" at the "increase of racist practices of Zionism and anti-Semitism" and talked of the emergence of "movements based on racism and discriminatory ideas, in particular the Zionist movement, which is based on racial superiority". Alternative proposals, which

4726-795: The "Durban Strategy". They claim that this comparison was made with the intention of causing and encouraging divestment from and boycott of Israel . The NGO Forum was attended by U.S. NGOs, with financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation , the MacArthur Foundation , and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation . The Ford Foundation provided USD 10 million in support to the WCAR and the NGO Forum. These NGOs provided research assistance at

4865-515: The "countless human beings" that the document explicitly talks of can be identified. The NGO Forum ran separately from the main conference in the nearby Kingsmead Stadium in Durban, from 28 August to 1 September. It consisted 3,000 NGOs , attended by 8,000 representatives. The declaration adopted by the NGO Forum was not an official document of the conference. The Forum's proceedings were highly disorganized, with several NGO delegates walking out of

5004-479: The 'Architect of Apartheid'. In addition, "petty apartheid" laws were passed. The principal apartheid laws were as follows. The first grand apartheid law was the Population Registration Act of 1950, which formalised racial classification and introduced an identity card for all persons over the age of 18, specifying their racial group. Official teams or boards were established to come to

5143-761: The 20th century. It was the target of frequent condemnation in the United Nations and brought about extensive international sanctions , including arms embargoes and economic sanctions on South Africa. During the 1970s and 1980s, internal resistance to apartheid became increasingly militant, prompting brutal crackdowns by the National Party ruling government and protracted sectarian violence that left thousands dead or in detention. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that there were 21,000 deaths from political violence, with 7,000 deaths between 1948 and 1989, and 14,000 deaths and 22,000 injuries in

5282-504: The African Group's paper. The United States circulated a Non-Paper as well, but this turned out to be less helpful than the E.U. one. The African Group circulated a second Non-Paper on 3 September 2001 that was substantially stronger than its earlier one, with language shifts from " debt cancellation " to "immediate and unconditional cancellation of debt", emphasis upon crimes against humanity, and calls for reparation (something that

5421-567: The African Group. The African Group was supported by Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Prior to the conference, on 3 August 2001, the African Group circulated a Non-Paper on the "Injustices of the Past", containing strong language but a generally moderate position. To this paper the E.U. responded, on 8 August 2001, with a Non-Paper of its own that addressed most but not all, of the issues in

5560-547: The African bloc, without applying retroactively against the descendants of colonizers the principle of crimes against humanity and without establishing a clear responsibility for reparations on the parts of former colonial states. The wording of the Declaration struck a delicate balance. Whilst acknowledging historical and contemporary practices of slavery and the slave trade as morally outrageous, and something that would be

5699-463: The Afrikaners. He claimed that the only difference was between those in favour of apartheid and those against it. The ethnic division would no longer be between Afrikaans and English speakers, but between blacks and whites. Most Afrikaners supported the notion of unanimity of white people to ensure their safety. White voters of British descent were divided. Many had opposed a republic, leading to

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5838-669: The British Empire cited racial exploitation of Blacks as a cause for its war against the Boer republics . However, the peace negotiations for the Treaty of Vereeniging demanded "the just predominance of the white race" in South Africa as a precondition for the Boer republics unifying with the British Empire. In 1905 the General Pass Regulations Act denied Black people the vote and limited them to fixed areas, and in 1906

5977-418: The Cape Province. The previous government had introduced the Separate Representation of Voters Bill into Parliament in 1951, turning it to be an Act on 18 June 1951; however, four voters, G Harris, W D Franklin, W D Collins and Edgar Deane, challenged its validity in court with support from the United Party. The Cape Supreme Court upheld the act, but reversed by the Appeal Court, finding the act invalid because

6116-509: The Conference was intended to be a beginning, not an end. Dr. Manning Marable , of Columbia University in New York , pointed out that one of the objectives of the Conference was to increase coordination in human rights activities, and to strengthen networks amongst those combating racism; and as such the actions of governments in response to the Conference are not the sole intended outcomes — actions by civil society and non-governmental agencies are also required. One such follow-up provision

6255-430: The Conference. After the withdrawal, senior conference officials became highly involved in the rewriting of the Declaration — something that critics maintained they should have also been doing before that point. In the end, the Conference delegates voted to reject the language that implicitly accused Israel of racism, and the document actually published contained no such language. Several countries were unhappy with

6394-483: The Conference. Third, she had openly criticized the U.S. on various matters including the treatment of prisoners at Camp X-Ray , the "unsigning" of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by the U.S., and the administration of capital punishment in the United States . Fourth, she had opposed U.S. calls to reform the election process of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights . Tom Lantos himself did not assign sole or even primary blame to Robinson for

6533-425: The Dutch Cape Colony. Under the 1806 Cape Articles of Capitulation the new British colonial rulers were required to respect previous legislation enacted under Roman-Dutch law , and this led to a separation of the law in South Africa from English Common Law and a high degree of legislative autonomy. The governors and assemblies that governed the legal process in the various colonies of South Africa were launched on

6672-461: The Forum and helped to develop declarations and resolutions that dealt with the issue of compensation for slavery. The resolutions adopted by the Forum dealing with reparations for slavery dealt only with the transatlantic slave trade and did not mention the traffic in African slaves to Islamic lands in the Middle East. The Forum also called upon the United States to ratify all major human rights treaties that had already been ratified. One such treaty

6811-434: The Forum, to the jeers of other delegates, and ended in discord. The NGO Forum's declaration described Israel as a "racist, apartheid state" that was guilty of "racist crimes including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing". The document was not intended to be presented to the Conference, although a copy of it was intended to be handed over, as a symbolic gesture, to the Conference secretary-general, Mary Robinson, at

6950-450: The Ministry of Native Affairs and defunded most mission schools . The Promotion of Black Self-Government Act of 1959 entrenched the NP policy of nominally independent "homelands" for blacks. So-called "self–governing Bantu units" were proposed, which would have devolved administrative powers, with the promise later of autonomy and self-government. It also abolished the seats of white representatives of black South Africans and removed from

7089-437: The Native Administration Act 1956 allowed the government to banish blacks. The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 created separate government structures for blacks and whites and was the first piece of legislation to support the government's plan of separate development in the bantustans . The Bantu Education Act, 1953 established a separate education system for blacks emphasizing African culture and vocational training under

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7228-460: The South African government, which failed to accommodate the influx with parallel expansion in housing or social services. Overcrowding, increasing crime rates, and disillusionment resulted; urban blacks came to support a new generation of leaders influenced by the principles of self-determination and popular freedoms enshrined in such statements as the Atlantic Charter . Black political organisations and leaders such as Alfred Xuma , James Mpanza ,

7367-644: The South African government: Transkei in 1976, Bophuthatswana in 1977, Venda in 1979, and Ciskei in 1981 (known as the TBVC states). Once a homeland was granted its nominal independence, its designated citizens had their South African citizenship revoked and replaced with citizenship in their homeland. These people were then issued passports instead of passbooks. Citizens of the nominally autonomous homelands also had their South African citizenship circumscribed, meaning they were no longer legally considered South African. The South African government attempted to draw an equivalence between their view of black citizens of

7506-445: The U.S. had supported, from Norway, acting as a mediator, and Canada were rejected by Israel. Despite Colin Powell's denunciation of the "hateful language" that "singles out only one country in the world, Israel, for censure and abuse" in the draft text and U.S. delegate Tom Lantos 's statement that the conference had been "wrecked by Arab and Islamic extremists", some saw the U.S. delegation's withdrawal as not being entirely related to

7645-448: The UN is supposed to do best: uniting to combat injustice in the world, said the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. Her colleague Jeremy Paxman described the walkout as a "stunt", arguing that people should have the right to criticise Zionism . President Ahmadinejad, the only major leader to attend the conference, said Jewish migrants from Europe and the United States had been sent to the Middle East after World War II "in order to establish

7784-424: The United States Congressional Black Caucus urged him to attend. The Anti-Defamation League urged him to stay away. On 3 September 2001, after four days of deadlocked negotiations that did not reach agreement on language, the United States and Israeli delegations withdrew from the conference. Both United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Shimon Peres stated that this

7923-431: The Urban Areas Act (1923) introduced residential segregation and provided cheap labour for industry led by White people; the Colour Bar Act (1926) prevented Black mine workers from practising skilled trades; the Native Administration Act (1927) made the British Crown rather than paramount chiefs the supreme head over all African affairs; the Native Land and Trust Act (1936) complemented the 1913 Native Land Act and, in

8062-424: The affluent and capitalist, the party also failed to appeal to its working class constituents. Populist rhetoric allowed the National Party to sweep eight constituencies in the mining and industrial centres of the Witwatersrand and five more in Pretoria . Barring the predominantly English-speaking landowner electorate of the Natal , the United Party was defeated in almost every rural district. Its urban losses in

8201-412: The aim of implementing the apartheid philosophy and silencing liberal opposition. When the National Party came to power in 1948, there were factional differences in the party about the implementation of systemic racial segregation. The " baasskap " (white domination or supremacist) faction, which was the dominant faction in the NP, and state institutions, favoured systematic segregation, but also favoured

8340-412: The amount of land Africans could hold. Similarly, in Natal , the Natal Legislative Assembly Bill of 1894 deprived Indians of the right to vote. In 1896 the South African Republic brought in two pass laws requiring Africans to carry a badge. Only those employed by a master were permitted to remain on the Rand , and those entering a "labour district" needed a special pass. During the Second Boer War ,

8479-415: The black population to ten designated "tribal homelands", also known as bantustans , four of which became nominally independent states. The government announced that relocated persons would lose their South African citizenship as they were absorbed into the bantustans. Apartheid sparked significant international and domestic opposition, resulting in some of the most influential global social movements of

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8618-409: The blame for the withdrawal of the U.S. in part to the radicalism of many of the NGOs at the NGO Forum, to an inadequate response thereto by U.S.-based NGOs, and to the reluctance of the U.S.'s European allies to take a strong stand. The Conference was largely overshadowed in the news and in international affairs by the September 11, 2001 attacks , which occurred 3 days after the Conference ended. As

8757-480: The borders of their homelands – hence this policy of separate development". Under the homelands system, blacks would no longer be citizens of South Africa, becoming citizens of the independent homelands who worked in South Africa as foreign migrant labourers on temporary work permits. In 1958 the Promotion of Black Self-Government Act was passed, and border industries and the Bantu Investment Corporation were established to promote economic development and

8896-415: The breakdown of U.S. relations with the conference. That he assigned to the NGOs, as aforementioned, and to the member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference . Moreover, several people have defended Robinson's secretary-generalship of the conference. Several NGOs, including Human Rights Watch , Amnesty International , and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights , disassociated themselves from

9035-482: The cause of combating racism". Canada was also unhappy. The language of the final text was carefully drafted for balance. The word "diaspora" is used four times, and solely to refer to the African Diaspora . The document is at pains to maintain a cohesive identity for everyone of African heritage as a victim of slavery, even including those who may have more European than African ancestors. The "victim" or "victims" of racism and slavery (the two words occurring 90 times in

9174-401: The commemoration. Apartheid This is an accepted version of this page Apartheid ( / ə ˈ p ɑːr t ( h ) aɪ t / ə- PART -(h)yte , especially South African English :  / ə ˈ p ɑːr t ( h ) eɪ t / ə- PART -(h)ayt , Afrikaans : [aˈpart(ɦ)ɛit] ; transl.  "separateness" , lit.   ' aparthood ' ) was

9313-409: The common voters' roll in the Cape to a new Coloured voters' roll. Immediately after the vote, the Senate was restored to its original size. The Senate Act was contested in the Supreme Court, but the recently enlarged Appeal Court, packed with government-supporting judges, upheld the act, and also the Act to remove Coloured voters. The 1956 law allowed Coloureds to elect four people to Parliament, but

9452-436: The conclusion of the Forum. Robinson refused to accept the document, citing concerns over its language. In a later interview she said of the whole conference that "there was horrible anti-Semitism present — particularly in some of the NGO discussions. A number people said they've never been so hurt or so harassed or been so blatantly faced with an anti-Semitism." Critics described the description of Israel as apartheid as

9591-529: The conference objectives to be those given in the authorizing resolution. The Africa Group, the Latin American states, and the Caribbean states wanted the conference objectives to go beyond what was in the resolution, and include items dealing with regional, national, and international measures for compensation for colonialism and slavery. Prior to the conference, there were also four Regional Conferences, in Strasbourg , Santiago , Dakar , and Tehran . The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action were adopted by

9730-442: The conference over a draft resolution that, in their opinion, singled out Israel for criticism and likened Zionism to racism. The European Union also refused to accept wording by Arab states criticizing Israel for "racist practices." Also in the conference, African countries, led by Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and African-American NGOs wanted individual apologies from each of the countries responsible for slavery , recognition of it as

9869-422: The conference various preparatory meetings (PrepComs) were held in order to identify conference themes and to create initial drafts of the Declaration and Programme of Action. These PrepComs encountered difficulties from the start. The first problem was the question of what the conference theme was to be. The Western European states, along with the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, all wanted

10008-423: The conference – as we have decided to do, and as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and The Netherlands have decided to do." (Mark Mardell, BBC News) New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully said he was not satisfied that the wording of the review would prevent the conference from "descending into the same kind of rancorous and unproductive debate that took place in 2001," and he reported that he

10147-454: The current situation without using such language as "ethnic cleansing practices against Palestinians". Nonetheless, the United States, objecting to the remaining text, decided to send a low-level delegation, headed by Ambassador Michael Southwick , to the Conference, rather than have United States Secretary of State Colin Powell attend himself. German officials criticized this decision, and

10286-468: The day, about 40 delegates walked out during Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech after he described Israel as a "racist government" and attacked the creation of the state of Israel. France, which had warned of a walkout, described it as "hate speech", the BBC reported. The walkout was a public relations disaster for the United Nations, which had hoped the conference would be a shining example of what

10425-532: The disenfranchised. Before South Africa became a republic in 1961, politics among white South Africans was typified by the division between the mainly Afrikaner pro-republic conservative and the largely English anti-republican liberal sentiments, with the legacy of the Boer War still a factor for some people. Once South Africa became a republic, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd called for improved relations and greater accord between people of British descent and

10564-437: The document) are defined in only the most general geographic terms. The word "Jewish" is only used once, alongside "Muslim" and "Arab", and "anti-Semitism" is only used twice, once alongside its assumed counterpart of "Islamophobia" and once alongside "anti-Arabism". The difficulty that this generates is that it is politically impossible to act when the 219 calls for action in the Programme are couched in such generalities that only

10703-431: The earlier paper had not included in part because of a U.S. demand, made at a preparatory meeting in Geneva, that such language be excluded from the text). Several members of the African Group openly opposed calling for reparations. President Wade stated "We still suffer the effects of slavery and colonialism, and that cannot be evaluated in monetary terms. I find that not only absurd, but insulting." Similarly, South Africa

10842-553: The effects of the United Party's policies. The commission concluded that integration would bring about a "loss of personality" for all racial groups. The HNP incorporated the commission's findings into its campaign platform for the 1948 South African general election , which it won. South Africa had allowed social custom and law to govern the consideration of multiracial affairs and of the allocation, in racial terms, of access to economic, social, and political status. Most white South Africans, regardless of their own differences, accepted

10981-428: The final Declaration and Programme of Action produced by the conference was strongly disputed in these areas, both in the preparatory meetings in the months that preceded the conference and during the conference itself. Two delegations, the United States and Israel, withdrew from the conference over objections to a draft document equating Zionism with racism . The final Declaration and Programme of Action did not contain

11120-462: The final text's approach to the subject, but all for different reasons. Syria and Iran were unhappy because their demands for the language about racism and Israel had been rejected by the Conference, the latter continuing its insistence that Israel was a racist state. Australia was unhappy with the process, observing that "far too much of the time at the conference [had been] consumed by bitter divisive exchanges on issues which have done nothing to advance

11259-726: The first pieces of segregating legislation enacted by Smuts' government was the Asiatic Land Tenure Bill (1946) , which banned land sales to Indians and Indian descendent South Africans. The same year, the government established the Fagan Commission . Amid fears integration would eventually lead to racial assimilation, the Opposition Herenigde Nasionale Party (HNP) established the Sauer Commission to investigate

11398-510: The governmental delegates attending the Conference at the International Convention Centre. The issue of compensation for colonialism and slavery is addressed in ¶ 13, ¶ 14, ¶ 15, and ¶ 29 of the Declaration. It was one of the most controversial issues debated at the conference, one that had the potential to derail the entire conference. It was dealt with cleverly in the Declaration, containing rhetoric that satisfied

11537-465: The highest status, followed by Indians , Coloureds and black Africans , in that order. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day, particularly inequality . Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into petty apartheid , which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and grand apartheid , which strictly separated housing and employment opportunities by race. The first apartheid law

11676-424: The homeland structure as one of its cornerstones. Verwoerd came to believe in the granting of independence to these homelands. The government justified its plans on the ostensible basis that "(the) government's policy is, therefore, not a policy of discrimination on the grounds of race or colour, but a policy of differentiation on the ground of nationhood, of different nations, granting to each self-determination within

11815-412: The homeland system, the government attempted to divide South Africa and South West Africa into a number of separate states, each of which was supposed to develop into a separate nation-state for a different ethnic group. Territorial separation was hardly a new institution. There were, for example, the "reserves" created under the British government in the nineteenth century. Under apartheid, 13 percent of

11954-508: The homelands and the problems which other countries faced through entry of illegal immigrants. Bantustans within the borders of South Africa and South West Africa were classified by degree of nominal self-rule: 6 were "non-self-governing", 10 were "self-governing", and 4 were "independent". In theory, self-governing Bantustans had control over many aspects of their internal functioning but were not yet sovereign nations. Independent Bantustans (Transkei, Bophutatswana, Venda and Ciskei; also known as

12093-530: The immigration of blacks from other countries. To reside in a city, blacks had to be in employment there. Until 1956 women were for the most part excluded from these pass requirements, as attempts to introduce pass laws for women were met with fierce resistance. In 1950, D. F. Malan announced the NP's intention to create a Coloured Affairs Department. J.G. Strijdom , Malan's successor as prime minister, moved to strip voting rights from black and Coloured residents of

12232-642: The interpretation of CERD created by the NGOs at the Forum, the United States would have to "turn its political and economic system, together with their underlying principles, upside down — abandoning the free speech guarantees of the Constitution, bypassing federalism, and ignoring the very concept of majority rule since practically nothing in the NGO agenda is supported by the [U.S.] electorate". Tom Lantos assigns

12371-537: The issue of compensation gained momentum at Durban itself. Before the conference, the debate over compensation was seen as dealing with the transatlantic slave trade, and the colonization of Africa by Europeans, thus pitting Western European states (including the former colonial powers of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and the United States against

12510-454: The land was reserved for black homelands, a small amount relative to its total population, and generally in economically unproductive areas of the country. The Tomlinson Commission of 1954 justified apartheid and the homeland system, but stated that additional land ought to be given to the homelands, a recommendation that was not carried out. When Verwoerd became prime minister in 1958, the policy of "separate development" came into being, with

12649-510: The language of the NGO Forum's Declaration that dealt with Israel and with Jews. The Palestinian Solidarity Committee of South Africa reportedly distributed copies of the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion . It seems unlikely to analysts that the United States will support another WCAR. However, the Declaration and Programme of Action did make provision for follow-up mechanisms. Mary Robinson stated in her closing address that

12788-473: The language on Israel, but attributed it also, in part, to a reluctance on the part of the U.S. to address the issue of slavery. The withdrawal of the U.S. and Israel was taken as a warning by many delegates that there was a strong possibility of Canada and the E.U. states withdrawing as well if no compromise was reached. Several reports had the Europeans staying on solely in order to help South Africa salvage

12927-418: The last information I had was that the issue has … looks like it has been resolved", albeit that news media at the time failed to realize the significance of the comment. The U.S. walked out of the conference a few weeks later. During preparatory meetings in Geneva, text that linked Zionism to racism was placed in brackets, with the expectation that it would be replaced by text that referred to violations of

13066-404: The last two of which included several sub-classifications. Places of residence were determined by racial classification. Between 1960 and 1983, 3.5 million black Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighbourhoods as a result of apartheid legislation, in some of the largest mass evictions in modern history. Most of these targeted removals were intended to restrict

13205-674: The legislative program: the South Africa Act (1910) enfranchised White people, giving them complete political control over all other racial groups while removing the right of Black people to sit in parliament; the Native Land Act (1913) prevented Black people, except those in the Cape, from buying land outside "reserves"; the Natives in Urban Areas Bill (1918) was designed to force Black people into "locations";

13344-2532: The long term. A third faction, which included Hendrik Verwoerd , sympathised with the purists, but allowed for the use of black labour, while implementing the purist goal of vertical separation. Verwoerd would refer to this policy as a policy of "good neighbourliness" as a means of justifying such segregation. Glen Grey Act (1894) Natal Legislative Assembly Bill (1894) Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act (1906) South Africa Act (1909) Mines and Works Act (1911) Natives Land Act (1913) Natives (Urban Areas) Act (1923) Immorality Act (1927) Native Administration Act (1927) Women's Enfranchisement Act (1930) Franchise Laws Amendment Act (1931) Representation of Natives Act (1936) Native Trust and Land Act (1936) Native (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act (1945) Immorality Amendment Act † (1950) Population Registration Act (1950) Group Areas Act (1950) Suppression of Communism Act (1950) Native Building Workers Act (1951) Separate Representation of Voters Act (1951) Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act (1951) Bantu Authorities Act (1951) Native Laws Amendment Act † (1952) Pass Laws Act (1952) Public Safety Act (1953) Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (1953) Bantu Education Act (1953) Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953) Natives Resettlement Act (1954) Group Areas Development Act (1955) Riotous Assemblies Act (1956) Industrial Conciliation Act (1956) Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act (1956) Immorality Act (1957) Bantu Investment Corporation Act (1959) Extension of University Education Act (1959) Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act (1959) Unlawful Organizations Act (1960) Indemnity Act (1961) Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act (1961) Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1961) Urban Bantu Councils Act (1961) General Law Amendment Act (1963) Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act (1968) Prohibition of Political Interference Act (1968) Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act (1970) Bantu Homelands Constitution Act (1971) Aliens Control Act (1973) Indemnity Act (1977) National Key Points Act (1980) List of National Key Points Internal Security Act (1982) Black Local Authorities Act (1982) Interim Constitution (1993) Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act (1995) NP leaders argued that South Africa did not comprise

13483-501: The mounting tensions of the Cold War also stirred up discontent, while the nationalists promised to purge the state and public service of communist sympathisers. First to desert the United Party were Afrikaner farmers, who wished to see a change in influx control due to problems with squatters, as well as higher prices for their maize and other produce in the face of the mineowners' demand for cheap food policies. Always identified with

13622-625: The nation's most populous province, the Transvaal , proved equally devastating. As the voting system was disproportionately weighted in favour of rural constituencies and the Transvaal in particular, the 1948 election catapulted the Herenigde Nasionale Party from a small minority party to a commanding position with an eight-vote parliamentary lead. Daniel François Malan became the first nationalist prime minister, with

13761-555: The news, and significantly affecting international relations and politics. The conference was followed by the 2009 Durban II conference in Geneva , which was boycotted by ten Western countries. A commemorative Durban III conference in September 2011 in New York has also drawn significant criticism and was boycotted by 14 Western countries. The conference was authorized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution #52/111. Prior to

13900-540: The number of judges in the Appeal Court from five to 11, and appointed pro-Nationalist judges to fill the new places. In the same year they introduced the Senate Act, which increased the Senate from 49 seats to 89. Adjustments were made such that the NP controlled 77 of these seats. The parliament met in a joint sitting and passed the Separate Representation of Voters Act in 1956, which transferred Coloured voters from

14039-505: The organisation had fallen under the influence of Western liberals. Many Afrikaners resented what they perceived as disempowerment by an underpaid black workforce and the superior economic power and prosperity of white English speakers. Smuts, as a strong advocate of the United Nations , lost domestic support when South Africa was criticised for its colour bar and the continued mandate of South West Africa by other UN member states. Afrikaner nationalists proclaimed that they offered

14178-483: The participation of black Africans in the economy with black labour controlled to advance the economic gains of Afrikaners. A second faction were the "purists", who believed in "vertical segregation", in which blacks and whites would be entirely separated, with blacks living in native reserves, with separate political and economic structures, which, they believed, would entail severe short-term pain, but would also lead to independence of white South Africa from black labour in

14317-464: The prevailing pattern. Nevertheless, by 1948 it remained apparent that there were gaps in the social structure, whether legislated or otherwise, concerning the rights and opportunities of nonwhites. The rapid economic development of World War II attracted black migrant workers in large numbers to chief industrial centres, where they compensated for the wartime shortage of white labour. However, this escalated rate of black urbanisation went unrecognised by

14456-495: The provision of employment in or near the homelands. Many black South Africans who had never resided in their identified homeland were forcibly removed from the cities to the homelands. The vision of a South Africa divided into multiple ethnostates appealed to the reform-minded Afrikaner intelligentsia, and it provided a more coherent philosophical and moral framework for the National Party's policies, while also providing

14595-466: The request of the South African delegation. Linking compensation to apartheid had the potential to polarize South African society, and produce the same effects as had the controversial land reform programmes in Zimbabwe . Domestic political pressures, and the aim of the South African government to foster reconciliation within the country, made South Africa's position difficult. The issue of compensation

14734-715: The right to vote for the Coloured Persons Representative Council , which had limited legislative powers. The council was in turn dissolved in 1980. In 1984 a new constitution introduced the Tricameral Parliament in which coloured voters elected the House of Representatives . A 2016 study in The Journal of Politics suggests that disenfranchisement in South Africa had a significant negative effect on basic service delivery to

14873-482: The rights of Palestinians. The U.S. had already threatened to boycott the conference should the conference draft documents include text that could be in any way interpreted as linking Zionism to racism. Mary Robinson had also said that regional political conflicts should not be imposed upon the agenda of the conference. The Australian, the Canadian, and some European delegations shared the U.S. view. The Arab position

15012-481: The rolls the few blacks still qualified to vote. The Bantu Investment Corporation Act of 1959 set up a mechanism to transfer capital to the homelands to create employment there. Legislation of 1967 allowed the government to stop industrial development in "white" cities and redirect such development to the "homelands". The Black Homeland Citizenship Act of 1970 marked a new phase in the Bantustan strategy. It changed

15151-561: The room immediately." Germany had decided to stay away from the meeting amid western concerns that the event may take on anti-Semitic overtones, a senior official confirmed in Berlin Thursday. In his opening address, Secretary-General of UN Ban Ki-moon said, "Some nations who by rights should be helping us to forge a path to a better future are not here. Outside these halls, interest groups of many political and ideological stripes shout against one another in acrimony." Later in

15290-504: The room." British ambassador Peter Gooderham , also among those who left, said Ahmadinejad's comments were "offensive and inflammatory". "Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a UN anti-racism forum", he announced to gathered reporters. (BBC News) A webcast of Ahmadinejad's speech was made available by the United Nations, and the Foreign Policy Journal , an online news publisher, rushed out

15429-476: The same year, the Representation of Natives Act removed previous Black voters from the Cape voters' roll and allowed them to elect three Whites to Parliament. The United Party government of Jan Smuts began to move away from the rigid enforcement of segregationist laws during World War II, but faced growing opposition from Afrikaner nationalists who wanted stricter segregation. Post-war, one of

15568-473: The severing of ties with the UK and remained loyal to the Crown . They were displeased by having to choose between British and South African nationalities. Although Verwoerd tried to bond these different blocs, the subsequent voting illustrated only a minor swell of support, indicating that a great many English speakers remained apathetic and that Verwoerd had not succeeded in uniting the white population. Under

15707-484: The start of the Geneva meeting, the text had been presented that comprised six bracketed paragraphs dealing with "Zionist racist practices", including an appeal for Israel "to revise its legislation based on racial or religious discrimination such as the law of return and all the policies of an occupying power which prevent the Palestinian refugees and displaced persons from returning to their homes and properties", and

15846-399: The status of blacks to citizens of one of the ten autonomous territories. The aim was to ensure a demographic majority of white people within South Africa by having all ten Bantustans achieve full independence. Inter-racial contact in sport was frowned upon, but there were no segregatory sports laws. The government tightened pass laws compelling blacks to carry identity documents, to prevent

15985-415: The text that the U.S. and Israel had objected to, that text having been voted out by delegates in the days after the U.S. and Israel withdrew. In parallel to the conference, a separately held NGO Forum also produced a Declaration and Programme of its own, that was not an official Conference document, which contained language relating to Israel that the WCAR had voted to exclude from its Declaration, and which

16124-445: The topic were placed in brackets, they would move for the entire text to be placed in brackets also. In the end, the U.S. proposal was adopted, with the addition of a statement in the report indicating the different perspectives on the exact meaning of those brackets. Western European states discussed informally amongst themselves, outside of the formal preparatory proceedings, what measures and levels of non-cöoperation they might adopt if

16263-582: The transition period between 1990 and 1994. Some reforms of the apartheid system were undertaken, including allowing for Indian and Coloured political representation in parliament , but these measures failed to appease most activist groups. Between 1987 and 1993, the National Party entered into bilateral negotiations with the African National Congress (ANC), the leading anti-apartheid political movement, for ending segregation and introducing majority rule. In 1990, prominent ANC figures, such as Nelson Mandela , were released from prison. Apartheid legislation

16402-500: The treaty. The U.S. Department of State had noted specifically that CERD's restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of assembly were incompatible with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States . The United States was far from the only such country to do so, however. Incompatibility of the treaty with national constitutions, including the freedoms of assembly and speech guaranteed by those constitutions,

16541-632: The voters a new policy to ensure continued white domination. This policy was initially expounded from a theory drafted by Hendrik Verwoerd and was presented to the National Party by the Sauer Commission . It called for a systematic effort to organise the relations, rights, and privileges of the races as officially defined through a series of parliamentary acts and administrative decrees. Segregation had thus far been pursued only in major matters, such as separate schools, and local society rather than law had been depended upon to enforce most separation; it should now be extended to everything. The commission's goal

16680-491: The world, in particular in developing countries." (Article 158) One of the contentious points at the conference related to the issue was that of apartheid . During the preparatory processes of the conference, South Africa stressed that it did not want to link compensation to apartheid. At the Tehran Regional Conference, a paragraph making such a link was inserted by Asian governments. This was deleted at

16819-428: Was "Provision of effective remedies, recourses, redress, compensatory, and other measures, at the national, regional, and international levels". The European Union, represented by Portugal, wanted to place the entire language in brackets. The United States just wanted to place the word "compensatory" in brackets. The African Group, Armenia, and Cuba strongly objected to both proposals, with the African Group stating that if

16958-507: Was allotted its own area, which was used in later years as a basis of forced removal. The Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act of 1951 allowed the government to demolish black shanty town slums and forced white employers to pay for the construction of housing for those black workers who were permitted to reside in cities otherwise reserved for whites. The Native Laws Amendment Act, 1952 centralised and tightened pass laws so that blacks could not stay in urban areas longer than 72 hours without

17097-439: Was also a declaration and program of action which resulted from the conference which condemned racial superiority , racism, and racial discrimination, and called for educational resources to promote "mutual understanding between all human beings and demonstrate...the...basis of ethnic and racial equality", among other statements. The 1983 World Conference Against Racism was also held in Geneva , Switzerland. The 2001 conference

17236-579: Was concerned that it could be used by Muslim countries to criticize Israel and to limit free speech when it comes to criticizing their religion. (reported by the Associated Press on 20 April) On the opening day of the conference, France said that Europeans would walk out if Ahmadinejad made any anti-Semitic remarks. "We will have to be very clear. We will not tolerate any slips," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told France Info. "If he utters racist or anti-Semitic accusations, we will leave

17375-495: Was criticized by then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson and many others. The NGO Forum ended in discord. Mary Robinson lost the support of the United States in her office of High Commissioner, and many of the potential political aftereffects of the conference were annulled by the September 11, 2001 attacks . The attacks took place just three days after the conference ended, entirely eclipsing it in

17514-470: Was done with regret. The low-level U.S. delegation had kept a low profile throughout conference proceedings until that point, with delegates working quietly in sub-committee meetings, without (unlike in earlier conferences) giving news briefings or off the record statements to journalists, to change the text of the draft declaration, to make it less forceful and less specific against Israel, and to bring it into line with U.S. foreign policy goals with respect to

17653-474: Was focused specifically on Israeli treatment of Palestinians, treating violations of human rights and genocide in other parts of the world secondarily. The 2001 meeting was marked by clashes over the Middle East and the legacy of slavery, and coincided with attacks on Israel and anti-Israel demonstrations at a parallel conference of non-governmental organizations. The U.S. and Israel withdrew midway through

17792-492: Was followed by Ordinance 3 in 1848, which introduced an indenture system for Xhosa that was little different from slavery. The various South African colonies passed legislation throughout the rest of the 19th century to limit the freedom of unskilled workers, to increase the restrictions on indentured workers and to regulate the relations between the races. The discoveries of diamonds and gold in South Africa also raised racial inequality between White people and Black people. In

17931-484: Was held in Durban , South Africa, under UN auspices, from 31 August until 8 September 2001. Former Irish president Mary Robinson , then the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presided as secretary-general. Entitled "World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance", the conference was discussing unfair treatment of one group against another. Significant time

18070-585: Was held in Geneva , Switzerland. A major focus on the conference was South Africa's apartheid policies of racial segregation and discrimination. This included condemnation of Israel–South Africa relations (in particular economic and military cooperation), a request that the United Nations Security Council consider "imposition of comprehensive and mandatory sanctions" on South Africa and other "racist regimes of southern Africa", and other criticism of apartheid in South Africa. There

18209-454: Was held in Geneva , Switzerland. Canada, Israel, the United States of America, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and, after some initial skepticism, Australia announced they would not participate in the conference. Mark Mardell of the BBC news reported: On the Monday the Conference was to begin, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini (who was until last year

18348-486: Was in part adopted from "left-over" British rule that separated different racial groups after they took control of the Boer republics in the Anglo-Boer war . This created the black-only " townships " or "locations", where blacks were relocated to their own towns. As the NP government's minister of native affairs from 1950, Hendrik Verwoerd had a significant role in crafting such laws, which led to him being regarded as

18487-585: Was more interested in devoting time and effort to more pragmatic ends, such as Western aid for the Millennium Africa Recovery Programme , which would be more palatable to the U.S. and the E.U. A consensus on the reparations issue was reached by late August 2001. On 24 August, President of the United States George W. Bush announced in a press conference that "the reparations issue has been solved — at least

18626-543: Was repealed on 17 June 1991, leading to multiracial elections in April 1994 . Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning "separateness", or "the state of being apart", literally " apart - hood " (from the Afrikaans suffix -heid ). Its first recorded use was in 1929. Racial discrimination and inequality against Black people in South Africa dates to the beginning of large-scale European colonisation of South Africa with

18765-952: Was stated by the Secretary-General of the Arab League , Amr Moussa : "Israel's racist actions against the Palestinian people have to be dealt with in an international conference that aims to eradicate racism. Arab countries are not expecting the Durban conference to be a venue for dealing with the Arab- Israeli peace process, but they certainly expect that the Israeli racist practices against the Palestinian people will not be overlooked." The Arab delegates were not insistent upon language that specifically equated Zionism with racism. It had been suggested that they were trying to revive United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (issued 1975, annulled 1991) which stated that "Zionism

18904-592: Was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, 1949 , followed closely by the Immorality Amendment Act of 1950, which made it illegal for most South African citizens to marry or pursue sexual relationships across racial lines . The Population Registration Act, 1950 classified all South Africans into one of four racial groups based on appearance, known ancestry, socioeconomic status, and cultural lifestyle: "Black", "White", "Coloured", and "Indian",

19043-869: Was the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which the U.S. had ratified in 1994, but (per the Supremacy Clause of Article Six of the United States Constitution , which does not permit treaties to override the Constitution) had attached a reservation that its ratification did not accept treaty requirements that were incompatible with the Constitution of the United States . The NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International , demanded that U.S. drop its reservations and "comply" with

19182-525: Was thus a complex one, that was exacerbated by the President of Senegal , Abdoulaye Wade , calling campaigns to demand compensation for colonialism and slavery "childish". The earliest point at which the issue of compensation caused problems was during preparations in May 2001, when delegations came to the decision of where to place it on the agenda. At the time, the fourth item on the agenda, out of five items,

19321-405: Was to completely remove blacks from areas designated for whites, including cities, with the exception of temporary migrant labour. Blacks would then be encouraged to create their own political units in land reserved for them. The party gave this policy a name –  apartheid . Apartheid was to be the basic ideological and practical foundation of Afrikaner politics for the next quarter of

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