ANGELA QUINTAL AND BEN MACLENNAN, Durban | Thursday
FOR the fifth consecutive day, the Middle East dominated behind-the-scenes negotiations at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, described by a United Nations official as ”very intensive activity”.
”It is 99% about the Middle East,” said Jose Diaz, representative for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.
Despite an upbeat assessment on Tuesday night about chances for compromise language on the Middle East, on Wednesday attitudes appeared to have hardened.
The European Union on Tuesday night described a new draft text on the divisive Middle East question by South African Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma ”as an acceptable base for negotiation”.
However, at Wednesday morning’s meeting of the UN ”group of five” tasked with negotiating compromise language, the Islamic group — represented by the Palestinian National Authority – apparently introduced changes to Dlamini-Zuma’s draft which were unacceptable to the EU.
The group of five comprises South Africa as WCAR president, Norway, Namibia, the EU represented by Belgium, and the Islamic Group.
EU diplomats told Sapa that Belgium, as president of the EU Council, had been mandated to represent the 15-member body.
However, it had not received a mandate to ”agree” to or make concessions without approval of all the member states.
Arab diplomats privately accused the EU of stalling on the Middle East , saying European states were hiding behind the issue when their real concern was about Africa’s demands for an explicit apology and reparations for slavery and colonialism.
Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, Salman El-Herfi said on Wednesday that the Islamic Group was ”very flexible”.
”We want the conference to succeed.”
A representative for the Belgian foreign ministry, Koen Vervaeke, would not discuss details of the dispute, saying: ”We need to preserve a chance for success. It is sufficiently difficult and we don’t want to complicate matters.”
Vervaeke confirmed that Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel had met Dlamini-Zuma and Robinson on Wednesday.
Referring to an earlier 24-hour EU working deadline for progress on compromise language on the Middle East, he said that if it became clear there was not sufficient willingness to find a compromise the EU would then have to re-evaluate the situation.
There was no question of a walk-out at this stage, Vervaeke said.
The US and the Israelis earlier this week recalled their delegations in protest against language in earlier draft conference documents which they viewed as anti-Israel and ”hateful”.
South African deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad earlier on Wednesday put a positive spin on the conference, saying ”impressive progress” had been made.
On the controversial issue of an apology for slavery and colonialism, an EU diplomat said there appeared to have been a hardening of positions from the African group, which was still insisting on an explicit apology.
The diplomat said EU would not budge on the ”a” word not even in a general sense.
”We will accept remorse, regret, even abhorrence, but we’re absolutely set against an apology.”
Addressing reporters earlier, South African Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi reiterated Africa’s ”maximum” position that an explicit apology was necessary from those states who had benefited from slavery and colonialism.
She implied that if an apology was not granted, Africans would view this as racist.
On whether the demand for an apology was specifically required from those countries who benefited from slavery and colonialism, or whether a general one would suffice, she said: ”That’s the detail under debate. If you look at the Africa group paper, its says an explicit apology from states.”
Fraser-Moleketi, who is co-ordinating South Africa’s ministerial delegation at the WCAR, said Africa was of the view ”that an apology is important to us as a region”.
Africa was not the first region to demand an apology, which had been given elsewhere in the world, Fraser-Moleketi said.
”If not granted here, we will ask the question does this imply a particular approach to our continent, and to the peoples of this continent. Is this not also part of the essence of the what this conference is about?”
Fraser-Moleketi said there had been no hardening of the African position on reparations and an apology for slavery and colonialism.
The African bloc held a common position, she said. An EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday: ”We have a problem within the EU to get all states to apologise.”
The issue of reparations and apology for slavery, which falls under the working group dealing with ”injustices of the past”, was also the subject of behind the scenes negotiation on Wednesday.
Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said: ”All the non-papers (discussion papers) that we have on the table contain some language that expresses either apology directly or deep remorse, or regret.
”We are working on language that is appropriate and will be acceptable.”
Her co-facilitator and Brazilian counterpart at the UN in Geneva, Gilberto Saboia, said the issue of reparations was also on the table.
”We still don’t know how to solve the difficulties in that regard, but it is something that remains to be considered.”
Asked about the reports that the EU had set a deadline, he said: ”We are not working in that kind of atmosphere. We have never any statement across the table about deadline.”
Several hundred NGO delegates staged a march with candles on Wednesday evening to the conference venue, the International Convention Centre, chanting ”reparations now!”
The World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance is scheduled to end on Friday. – Sapa