ASIAN - AFRICAN LEGAL
CONSULTATIVE ORGANIZATION

Statement of
Ambassador Wafik Kamil
Secretary General of
(AALCO)

To the "World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance"

DURBAN (South Africa), 31 August - 7 September 2001

Mr.President, Hon'ble Ministers, Madam Robinson, Distinguished delegates and Observers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a great honour to speak on behalf of the AsianAfrican Legal Consultative Organization(AALCO).to this vitally humanitarian World Conference. The AALCO was established in 1956 as a tangible outcome of the historic Conference of the Asian and African States held in Bandung in 1955. The final communique of the Bandung Conference, among other things, declared its full support to the fundamental principles of Human Rights for all peoples and all nations. It also deplored the policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination which were considered later as a Crime Against Humanity.

I wish you Mr. President success in your endeavor in order to realize the aspirations of this very important event.and I congratulate you for you election .

Mr. President

At the outset I would like to draw the attention that within the walls of this conference hall the whole world is represented with all the victims of these horrible crimes; Racisme, Racial discrimination, Xenophobia and related Intolerance; but also with those who are behind the sufferings caused to this victims ..It is therefore, within us only,in this very hall, that we must find ways and means to eradicate them and leave the Conference with a clear program and a pledge to implement it.

History, which is the living memory of humanity reminds us that nothing and nobody are permanent, that nothing lasts unchanged, that civilizations rise and crumble and that the perpetrators of today could be the victims of tomorrow. We dream Mr. President of a world without "victims" or "perpetrators".

It is almost 50 years since this struggle to establish the dignity of human beings is going on under the United Nations system and outside .However, much remains to be done especially in the areas concerning combating racism and racial discrimination.

For if we are gathered here to day it means that these "evils" are still very much alive. I believe Mr. President that all past efforts to combat racism, racial discrimination and intolerance were directed towards the "symptoms" and not to the "deep - rooted diseases. which are the real causes behind it.

Before combating these evils Mr.President, we should heal and eradicate fear,hatred, avidity, egoism, sup. complex among human beings and above all insecurity and self emptiness.

Mr. President

Every human being has by birth the right to live, the right to be proud of his cultural heritage, his religion and his traditions and each human being is compelled to tolerate each other and to respect others sacred values. We are all born with a different color, race, sex and belief but with no choice of our's.

Thus it is not the right of any body to discriminate or to underestimate others for the only reason that they are different or because they think themselves to be weaved from a superior stuff. Mr.President, how on earth the perpetrators of racism or racial discrimination or those who deal in trafiquingin human beings commit the horrible crime of rape with helpless human beings etc. etc can justify to themselves these crimes and on which legal basis they dare to commit it openly. I remind these perpetrators that we are all equal in our fatal destinies. The richest like the poorest of the poor are all exposed to cancer to aids and to all other calamities, including sikness and deathand to all natural disasters and if the most powerful among us cannot change an inch in them, so how can we imagine ourselves different from each others.

The `racial discrimination' is the philosophy of negation advocated and practiced by those who are not ready to accept the change. It is time that they recognize the importance of fundamental principles of equality and non-discrimination and start to repent for the night mare they imposed and still imposing on others .
The World Conference, can have a significant and long lasting impact at the international, regional, national and local levels. For those groups, communities and individuals most affected by racism and discrimination, the World Conference has the potential to affect their lives and life-chances in a most profound way and to ensure the full protection and enjoyment of human rights of all.

Mr. President

The Organization which I represent, comprises of 45 Governments from the Asia and Africa. It has given due attention to isues related to Human Rights at all its annual Sessions. Being an intergovernmental body is uniquely poised to play an active role in enhancing international cooperation in implementing the strategies decided upon in this Conference. The AALCO and the Office of the UN High Commission for Human Rights propose to enter into a co-operation agreement very shortly. In this context, may I assure you that our two bodies would explore avenues for mutual cooperation in implementing the objectives of this Conference in particular, and the promotion of human rights in general .

To conclude Mr. Chairman I wish to try and propose an idea inspired from the eternally valid formula of the French Revolution Liberte Egalite , Fraternite with a minor amendment. If fraternity could be, by some magic process, implemented, at the start of this formula , and this is far fetched now then relations between states and individuals would acquire a caracter of mutual understanding and respect.

This, in time, will certainly lead to a real equality and a true liberty without which men could not develop in peace and dignity. For fraternity will eradicate for ever violence in all its formes, it would gradually heal individuals and people from their complex of inferiority or superiotiry and it would drive away decisively and definitely racial pregudices which are the surviving remainders of tribal mentality.

The future of mankind is in our hands. With fraternity and equality we can avert the looming "cataclysme" and envisage a bright future for the whole planet. Here comes the effectire role of the LJN - which must be considered as the very Heart of the Planetary Consciousness. It was supposed, then, not only to heal old wounds but to prevent new bloodsheds. In order to be able to achieve its ultimate goals; the structure, aims and efficiency of this indispensable ORGAN must be upon the shoulders of evolved and totally devoted Individuals both in the Secretariat and among the leaders of state delegations.armed with clear instructions to destroy past evils.

It is a-sine qua non - condition for the success of the LTN. These individuals armed with a sain political will and real moral sense will be up to saving humanity from the hidden powers of mass destruction.

Thank you Mr. President