United Nations A/73/ PV.71 General Assembly Official Records Seventy-third session 71st plenary meeting Monday, 25 March 2019, 10 a.m. New York President: Ms. Espinosa Garcés.................................... (Ecuador) The meeting was called to order at 10.15 a.m. and internationally. While we now have more laws and tools to combat discrimination, we have not managed to Commemorative meeting on the occasion of keep our promise of “never again”. the International Day for the Elimination of Racist ideologies helped fuel the genocide in Racial Discrimination Rwanda, the Srebrenica massacre and other atrocities Agenda item 72 (continued) committed since. Those crimes shame us all. They represent the worst of humankind. But they are not Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, accidents; they are part of a continuum of racism that xenophobia and related intolerance begins with small things — stereotyping, suspicious The President: Today’s meeting has been looks and questions like “Where are you really from?” convened to commemorate the International Day for the Such micro-aggressions may not always lead to human Elimination of Racial Discrimination and hold a debate rights abuses, but they can create the conditions on the mitigation and countering of rising nationalist for violations. populism and extreme supremacist ideologies, in The General Assembly decided last year that accordance with paragraph 27 of resolution 73/262, this meeting should focus on countering nationalist adopted on 22 December 2018. populism and supremacist ideologies. The Special Rapporteur on racism has reported on the rise of racist Statement by the President propaganda in all regions. The Special Rapporteur on The President: Words are powerful. Words can kill. religious freedom has documented an alarming surge in “You are subhuman; you are rats; you are cockroaches attacks on Jews and Muslims, as well as on Christians, to be exterminated”— those words framed some of the Hindus and other religious communities. worst crimes in human history: slavery, the decimation As the High Commissioner for Human Rights of indigenous peoples, the Holocaust and apartheid. recently noted, populists rely on demonizing the other. The murder of 69 peaceful protesters in Across the world, populists are exploiting the legitimate Sharpeville, South Africa, on 21 March 1960 moved grievances of those who feel left behind. We must the General Assembly to establish the International intensify efforts to make the Sustainable Development Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Goals a reality for all people everywhere, but we must International Convention on the Elimination of All not legitimize hate speech. We must push back against Forms of Racial Discrimination came into force a few those who blame our problems on migrants. We must years later. It is now 50 years old. The Convention has ensure that short-sighted nationalism does not derail supported the fight against racism at the country level global solutions. The challenges we face require global This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 ([email protected]). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 19-08333 (E) *1908333* A /73/PV.71 25/03/2019 cooperation like never before. No country can address for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This is issues such as climate change alone. Multilateralism an occasion for all of us to renew our promise to end makes us stronger, not weaker. The 2030 Agenda racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related for Sustainable Development is a framework all intolerance, including social and ethnic discrimination, Governments can use to respond to the needs and anti-Muslim hatred and anti-Semitism. aspirations of their citizens. The massacre at two mosques in New Zealand two Racism has always co-opted the discourse of the Fridays ago is the latest tragedy rooted in such poison. day — from the pseudo-religious justification for Last Friday, I visited the Islamic Cultural Center of New colonial oppression to the pseudo-scientific Nazi York to show my solidarity and express my outrage. doctrines of racial superiority. Today, the language Today and every day, we must stand united against of human rights is being co-opted. The freedom of racial and religious hatred and the terrorism of bigots. expression is used as an excuse to disseminate hate. The No country or community is immune. freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It is a powerful tool for fighting racism — but trolling I am deeply alarmed by the current rise of does not support freedom of expression, it stifles it. xenophobia, racism and intolerance, increasingly fed Hate speech is not free speech, it is racism. by nationalist and populist ideologies. Hate speech is entering the mainstream, spreading like wildfire Words can kill, but they can also save lives. I through social media and radio. And we are seeing it commend the Prime Minister of New Zealand for spread in liberal democracies and authoritarian States speaking out against hate speech in the wake of the alike. Those dark forces threaten democratic values, terrorist attack in Christchurch. I also commend the Secretary-General’s plans to create a system-wide social stability and peace. They stigmatize women, strategy on hate speech. Finally, I commend the minorities, migrants and refugees. And when people Assembly for affirming its commitment to the Durban are attacked physically, verbally or in social media Declaration and Programme of Action last year. because of their race, religion or ethnicity, all of society is diminished. It is crucial for all of us to join hands, Later today we will commemorate the victims of stand up and defend the principles of equality and slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. As we enter human dignity. the fourth year of the International Decade for People of African Descent, we must do more to address With that in mind, I asked Adama Dieng, my the impact of our past on people and institutions Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, to bring today. For example, African and the Caribbean are together the United Nations system to design a strategy underrepresented in international institutions. The and plan of action to combat hate speech. We must work seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations could harder to repair the fissures and polarization that are be an opportunity to address that. so prevalent in our societies today. We must nurture mutual understanding and invest in making diversity My heroes have spoken in this Hall, including Nelson a success. And we must counter and reject political Mandela, whose centenary we marked last year. But I want to end by quoting a fictional superhero, T’Challa, figures who exploit differences for electoral gain. who spoke these words in the movie Black Panther: But we must also ask why so many people feel “Now more than ever, the illusions of divisions excluded and are tempted by messages of intolerance threaten our very existence. We all know the against others. We need to engage everyone in truth — more connects us than separates us ... We dismantling the harmful and specious notions of racial must find a way to look after one another as if we superiority. Even today, after the pseudo-science of were one simple tribe.” the Nazis contributed to the Holocaust, the world is seeing the persistence — and even a surge — of neo- I now have the privilege to invite His Excellency Nazi thinking and white supremacy. We must bury Secretary-General António Guterres to make such lies once and for all. We must uphold and promote a statement. universal human rights at the heart of our efforts. That The Secretary-General: I am pleased to join those includes supporting national legislation that promotes gathered in this Hall to observe the International Day non-discrimination and encouraging politicians and 2/16 19-08333 25/03/2019 A /73/PV.71 religious leaders to speak out against intolerance, The President: In accordance with the decision just discriminatory stereotyping and hate speech. taken, I now give the floor to Ms. Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights. Let us all resolve today to fight racism and discrimination, in remembrance of those who have died Ms. Gilmore (United Nations Deputy High standing up for their own and others’ human rights. Let Commissioner for Human Rights): It is my honour us reflect on how we can all promote non-discrimination to convey to the General Assembly the warmest in every country and at every level. A few days after greetings of the United Nations High Commissioner the atrocity in New Zealand, worshippers attending a for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, on the mosque in England were surprised to see a white man occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of standing by the door holding a placard. It said: “You are Racial Discrimination. my friends. I will keep watch while you pray.” A national President once stood at this rostrum to urge Such solidarity is always in evidence after a tragedy. from the Assembly a more consequential understanding: We saw it in Christchurch, where the community “that until the philosophy which holds one race came out in an outpouring of grief to lay flowers and superior and another inferior is finally and perform the traditional New Zealand haka. And we saw permanently discredited and abandoned, until it last year in Pittsburgh, after the worst anti-Semitic there are no longer any first-class and second-class terrorist attack in the United States, when members of citizens of any nation, until the colour of a man’s the Muslim community voiced their support and raised skin is of no more significance than the colour of money for the victims.