The United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ukraine were among nine countries that voted against a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for action against racism.
The Human Rights Council on October 7 adopted a total of 14 resolutions, with one calling for action against racism.
United Kingdom Human Rights Ambassador Rita French said the UK opposed the resolution because it would require “reparations for the slave trade and colonialism”.
She added, “This caused great suffering to many but were not, at that time, violations of international law.”
The Human Rights Council requested the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to submit a report to the council at its fifty-fourth session in a resolution titled “from rhetoric to reality: a global call for concrete action against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.” The resolution was passed by a vote of 32 in favor, nine against, and six abstentions.
The council also requested the United Nations system to strengthen its awareness-raising campaigns to increase the visibility of the ‘Durban Declaration and Program of Action’s message; Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner’ to provide the necessary human and financial resources to support the Working Group’s implementation of its mandate.
Countries who voted in favor included Argentina, Armenia, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, China, Cote d’Ivoire, , Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Paraguay, Qatar, Nepal, Pakistan, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Those who voted against are Czechia, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Montenegro, Netherlands, United Kingdom and United States.
Countries who abstained from voting on this resolution were Finland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Republic of Korea and Uzbekistan.
