Thursday, February 26, 2009

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[IWS] EXPLANATION OF U.S. VOTE AGAINST UN Resolution to STOP GLORIFICATION OF NAZISM [26 February 2009]

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016
-------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

U.S. Department of State


United States Vote Against Resolution (Taken Question) [to stop glorification of Nazism + ]
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/02/119837.htm

Bureau of Public Affairs
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC

QUESTION TAKEN FROM THE FEBRUARY 25, 2009 DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

[ORIGINAL QUESTION: Robert, recently, a commission was established on preventing genocide as being co-chaired by William Cohen, Madeleine Albright, with Stuart Eizenstat and Tom Pickering. And since there is a great interest in that and it's extremely important, why did the United States vote against a resolution which was adopted recently at the General Assembly of the UN on the inadmissibility of the glorification of Nazism and on the – this is to prohibit the description of Nazi collaborators during World War II as national liberation movements? I mean, that's Orwellian.
February 26, 2009]


Question: Why did the United States vote against a resolution which was adopted recently at the General Assembly of the U.N. on the inadmissibility of the glorification of Nazism and to prohibit the description of Nazi collaborators during World War II as national liberation movements?

Answer: In November 2008 Benin, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Sudan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Zimbabwe put forward the draft resolution
Inadmissibility of certain practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to the General Assembly, which passed with 122 yes votes. The United States and the Marshall Islands voted against, with 54 abstentions.

The United States shares the repugnance at any attempt to glorify or otherwise promote Nazi ideology. However, this resolution fails to distinguish between actions and statements that, while offensive, should be protected by freedom of expression, and actions that incite violence, which should be prohibited.

The United States remains convinced that governments should not punish speech, even that which is deemed offensive or hateful. In a free society hateful ideas fail on account of their own intrinsic lack of merit. Curtailing expression is not a viable or effective means of eliminating racism and related intolerance.


PRN: 161


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****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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