The NGO's are the eyes and the ears of human rights.
Exclusive ICARE-interview with Mary Robinson.

HJ: We are here today on behalf of Icare to speak with Miss Mary Robinson, the UN Hig Commissioner of Human Rights. Miss Robinson, I'd like to officially welcome you from the ICARE-team and on behalf of the European Network Against Racism and many other organisations which are present here. We thank you very much for taking this time out and giving us some quality time to discuss together. The first question that we have is: "Could you, in your own words… how do you identify the main European issues and how this reflects on Eastern European countries?

MR: I think the main European issues concern the Fortress Europe-mentality towards asylumseekers, refugees, economic migrants, who seek to come into the more prosperous Western Europe, so that effects Eastern and Western Europe but also other regions such as North-Africa and elsewhere.
And the second issue is treatment of minorities : Roma, Sinti, Travellers, and indeed in the discussion that I just come from, Indiginous peoples.

HJ: Do you feel that the input of the NGO's that have been in this Conference has been sufficiently taken into account ?

MR: I think it has been important, first of all that NGO's are full delegates and are participating in workshops, working groups and other plenary sessions as full delegates.
Secondly I think the NGO Forum is influencing the working groups, who in terms of influencing the plenary when it comes to adopting the general conclusions.
I am encouraged by this because this is the first regional conference and it will be important that we can try and bring the message of the vital role of the civil society, that young people, groups from civil society must play if it is to be a real conference adressing issues of racism and discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.

HJ: There is a question about according to relations between upholding human rights and racism. How do you see these two being interlinked inside this conference. What would you like to see as the outcome of it?

MR: I think it has been welcome that the NGO Forum and many speakers in the working groups have emphasized the importance of setting this whole approach to the worldconference against racism in the context of international norms and standards of Human rights and in this region the European Convention and European standards of human rights.

It is important to focus on the building blocks, things like the importance of ratifying the Convention of elimination of racial discrimination, of accepting art. 14, the right of individual complaint and application. The importance of insuring that legislation complies with and is seen in the context of international standards.

The importance of … of refugees of the 1951 Convention of refugees that should be fully implemented in every country. These are legal building blocks and they are better than words: they matter. And I think it's very good that there is a focus on being quite technical in some of the recommandations and I think I've heard in each of the working groups the tightening up of some of the language which I will welcome.

HJ: Finally I'd like to ask you one more question and then we can call this a day. The Internet is coming into play. Now inside the Internet there is also question about racehate being promoted. How do you think that the United Nations can help in combating this problem with the Internet and racist ideologies being promoted through the Internet.

MR: I think it is a big dilemma and challenge. The Internet has two sides, it is the most powerful and important and informal and opening-up means of communication and it is now the means of communicating these hate-messages very directly and very influentially especially to young people who access so easily hatesites and are confronted and could be very seriously influenced and damaged in their own conceptional approaches by that direct influence in their bedroom and their, you know, informal youthgroups and the chatrooms in the internetcafes, where in groups singly they are accessing this material. It is a very difficlt issue. We've had a number of seminars on the Internet and the Human rights and racism on the Internet and we will be … there are three studies at the moment being … to feed into the Wold Conference.

Something I'm sure of, we must oppress, we must do it in a very rigorous and informant way how we prevent the hate, black side of the Internet and how we encourage the hugely important information, sharing, participating, non-censorship that the Internet must represent. It's going to be very difficult and there aren't different approaches.

I have to say that I, in particular, feel the need to safeguard children and young people who are impressionable and they do not have the mature tools of reference to relate to when they are bombarded by and are excited by hate-sites and by sharp, blunt, crude messages. And that can really influence young people, so it is a matter of great concern.

HJ: I like to thank you again on behalf of the NGO's. I think most of the NGO's were very surprised that you stayed for such a long time and are still staying here and we do notice your presence and bringing up the NGO's into the government level. And having the chance for the NGO's for voicing opinions, thank you.

HJ: As Secretary General of the Conference I made the commitment that I am going to be there for the whole of the regional conferences. And I hope to have a lot of interactions with all of the NGO's in each of the regions. In this way i is vital for my work as High Commissioner and Secretary General to the Conference and for the work of our office. We see the NGO-input as a partnership-input, we don't only say that, we mean that because the NGO's are the eyes and the ears of human rights.

Questions prepared by Mellouki Cadat (ICARE) en Hoslo Jiwa (ENAR).
Interview by Hoslo Jiwa. Interview directed by Mellouki Cadat.