Go On! Minorities & political participation

(Go On! is an occasional item on symposia of interest. This particular one's a guest post, from IntLawGrrls guest/alumna Gay McDougall)

I am pleased to announce that U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California) (below left), Chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus, will chair the Second United Nations Forum on Minority Issues, undertaken in accordance with Human Rights Council Resolution 6/15 (2007). Yours truly has organized and convened the forum as part of my duties as the U.N. Independent Expert on Minority Issues, about which I've posted here.
Theme for this forum is "Minorities and Effective Political Participation"; it will take place November 11-13, 2009, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Discussions at the forum will focus on the following core elements:
► identification of good practices in relation to minorities and political participation;
► identification of challenges and problems facing minorities and countries with respect to increasing the participation of minorities in political processes;
► consideration of opportunities; and
► initiatives and solutions for improved and more effective political participation by members of minority groups.
In addition to a wide range of stakeholders, the Forum will bring together members of minority populations from all regions of the world, who are either elected officials or have been candidates at national or local levels, those engaged in political parties, and those who are actively engaged in developing programs to encourage greater participation of minorities in the political process. There will also be a number of minorities who are senior government officials from countries that have affirmative action policies or constitutional provisions that require diversity in the top echelons of government. It is hoped that they will be able to share their personal experiences and to make proposals for policies that would encourage greater participation of minority groups in political processes.
Additionally, the Forum participants will include governments, relevant bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations, regional organizations, national human rights institutions, experts on minority issues and non-governmental organizations. As last year, it is anticipated that there will be over 400 participants.
The forum will produce action-oriented recommendations, addressed to governments, political parties and nongovernmental organizations, which I will present to the Human Rights Council next spring.
For information, please contact the Secretariat supporting the forum, Lydie Ventre, lventre@ohchr.org, or Kim Turcotte, minorityforum@ohchr.org. Further details here.

On July 16, ...

... 1942 (65 years ago today), on orders of the Vichy government that ruled after France fell to the Nazis in World War II, French police rounded up at least 13,000 citizens of Jewish heritage -- including more than 4,000 children -- and detained them in Paris' Vélodrome d'hiver (left), the Winter Velodrome not far from the Eiffel Tower. Of them, "not 1 child or woman escaped death at Auschwitz,"although 40 men did survive. On this date in 1995, President Jacques Chirac acknowledged police responsibility for the incident, known as le rafle du Vel d'Hiv.
.... 1946, the only Member of Congress to have voted against post-9/11 military action in Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Cal.), was born in El Paso, Texas.

The Olympics card

The approach of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is giving China increased international attention -- some of which Chinese leaders no doubt would be happy to do without.
With Mia Farrow in the lead, some celebrities advocate boycotting what they've begun to call the "Genocide Olympics" unless China urges Sudan, its trading partner, to stop the violence in Darfur and let U.N. peacekeepers in. When Steven Spielberg, artistic director for the '08 games, expressed concern, China appointed a special envoy to the region.

Members of Congress have joined in, proposing resolutions to pressure China on Darfur. "'With the Olympics coming, China is now in the international spotlight," U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) noted, then declared that it's time for "'China, finally, to join the world community and acknowledge that genocide is taking place.'"

China's new Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, lashed back: "'There is a handful of people who are trying to politicize the Olympic Games. This is against the spirit of the Games. It also runs counter to the aspirations of all the people in the world, and so their aims will never be achieved.'"

Yang thus endeavored to disregard decades of politicization of the Olympics. The 1992 Barcelona games were the 1st in modern history that no country boycotted for some political reason. Among the political disputes that has played out in Olympic arenas -- and continues to do so -- is China's chronic tiff with Taiwan.

Still, Yang's response to Darfur-related pressure counsels care in playing the Olympics card. Is a boycott in fact possible, and if not, is threatening it a good idea? The complexity of China's relationship to Sudan and Darfur -- and to the rest of the world -- was evident yesterday: U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, on "The News Hour" to promote the U.S. increase in sanctions against Sudan, took pains to state that although Chinese leaders do not support sanctions, "they appreciate the importance of this situation and they, along with us, have worked hard to impress upon the government of Sudan the importance of Sudan accommodating the wishes and demands of the international community in regard to Darfur."
In any event, is Darfur the best reason to play the card? Surely it is not the only one. Last month Amnesty International asked the International Olympic Committee to pressure China on account of repression within China itself -- a concern that's particularly noteworthy today, just 5 days short of the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen killings. Of additional concern ought to be China's newfound penchant for giving foreign aid with no human rights strings attached. To the extent that it displaces the tradition of conditional aid, China's new policy of unfettered assistance promises to undermine a key means by which donor states from regions like North America and the European Union have prodded beneficiary states to treat their children -- and their women and men -- well.