SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HOLOCAUST …United Nations Affairs, I wish you and your family a...

SECOND ANNUALINTERNATIONAL DAY OF

HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION

B ’ N A I B ’ R I T H I N T E R N A T I O N A LU N I T E D N A T I O N S A F F A I R S Q U A R T E R LY S P E C I A L I S S U E

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HOLOCAUST DENIAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS

A Special Foreword from

AMBASSADOR J. CHRISTIAN KENNEDYU.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues

Remarks by

CONGRESSMAN ALCEE L. HASTINGS(D-Fla.)

AMBASSADOR THOMAS MATUSSEKPermanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations

JUAN E. MENDEZSpecial Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide

DAVID MATASB’nai Brith Canada Honorary Counsel

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B’nai B’rith’s commitment to promot-ing tolerance and its special struggleagainst antisemitism made it the logicalhost for the panel discussion “HolocaustDenial and Human Rights” onJanuary 29, 2007 as part of the UN’sSecond Annual Day of HolocaustCommemoration. The speakers remindedus that countries and international organi-zations overwhelmingly shunned Iran’sPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s con-ference that sought to deny the Holocaust,though the forces that sparked thatconference, thrive.

As Congressman Alcee Hastings notes inhis remarks, Americans can be proud ofCongress's firm rejection of Holocaustdenial, and as a founding member of theUnited Nations, we can also take pride inthe UN’s international stance againstdenial. But, Hastings also reminds us thatthe Tehran conference last December wasnot the Iranian government's first officialgathering of Holocaust deniers—it was thesecond. And, the Holocaust deniers con-tinue circulating their fraud, as DavidMatas notes, on the Internet and throughother modern ways of diffusing false dataand information that is shrouded as fact.

On the eve of the December, 2006 Tehranconference, I was with my colleagues onthe U.S. Delegation to the semi-annualplenary of the Task Force for InternationalCooperation on Holocaust Education,Remembrance, and Research in Budapest.As a primary outcome of our meeting, the24 national delegations decided that ourchair, Hungary, had to issue on everyone’sbehalf a strong condemnation of theIranian conference. As the conference wastaking place, the BBC’s European news-casts carried interviews with real experts on

A Special Foreword from

Ambassador J. Christian KennedyU.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues

the Holocaust, who convincingly spoke tothe lack of serious Holocaust scholars atthe so-called scholarly event. Like B’naiB’rith’s panel discussion, these two eventswere among the many signaling worldwiderejection against the Tehran conference’spernicious message.

Representing a small, though growingnumber of nations, the Task Force embod-ies the growing culture of remembrancethat Ambassador Matussek cites in hisspeech. Argentina, Greece, and Croatia arerecent members. Spain formally took up itscandidacy for membership at ourBudapest plenary meeting. In the last twomonths, representatives from Australia,Canada, and Slovenia, among other coun-tries interested in joining the Task Force,have approached me. When the TaskForce supports historical research andhelps fund teacher training programs inCentral and Eastern Europe, our membersstrive to ensure that George Santayana’swell-known adage, “Those who do notstudy history are doomed to repeat it,”never becomes fact.

Joel Kaplan rightly points out that theUN’s rejection of Tehran’s Holocaustdenial message is an embodiment of theuniversal aspiration for peace and securitythat includes the protection of individualand human rights. Although I would pre-fer to end my foreword on this positivenote, in his contribution to the panel, JuanMendez reminds us that the dark forces ofhatred have sparked the continuing needfor deterrent institutions like theInternational Criminal Tribunals on theFormer Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Creatinga more tolerant world, mindful of the ter-rors of its past, remains a task we can nevercast aside.

SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

B’NAI B’RITHINTERNATIONALUN AFFAIRS QUARTERLY

B’NAI B’RITH INTERNATIONAL

CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ANDPUBLIC POLICY

OFFICE OF UN AFFAIRS

Moishe SmithInternational PresidentDaniel S. MariaschinExecutive Vice PresidentDennis GlickChair of the Executive Irving SilverVice Chair, CHRPPJoe HarariChair, UN AffairsAaron EtraVice Chair, UN AffairsSybil KesslerDirector, UN AffairsAnne KapsteinProgram Officer, UN AffairsJudd RothsteinLegacy Heritage Fellow

With the exception of Ambassador Harari'sportrait, all photographs are by Julian Voloj

SECOND ANNUALINTERNATIONALDAY OF HOLOCAUSTCOMMEMORATIONPANEL DISCUSSION:HOLOCAUST DENIALAND HUMANRIGHTSUNITED NATIONS,NEW YORK29 JANUARY 2007

The panel “Holocaust Denial and Human Rights” was co-sponsoredby the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations.

To view a recorded webcast of the event, go tohttp://www.un.org/webcast/2007.html

and scroll down to January 29.

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rectly points to the condemnation thatmember states hold for Ahmadinejad,his rejection of the facts of theHolocaust, and Iran’s sponsorship ofan international Holocaust denial con-ference last year.

On the occasion of the second officialHolocaust commemoration, which washeld on Monday, January 29, 2007,B’nai B’rith International hosted apanel discussion entitled, “HolocaustDenial and Human Rights.” Led byHonorary President Joel Kaplan andmoderated by Executive Vice PresidentDan Mariaschin, the panel was attend-ed by a full audience inside the UN’sDag Hammarskjold Library. We werehonored to have as our keynote speakerRep. Alcee L. Hastings of Florida andpanelists Ambassador ThomasMatussek of Germany’s mission to theUN; Juan E. Mendez, the Secretary-General’s special adviser on the preven-

tion of genocide; and our in-houseexpert David Matas, B’nai B’rithCanada’s honorary counsel. Theirexpertise and thoughtful commentaryon human rights and Holocaust denialmade the event not only memorable,but also one that required recording.

For, we believe that it is not enough forthe world to remember the greattragedy of the Jewish people or to fightthose who would deny that tragedy. Itis equally important, perhaps evenmore so, to honor that memory bycontinuing to learn from it.Unfortunately, we know that Jews havetraditionally been seen as the canary inthe coal mine. When they areoppressed, more oppression follows.

To continue honoring the memory ofthe Holocaust, this year, together withthe International Raoul WallenbergFoundation, B’nai B’rith Internationalco-sponsored a concert called “Partnersof Hope” on February 5 at CarnegieHall. We were privileged to hear sto-ries of bravery and humanitarianism ofHolocaust victims and their righteoussaviors. Such words will forever echoin the world and remain in our hearts.

I hope you find this edition of ournewsletter a helpful resource in com-bating Holocaust denial and that youwill continue to join forces with B’naiB’rith International to ensure that theworld not only forever remembers thetragedy of the Holocaust, but also con-tinues to learn from it to prevent futuregenocides. One of the reasons thatB’nai B’rith International focuses onthe UN is because we believe that therights of Jews will only be protectedwhen the rights of all minorities aretruly protected. To this end, I encour-age you to keep an eye out for our nextquarterly for the spring/summer sea-son, which will focus on our work atthe Human Rights Council.

On behalf of the entire B’nai B’rithInternational family and the Office ofUnited Nations Affairs, I wish you andyour family a happy Passover seasonthat is filled with freedom and bless-ings. Chag Sameach.

FROM THECHAIR’S DESK:A Message fromAmbassador Joseph E. Harari

A s Chair of the B’nai B’rithOffice of United NationsAffairs, I am proud to pres-ent the second edition of our quarterlynewsletter. Our January 29, 2007panel discussion, “Holocaust Denialand Human Rights,” which markedthe International Day ofCommemoration in memory of thevictims of the Holocaust, was so well-received and substantive that we havededicated this issue to record its con-tents. We hope that the importantmessage of this day will continue to becirculated to a larger audience.

Throughout 2005, non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) like B’nai B’rithInternational advocated that UnitedNations member states officially recog-nize the importance of a day of remem-brance to the victims of the Holocaust.We reaped the rewards of our hardwork when the General Assembly des-ignated January 27, 2006 the firstInternational Day of Commemorationin memory of the victims of theHolocaust. On that occasion, we host-ed a panel event on Holocaust educa-tion that followed the official, inaugu-ral commemoration.

Unfortunately, educating the world’spopulation on the Holocaust has notbeen enough. In the past year, we havewitnessed the resurgence of a new kindof global antisemitism, led by PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Hispromotion of a global Holocaust denialideology and series of political state-ments calling to wipe Israel off the faceof the map have highlighted the impor-tance of a global commitment toHolocaust remembrance.

Days before the annual Holocaustcommemoration at the UnitedNations, the General Assembly passedresolution A/61/53 condemningHolocaust denial. This resolution indi-

Second Annual International Day of Holocaust Commemoration

We hopethat the important

message of this daywill continue to be

circulated to alarger audience.

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cation because we believe that educa-tion is an important foundation fromwhich to combat intolerance andignorance. Unfortunately, it is nosurprise that in the 21st century,despite access to information thatexceeds our own 20th century imagi-nation, education is not enough. Tocombat antisemitism and intoleranceand their culmination in heinoushuman rights violations and evengenocide, we need laws and mecha-nisms and determination as thatdisplayed by the recentlyadopted resolution.

Even as Holocaust survivors werebeing rescued from the camps, therewas a threat of being denied theirexperience as victims in need of spe-cial human rights protections. Weechoed this in our recent letter toAmbassador Luis de Alba of Mexico,who presides over the Human RightsCouncil, when we responded to theIranian Ambassador’s remarks aboutDecember’s Tehran Holocaust denialconference. In 1945, PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower wrote toGeneral George C. Marshall that hevisited the death camps, “in order tobe in a position to give first-hand evi-dence of these things, if ever, in thefuture, there develops a tendency tocharge these allegations merelyto propaganda.”

It pains us that these words bear spe-cial relevance today. Luckily, it is not1945. We have a strong voice as Jewsand as human rights activists and weare proud to raise this voice in theface of modern threats. Just thisweek, Yad Vashem, Israel’s HolocaustMuseum, has launched a version of itswebsite in Farsi to educate Iraniansabout the Nazi slaughter of 6 millionJews. I hope you find the followingpresentations enlightening.

Representative Alcee L. Hastings servesDistrict 23 in Florida. First elected in 1992,he has been reelected seven times since. He isa Senior Democratic Whip and an influen-tial member of the Democratic leadership.He currently chairs the U.S. Commission onSecurity and Cooperation in Europe andholds other leadership positions as well. Asthe first African-American congressman fromFlorida since the post-Civil War period,Representative Hastings has championed therights of minorities, women, the elderly, chil-dren, and immigrants.

As we gather here today to observe theInternational Day of Commemoration ofthe victims of the Holocaust, we mostimportantly, reflect, remember, and paytribute to the murder of 6 million Jewsand other targeted groups.

Unfortunately the 2,000 year-old fightagainst antisemitism continues. FromEurope to Islamic countries, antisemitismhas seen a reemergence in recent years.Hate speech, neo-Nazi activities, and tar-geted violence against Jews and their insti-tutions are becoming increasingly com-monplace. And incredibly, there are thosewho still seek to deny the greatest tragedyof the Jewish people.

Just last December, PresidentAhmadinejad of Iran took his ignorantand provocative antisemitic statements onestep further. For the second time in ayear, Iran hosted an internationalHolocaust denial conference. So on thisday in history, two days after the 62ndanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz,we must enhance our vigilance for an anti-semitic upsurge. If “never again” meansanything to us now, then we can notignore this recent egregious actof antisemitism.

The resounding evidence proves that theworld refuses to ignore these acts. I amproud that the United States has taken

Good afternoon, ladies andgentlemen, I am Joel Kaplan,Honorary President of B’nai B’rithInternational, and it’s my pleasure towelcome you to our panel discussionon Holocaust denial and humanrights upon the United NationsInternational Day ofCommemoration in memory of thevictims of the Holocaust.

Our discussion today follows theadoption on Friday, January 26,2007, of a consensus resolution in theGeneral Assembly that rejects anyattempt to deny that the Holocaustwas an historical event, in full or inpart, and calls on all states to rejectHolocaust denial of any kind. B’naiB’rith applauds its adoption andaffirms the importance of such a reso-lution’s universality, not only in termsof peace and security, and legal stan-dards such as international humanrights, but also in terms of commonhuman decency.

Last year, upon the UN’s first interna-tional Holocaust commemoration, weconvened a panel on Holocaust edu-

Remarks by

Joel S. KaplanB’nai B’rith InternationalHonorary President

Remarks byRep.Alcee L. Hastings(D-Fla.)

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Antisemitism does not simply threaten the12-year old Orthodox British Jew wearinga yarmulke, or Kobe Mandel, anAmerican-Israeli beaten to death walkinghome by Palestinian Arabs. Hostilitytowards or prejudice against Jews can notbe just a “Jewish problem.” In fact, thereis almost nothing Jews can do alone tocombat this epidemic. This is an intolera-ble human-rights abuse, and it offends mepersonally, as it should the rest of society.As the president emeritus of theOrganization for Security andCooperation in Europe ParliamentaryAssembly (OSCE-PA), the world's largestregional security organization, and some-one who has traveled extensively across theglobe, I am acutely aware of the prevalenceof worldwide antisemitism, and the needto eradicate this type of bigotry.

I am exceedingly proud that ProfessorGert Weiskirchen of the GermanBundestag and I were able to be instru-mental in establishing the OSCE’s historic2004 international Conference onAntisemitism in Berlin. To date, this hasbeen one of my greatest achievements—helping transform the OSCE into a forumto combat antisemitism.

The OSCE has continued to be a leadinginternational force to scourge the world ofantisemitism. Many member states havecommitted themselves to promoting edu-

great initiative as one of the world’s leadersin combating such hate. FollowingPresident Ahmadinejad’s statement that“Israel must be wiped off the map,” dur-ing the conference entitled, “The WorldWithout Zionism” held on October 26,2005, the U.S. House of Representativesunanimously passed a resolution denounc-ing these statements. These antisemiticcomments were further rejected by bothinternational governments and the UnitedNations.

After President Ahmadinejad announcedhis intention to hold a second abominableantisemitic conference, the internationalcommunity spoke again as one with aresounding voice. In the few remaininghours Congress was in session lastDecember, I was proud to lead the Houseof Representatives in an unanimous voteto condemn Iran's commitment to holdsuch a conference.

In that same resolution, we called on theUnited Nations to publicly repudiate all ofIran’s antisemitic statements made at suchconferences. On January 22, the UnitedStates introduced a resolution to theUnited Nations, which built on the 2005UN resolution and collectively denouncedany form of Holocaust denial. I am over-joyed that on January 26, the UnitedNations General Assembly adopted thisresolution by consensus.

cational programs for Holocaust remem-brance and combating antisemitism. TheOSCE as a whole has unanimously passedseveral resolutions condemning this intol-erance. Most significantly, the OSCE hasheld several high-level conferences on anti-semitism. By speaking in one voice, par-liamentarians from Vancouver toVladivostok sent a clear, unequivocal mes-sage that this evil will not be tolerated inour societies.

I am looking forward to the upcomingBucharest tolerance meeting this springand feel confident the Spanish chairmanand our Romanian hosts will ensure itcontinues the OSCE’s groundbreakingwork. I am now proud to be serving asthe chair of the Commission on Securityand Cooperation in Europe, commonlyreferred to as the Helsinki Commission.As the first African-American to chair theCommission, I pledge to continue theCommission’s work to draw attentionand counter antisemitism andrelated violence.

This is not an easy time period for theState of Israel or for the Jewish people.But we can not allow worldwideignorance and indifference to continue.Because this discrimination is real, perva-sive, and a threat to all of society, it is upto all of us to work towards combatingthis epidemic.

Left to right: Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president, Congressman Alcee L. Hasting (D-Fla.), Dennis Glick, chairman of theexecutive, Aaron Rose, Board of Governors member, Sybil Kessler, director UN affairs.

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Ambassador Thomas Matussek is thePermanent Representative of the GermanMission to the UN. A trained lawyer,Ambassador Matussek entered the GermanFederal Foreign Office in 1975 and hasserved in London, New Delhi, and Lisbon.Prior to the UN, Ambassador Matussek wasdirector general of the Political Departmentin Berlin, and German ambassador to theCourt of St. James’s in London.

Thank you to B’nai B’rith for the chanceto speak here and to discuss these impor-tant issues. I am honored and delighted toshare this podium with Dan Mariaschin.Dan is not only a friend; he was my men-tor for five years in Washington, so if youdon’t like anything I say here, complain tohim.

I am here as a German and I am here asthe representative of Germany. For usGermans, the Holocaust means twothings: remembrance and warning. The

Holocaust, the Shoah, will always be for usthe darkest chapter of our history. Butwhat is more important is the question:What we do with this history? What willwe do with this identity? This is part of

our German identity and from that factcomes a special responsibility. The Shoahdidn’t come by itself; it was committed byGermans and in the name of Germany. I am of the generation born after the war.

Thank you Congressman Hastingsfor those eloquent remarks.

I am Dan Mariaschin, executive vicepresident of B’nai B’rithInternational, and it’s my honor toopen and moderate our discussiontoday. More than ten years ago, theUnited Nations Human RightsCommittee found that statements byRobert Faurisson denying theHolocaust were, “of a nature as toraise or strengthen antisemitic feel-ings.” Indeed, the Committee deter-mined that France’s restriction of hisfreedom of expression was deemed

permissible in accordance with theInternational Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights Article 19, Paragraph3 (a), which allows restrictions onexpression when they are provided bylaw and deemed necessary for therespect of the rights or reputations ofothers. It is increasingly recognizedlegally that Holocaust denial violatesthis right.

Today, Germany is spearheading aneffort to ban Holocaust denialthroughout the European Union.Recently the David S. WymanInstitute for Holocaust Studiesreleased its report, “HolocaustDenial: A Global Survey-2006,”which notes that, “there was a notice-able decline in denial activity follow-ing the jailing of the movement'sbest-known figure, David Irving inAustria, and the prosecution ofprominent activists Ernst Zündel andGermar Rudolf in Germany.” Thestudy also argues, unfortunately, that,

German Ambassador to the UN Thomas Matussek listens as B'nai B’rithCanada's David Matas speaks.

Remarks by

Daniel S. MariaschinB’nai B’rith InternationalExecutive Vice President

“the release of Irving from prison inDecember 2006, after serving aboutone-third of his three year sentence,is likely to reinvigorate the denialmovement in the year ahead.”

On Friday, January 26, German pros-ecutors in Mannheim demanded afive-year jail sentence for ErnstZündel. Also in Manheim, GermarRudolf is facing up to five additionalyears in prison on a new charge,which involves using the internet tospread Holocaust denial and racialhatred. In 1995, after writing anarticle claiming the Nazis did not gasJews in Auschwitz, Rudolf was sen-tenced to 14 months.

As you can see, there are many newdevelopments in this field and we arefortunate to have three importantguests: Ambassador ThomasMatussek, Juan Mendez, and DavidMatas who will address thesedisturbing trends.

Remarks by

Ambassador Thomas MatussekPermanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations

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Juan E. Mendez was appointed the UnitedNations special adviser on the prevention ofgenocide, a post that is complementary to hisfull-time position as the president of theInternational Center for Transitional Justice.For 15 years, he worked with HumanRights Watch, concentrating his efforts onhuman rights issues in the western hemi-sphere. In 1994, he became general counselof Human Rights Watch. Between 2000and 2003 he was a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ofthe Organization of American States (OAS),and served as president in 2002.

When I was invited to attend this paneldiscussion, I was asked to speak about thelinks between genocide denial and theprevention of genocide and to share myviews about mechanisms for the preven-tion of genocide within the UnitedNations and their interaction with effortsto combat intolerance.

I should like to recall at the beginningthat the very foundation of the UnitedNations is to a large extent linked to adesire to avert the horrors of the SecondWorld War, including the Holocaust. Itis therefore particularly painful for theUnited Nations to recognize its shortcom-ings to prevent genocide from takingplace again in the 1990s, despite the les-sons we learned from the early part of thelast century, from the Holocaust andWorld War II. The crimes committed inRwanda and Srebrenica, and the collectivefailure to avert them or respond adequate-ly to them, have compelled the UnitedNations to review its mechanisms andtake effective preventive action.

It was in reaction to those failures of thepast that the Secretary-Generalannounced the creation of the office ofthe special adviser on the prevention ofgenocide in Geneva, during a ceremonyat the UN Commission on HumanRights commemorating the tenthanniversary of the Rwandan genocide inApril, 2004. This announcement was

Many of my generation, and in fact all ofthem, have no individual or personal guilt,but we have a common responsibility. Weknow that we have the responsibility topreserve the memory of the victims and ofwhat happened and to shape the future.This is especially important today whenever fewer survivors can pass on their per-sonal memory, their personal experience ofthe Holocaust. Therefore it is vital, in ourview, to find new ways of keeping alive thememory of those terrible crimes for futuregenerations.

Today our answer, the German answer,is twofold: First of all, a growing Jewishcommunity in Germany which can live inpeace and freedom. And second, a State ofIsrael whose people can live freely andsecurely from terror and violence.

I think today there is global consensuson Holocaust remembrance. The signifi-cance of the Holocaust is not confined toGermany, not confined to Europe alone.There is a growing worldwide interestwhich is expressed by the number ofmemorial sites, of museums, by the quanti-ty and quality of literature and research onthe subject.

In Europe, but also outside of Europe,the past two to three decades have seen theemergence of a new, more broad-based cul-ture of remembrance. A collective transna-tional memory is gradually taking shape.The UN Holocaust Commemoration Dayis the clearest manifestation of this evolvingshared consciousness.

On Holocaust Denial I think Congressman Hastings has said

all there is to say about PresidentAhmadinejad, but let me just add twoquotes. One of Chancellor Merkel, who–in an immediate response— stated:“President Ahmadinejad’s remarks are unac-ceptable. We will have to tell Iran with alldiplomatic means what is acceptable andwhat is not.” And of Foreign MinisterSteinmeier: “Today and in the future, wewill unreservedly reject any attempt to denyor to qualify the Holocaust and will count-er any attempt to put Israel’s right to existinto question. All citizens of Israel have theright to live within secure borders, free ofterror and free of fear. This is and this willremain one of the core tenets of Germanyforeign policy.”

In response to the conference in Tehran,the German Federal Government hosted amajor conference in Berlin for leadingHolocaust researchers. This Berlin confer-ence impressively demonstrated the broadinternational consensus that exists amongstall serious historians of the Holocaust. Theleading researchers in the field have termi-nated their cooperation with the IranianInstitute, which compromised its academicintegrity by hosting the Teheran conference.

On Holocaust Denial trials in EuropeThe responsibility imposed upon us by

the victims of the Holocaust gives a clearmandate. We must never allow their suffer-ing to fall into oblivion or to be ignored.We must never allow the historical facts ofthe Holocaust to be distorted. We havedrawn the conclusions that whoever makespublic denial of the Holocaust commits apunishable offense. Such acts, in my coun-try, are considered criminal agitation againsta community and its members, and cannotbe condoned for freedom of expression orindeed freedom of research. Anyone whoapproves, makes light, or denies theHolocaust commits a criminal offense.

In light of this experience, Germany iskeen to make Holocaust denial, hatespeech, and similar crimes a punishableoffense throughout Europe. As Presidencyof the European Union, we have re-launched an EU initiative to combatracism, xenophobia, and Holocaust denial.In doing so, we will respect the constitu-tional rights of Europe’s citizens.

The second element of our responsibilityis the prevention of future genocide. Bycommemorating the Holocaust, we reaf-firm our responsibility to combat anti-semitism, racism, and any form of political,ethnic, or religious intolerance.

Antisemitism has been the central histori-cal context of the Holocaust. But racism,intolerance, and hatred may yet again gen-erate atrocities and genocidal crimes.Therefore, it is the duty of every member oftoday’s global community to prevent this.But the first and foremost prerequisite fortaking up this duty is readiness to face thetruth. It is our resolve neither to evade thetruth nor to distort historical facts. Suchdistortions are a shameful failure of theresponsibility we all share to ensure a worldfree from all such atrocities.

Remarks by

Juan E. MendezSpecial Adviser to theSecretary-General on thePrevention of Genocide

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minority” as indicators of genocide.

At the same time, we must recognizethat there are important differencesbetween hate speech and incitement togenocide. There is clearly a differencebetween monitoring hate speech as anearly warning sign for genocide and con-fusing it with incitement to genocideitself. The former would require earlypreventive measures, while the latter mayconstitute in and of itself a serious crimeunder the 1948 Convention.

Furthermore, not all hate speech is anearly warning sign of genocide; indeed,most hate-mongers do not includeamong their active goals the destructionof other groups and those who do oftenlack the means to put their desires intoeffect. Understanding the differencesbetween these two bodies of law may beimportant in distinguishing betweeninstances of hate speech which forewarnof genocide and those which do not.

For prevention to be more than a simplesounding of alarm bells, it also requiresearly action. I believe that early warningshould always be accompanied by practi-cal proposals and recommendations thatenable the international community toact in a timely fashion.

Both in the short and long term, theprevention of genocide seems predicatedon acting comprehensively in four inter-related areas: (1) the protection of pop-ulations at risk against serious or massiveviolations of human rights or humanitar-ian law; (2) establishing accountabilityfor violations of human rights andhumanitarian law; (3) humanitarianrelief or access to basic economic, social,and cultural rights; and (4) steps toaddress underlying causes of conflictthrough peace agreements and transi-tional processes.

The importance of establishing account-ability is underlined by Holocaust denialtoday. First, victims must see that jus-tice is done and provide a deterrent topossible perpetrators in subsequent situ-ations. Second, the historic factsdescribing the detailed circumstancessurrounding individual crimes andhuman rights violations must be record-ed. For the purposes of the preventive

at risk. Violations of human rights orhumanitarian law, which may becomemassive or serious, have to take place.Additional factors derive from the devel-oping international case-law on genocideand the findings of academic research.An important criterion is a history ofacts of genocide in the countryin question.

Countries matching most criteria inthese categories will be closely monitoredby my office. Additional precipitating orexternal factors can serve to determinethose countries in which immediateinvolvement is necessary. One precipi-tating factor to look for is the prevalenceof expressions of hate speech directed atcertain populations at risk, especially ifthey are uttered in the context of anactual or potential outbreak of violence.Another important factor is denial ofprevious instances of violenceand discrimination.

As you will be aware, internationalhuman rights law establishes differentstandards for incitement to violence anddiscrimination. Direct and public incite-ment to commit genocide is itself a pun-ishable act under the Convention of1948. It was noted in the early discus-sions on the Genocide Convention thatthe perpetration of genocide could betraced back to the arousing of racial,national, or religious hatred. There isthus an inherent connection between‘incitement to genocide’ in the GenocideConvention and the various provisionsrelating to hate speech under interna-tional human rights law.

In 2005, the CERD Committee[Committee on the Elimination ofRacial Discrimination] adopted a deci-sion on indicators of patterns of system-atic and massive racial discriminationthat draws a link between hate speechand incitement to genocide, identifying“systematic and widespread use andacceptance of speech or propaganda pro-moting hatred and/or inciting violenceagainst minority groups, particularly inthe media,” and “grave statements bypolitical leaders and prominent peoplethat express support for affirmation ofsuperiority of a race or an ethnic group,dehumanize and demonize minorities, orcondone or justify violence against a

part of a broader Action Plan to PreventGenocide involving the whole UnitedNations system that the Secretary-General summarized under five head-ings: Preventing armed conflict, protec-tion of civilians in armed conflict, end-ing impunity, early and clear warning,and swift and decisive action. TheSecretary-General identified conspicuousgaps in the United Nation’s capacity toprovide early warning of genocide orcomparable crimes.

It is important for me to recall that thepurpose of the special adviser is not todetermine whether genocide hasoccurred or is occurring in a particularcountry, but to propose steps to prevent-ing it. Prevention requires early warningbased on indicators or warning signs, ofsituations that risk deteriorating. I viewmy role as that of a focal point for earlywarning information coming fromsources inside and outside the UN sys-tem. I have invited UN departmentsand agencies, governments, genocidescholars, NGOs, and others to bringinformation, analyses or proposals foraction to the attention of my office.

In accordance with my mandate toadvise the Secretary-General and theSecurity Council of situations of massiveviolations, I take up country situationson a case-by-case basis. In doing so, thestarting point is the legal definition ofthe crime of genocide and other punish-able acts according to the Convention of1948. Accordingly, information needsto point toward the existence of anational, ethnic, racial, or religious group

Juan E. Mendez, special adviser to theSecretary-General on the preventionof genocide.

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David Matas serves as honorary counselto B’nai Brith Canada and holds a pri-vate practice in refugee, immigration,and human rights law in Winnipeg,Canada. He has been with B’nai BrithCanada for over 20 years and served asVice President from 1996-1998. He isa revered member of the Canadian BarAssociation, has brought a number ofcases to the Canadian Supreme Court,and authored several books and articles.Mr. Matas is a regular member of B’naiB’rith’s annual delegation to the formerCommission on Human Rights and nowHuman Rights Council in Geneva. Heis the author of “Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism,” publishedby Dundurn press in 2005.

What is to be done about theHolocaust denial promoted by IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?To answer that question, we mustconsider the nature of the harm inHolocaust denial. Holocaust denial ismore than an affront to the memoryof the victims, more than a denial ofreality. It is a form of incitement tohatred against the Jewish people.

Like most hate speech, the appeal ofHolocaust denial is not apparent tothose not inclined to hate. Like otherantisemitic slurs, Holocaust denialseems absurd on its face to those whoare tolerant and grounded in reality.The denial may seem to reflect poorlyon the deniers and no one else. HowHolocaust denial may lead to thehatred of Jews needs explanation.

The Holocaust is one of the best-doc-umented events of all history. Thereare many survivors still alive todaywho can testify to what happened.There are many perpetrators who havebeen accused, tried, convicted, andpunished. Their trials have left exten-sive records from the testimony ofwitnesses and filings of exhibits.There are museums and libraries

throughout the world filled with doc-uments and artifacts of the Holocaust.The remains of extermination campsstill exist, such as Birkenau nearAuschwitz and Majdanek. There arefilms, memoirs, and TV programs allgrounded in the Holocaust. There aremonuments where the victims werekilled and the survivors now live,commemorating what happened.

One has to ask what Holocaust denialmeans, given this historical record.When a person says that theHolocaust did not exist, given allthese court cases, all the monumentsand museums, and all the memoirsand films, that person is alleging afraud on a massive scale. Obviously, ifthe Holocaust did not happen, thesurvivors, the museum curators, thehistorians, the librarians, the prosecu-tors, the judges and juries, the movieand TV producers, and the reportersare not just confused or forgetful.They are lying.

Holocaust denial, by its very nature, isan allegation of massive fraud. Theallegation of massive fraud is not sepa-rate from the allegation that theHolocaust never happened but, by itsvery nature, is implicit in it. Someforms of Holocaust denial actuallyassert this fraud. Others do not.However, it is not necessary to say theword "fraud"; the allegation of fraudis there even where it is unspoken.

One has to ask further who would bebehind such a fraud, if one accepts thefraud in the first place. The answer ofHolocaust deniers is the Jews.Although much Holocaust evidencecomes from non-Jews and much ofthe documentation is Nazi Germandocumentation, information from sur-vivors and the organized Jewish com-munity is essential to the memory ofthe Holocaust. Again, someHolocaust denial material explicitlyaccuses the Jewish community of per-petrating the fraud of the Holocaust.However, even the Holocaust denialmaterial that says nothing aboutJewish fraud implies this accusation.It is impossible to extricate Holocaustdenial from this allegation of Jewishfraud, even where it is not explicit.

work of my office, the accounts estab-lished by the Nuremberg Court, theICTY [International Criminal Tribunalfor the former Yugoslavia] and theICTR [International Criminal Tribunalfor Rwanda] allow us to identify manyearly warning signs of genocide andmassive and serious violations of humanrights. However, for this historic recordto be authoritative and credible in thefuture, in particular after all the sur-vivors of the events passed away, the tri-als need to comply with internationalstandards of independence and impar-tiality. Because in the case of theHolocaust the historic facts have beenestablished fully, so now we can say thatthe denial of events be strongly rejectedand its underlying intentions can beclearly identified.

That’s why for future references we needto continue to explore the past with thesame kind of standards that Nurembergestablished. I want to finish by sayingsomething about PresidentAhmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaustand hate speech. I’ve been asked bymany groups to use my office in somefashion. Now the former Secretary-General and the present Secretary-General, the General Assembly, and theSecurity Council, have all unmistakablycondemned all instances of denial of theHolocaust. I wish I could take somecredit for that, but I have to tell you thatin this building it was not necessary topersuade anybody that those denialswere an offense to the human dignity ofall of us. I’m proud to be part of thisorganization that reacted swiftly andquickly to that.

I want to add a very personal note, Ithink President Ahmadinejad alsodeserves condemnation for refusing tocooperate with the judiciary of mycountry, Argentina, that is trying inves-tigate, prosecute and punish Iranian sus-pects having participated in a very graveattack on the Argentine Jewish commu-nity in 1994 – the AMIA attack thatcost 83 lives. I think that the Argentinejudiciary is laudably insisting with inter-national cooperation and demandingcooperation from the Iranian govern-ment. I would like to use this opportu-nity to add my voice for the need forthat cooperation.

Remarks by

David MatasB’nai Brith CanadaHonorary Counsel

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Endorsement of theHolocaust, thebelief that theHolocaust rightlyhappened, trulybelongs to thelunatic fringe.Neo-Nazis wellrealize that theyhave no hope ofbuilding a massmovement or evensignificant supportbased on defense ofthe Holocaust.

For contemporaryright wing extrem-ists, Holocaustdenial becomes apolitical necessity.Holocaust denial,for these extremists,serves a dual agenda.Denial co-opts the gullible into theextremists' ideology of Jewish fraud,Jewish world control, Jewish greed.As well, it legitimizes that very ideolo-gy which the Holocaust hasde-legitimized.

Anti-Zionists come to Holocaustdenial from a different starting point.Attacking the existence of Israel hasmeant attacking the reasons given forthe existence of Israel, both withinand outside the Jewish community. Itis impossible to understand the rheto-ric against Israel without understand-ing why Israel is there, since much ofthis anti-Israel rhetoric is a rebuttal ofthe arguments for Israel.

Front and center in justifications forthe existence of the State of Israel isthe Holocaust. So, for anti-Zionists,Holocaust denial is a naturaltemptation.

Israel came into existence not justafter the Holocaust, but because of theHolocaust. Although the Holocaustwas concentrated in continentalEurope, it was a crime in which thewhole world shared, either by killingJews, or denying refuge to Jews, or bygranting a haven to their murderers.

The Holocaust required a global

response, not just a Europeanresponse. The Holocaust made evi-dent to the global community that theJewish people needed their own state,that in the case of the Jewish people,the right to self-determination of peo-ples meant the right to statehood. Itwould have been inhumane to expectthe Jewish people, after the Holocaust,to live in the countries of their perse-cutors. And their persecution was anenterprise in which the wholeworld shared.

Though Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad is now front and center,examples of Holocaust denial in theArab and Muslim world are endless.Even Mahmoud Abbas or Abu Mazen,now president of the PalestinianAuthority, wrote a book in 1983titled, "The Other Side: The SecretRelationship between Nazism and theZionist Movement." The book sug-gested that the number of six millionJews killed in the Holocaust was "ped-dled" by the Jews and that in fact "theJewish victims may number six mil-lion or be far fewer, even fewer thanone million." Abbas has justified thebook as part of the war with Israel.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has engagedin more than just incitement to hatredof Jews. His Holocaust denial, com-bined with his threats to wipe Israel

If we continue to follow this line ofinquiry, one has to ask how such afraud could be committed. Howcould the media, the libraries, themuseums, the courts be filled withinformation about the Holocaust, ifthe Holocaust never happened? Theanswer deniers give or imply is Jewishcontrol of the media, the libraries, themuseums, the courts. Holocaustdenial is a mutant of the standard his-torical antisemitic smear that Jewscontrol the world for their own evilinterests. Here too, some forms ofHolocaust denial state this explicitly.Even the forms of Holocaust denialthat do not have this antisemitic con-clusion out front have it hidden inthe background.

On the descent to hatred, the largestmovement a person has to make is theleap from the historical record toHolocaust denial. Once that leap hasbeen made, the belief in Jewish fraudis just a small and inevitable step.

Finally, we have to ask, continuing toassume the fraud, why the Jewishcommunity would carry out such ahoax. The answer Holocaust deniersgive, sometimes explicitly, but other-wise implicitly, is for sympathy, forsupport for Israel, for reparations.Again, here we see Holocaust denial asa modern dress for a traditionalantisemitic slur, the slur thatJews are greedy.

Who are Holocaust deniers? Whydoes anyone embrace Holocaustdenial? Holocaust deniers essentiallyconsist of two groups, right-wingextremists and anti-Zionists.

Right-wing extremist organizations,which splinter in a thousand differentways, have this one belief in common.They have learned well from the ini-tial success of the Nazis. The incite-ment of hatred against Jews is a politi-cal tool for right-wing extremists thatgoes far beyond attacking Jews. Theyhave learned the lessons of the Nazistoo well, that the road to power iswhipping up hatred against Jews.

The Holocaust, however, discreditsright-wing extremists everywhere.

David Matas, B'nai Brith Canada honorary counsel.

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off the map and his promotion ofIranian nuclear development, areincitement to genocide. While we allhere say about the Holocaust, “neveragain,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says,yes, again. Already, throughHolocaust denial, MahmoudAhmadinejad is attempting to killthe memory of the victims.

Incitement to genocide and incite-ment to hatred are linked. Incitementto genocide states the ends.Incitement to hatred states the rea-sons. There is a fine line betweenincitement to hatred and incitementto genocide. The de-personalization,the dehumanization of hate speech,are steps along the way to genocide.Calling people cockroaches and urgingtheir extermination is incitement togenocide. Calling people cockroachesbut remaining silent about extermina-tion is almost the same. Combatingincitement to genocide means combatingincitement to hatred. And combatingincitement to hatred against Jews meanscombating Holocaust denial.

Holocaust denial has to be combatedboth nationally and internationally.National policies, national laws prohibit-ing Holocaust denial are one set of toolswhich we see in many states in Europe.But the problem of incitement to hatred,like all propaganda, is most acute in aclosed environment. Even in an opensociety, some people will be susceptible toincitement to hatred. In a closed society,reality is not an answer, because reality issuppressed. In a closed society, what isthe purview of a lunatic fringe, gets pro-pelled front and center. In Iran, thelunacy of Holocaust denial has been pro-pelled into the mouth of the president.

The question, then, is what can we do topenetrate into this closed environment?The answer, I suggest, lies with the multi-lateral, global system. National laws andinitiatives help. But it is the global com-munity speaking with one voice which ismost likely to undermine the Holocaustdenial of the Iranian regime.It is easy enough for Iran to ignore ordeny what any one other state does. Butit is a lot more difficult for Iran toexplain and justify to its own citizens aglobal pariah status.

I suggest seveninternational steps.

1. Continuing UN resolutions condemn-ing Holocaust denial. This year we hadin the General Assembly for the first time aresolution condemning Holocaust denial.This resolution with component actionitems should continue, year after year, aslong as Holocaust denial remains a reality.

2. Continuing UN Holocaustcommemorative days. Today is thesecond annual commemorative day. Thisday too needs to continue indefinitely. Wehave to say the victims of the Holocaust, inthe face of Holocaust denial; we will notforget you ever.

3. Banning Holocaust denial from theUnited Nations podium. Holocaustdenial should be out of order at the UnitedNations. Rules of order and codes of pro-cedure for all UN meetings need to reflectthat policy.

4. Banning Mahmoud Ahmadinejadfrom the United Nations podium.Ahmadinejad has been so identified withHolocaust denial that to allow him tospeak at the United Nations, in any forum,would amount to turning a blind eye tohis Holocaust denial.

5. Expanding the Security Council sanc-tion regime against Iran. The SecurityCouncil last month imposed sanctions onIran, blocking the import or export of sen-sitive nuclear material and equipment, andfreezing the financial assets of persons orentities supporting its proliferation of sensi-tive nuclear activities or the developmentof nuclear weapon delivery systems. Theresolution called on Iran to suspendenrichment-related and reprocessing activi-ties, including research and developmentand work on all heavy-water related proj-ects, including the construction of aresearch reactor moderated by heavy water.Iranian nuclear weapons development andHolocaust denial are related activities.They are two sides of the same coin.Genocide is the end; nuclear weaponsare the means.

Incitement to genocide against the Jewishpeople is a threat to the peace which justi-

fies the use of the UN sanction regime.The Security Council needs to address asdirectly and seriously Iranian Holocaustdenial as it does Iranian nuclear weaponsdevelopment. Sanctions need to be morecomprehensive and trigger an end of offi-cial Holocaust denial in Iran. In particular,neither Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, nor anyother member of the Iranian regime whodescends into Holocaust denial, should beallowed entry into any other member stateof the United Nations as long as they per-sist in Holocaust denial.

6. Prosecuting Mahmoud Ahmadinejadat the International Criminal Court.The statute of the Court criminalizesincitement to genocide. The Court hasjurisdiction over nationals of states’ parties,crimes committed on territories of states’parties, and situations referred by theSecurity Council. Iran is not a party to thestatute of the Court. But the SecurityCouncil could easily refer to the Court thesituation of incitement to genocidein Iran.

The Security Council has already donesomething similar, in referring the situationin Darfur, Sudan to the Court. Now is thetime for comparable referral for Iran.

7. Bringing Iran before theInternational Court of Justice for failureto prosecute Ahmadinejad for incite-ment to genocide. Iran, the UnitedStates, Canada, and many other states areparties to the Genocide Convention. ThatConvention obliges all states’ parties toprohibit and prosecute incitement to geno-cide. It further allows any state party tobring before the International Court ofJustice any other state party for violation ofthat Convention. Iran, by not prosecutingAhmadinejad for incitement to genocide, isviolating its own promises to other states’parties under that Convention. For thatfailure, Iran should be held accountable.

We have to take incitement togenocide seriously. We cannotwait till genocide happens. Then it is toolate. We have to react to the warningsigns. With Holocaustdenying anti-Zionist MahmoudAhmadinejad as president of a state devel-oping nuclear weapons, the warning signsare in place. We must act now.

B ’ N A I B ’ R I T H I N T E R N A T I O N A LCenter for Human Rights and Public Policy

Office of United Nations Affairs

Tel. (212) 557-0019

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: http://www.bnaibrith.org/ppolicy/un/index.cfm

Newly inaugurated eighth United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moondelivers a video message to those attending the commemoration.

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