United Nations, 12 November - A number of countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, voted against a Russian-initiated resolution entitled "Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to inciting contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance".
A total of 54 countries voted against. In addition to the countries mentioned above, these were Australia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Austria, Greece, the United States, Poland, France, Finland, the Czech Republic and Estonia.
On the contrary, 116 countries supported the document, including Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Serbia and Syria.
The draft resolution was co-authored by Algeria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, China, North Korea, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Pakistan, South Korea, Serbia, Syria, Sudan, Tajikistan, Togo, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia and other countries. Russia has traditionally initiated this resolution every year since 2005.
Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) sent eight draft resolutions to the General Assembly, including texts on the establishment of a UN convention on cybercrime, the promotion of indigenous rights and the fight against the glorification of Nazism.
The Committee approved the draft resolution ( A/C.3/79/L.2), as amended, by 116 votes to 54, with 11 abstentions. The text would express the Assembly's concern about the glorification of the Nazi movement, neo-Nazism and former members of the Waffen SS, including the erection of monuments and memorials and the holding of public demonstrations in the name of glorifying the Nazi past. Urges States to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination by all appropriate means - including legislation - and to take further measures to support the training of police and other law enforcement authorities on the ideologies of extremist political parties in order to strengthen their capacity to address racist and xenophobic crimes and prevent racial profiling practices.
Before adopting item L.2, the Committee approved - by 66 votes to 43, with 51 abstentions - the amendment ( A/C.3/79/L.51), inserting a new operative paragraph which "notes with concern that the Russian Federation is attempting to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine by allegedly seeking to eliminate neo-Nazism, and stresses that the pretext for justifying territorial aggression seriously undermines genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism".
In introducing the amendment, the Norwegian delegate pointed out that this year's proposal had again been misrepresented as "technical spin". While the text is supposed to fight against the glorification of Nazism, "The Russian Federation is doing the exact opposite", warned and denounced the instrumentalization of history that makes the proposal "a means of propaganda".
Many delegates echoed concerns that Moscow continues to use the proposal to justify its illegal invasion of Ukraine under the pretext of neo-Nazism, citing it as "a shining example of its efforts to advance its geopolitical goals".
Other delegates supported the motion but distanced themselves from the amendment, calling it "procedural provocation". They rejected politicization and stressed that "this is a thematic resolution, not a country-specific resolution". They added that such a selective approach violates the principle of impartiality and objectivity, prevents constructive dialogue and dilutes the proposal.
PHOTO - Global Look Press/Sean Kilpatrick
