By an overwhelming majority, the third committee of the UN General Assembly has adopted a draft of the Russia-proposed resolution condemning racist propaganda and the glorification of Nazism.
The document was supported by 118 delegations, the US voted against it and 55 member-states – including the EU countries, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia – abstained, reports RIA Novosti. The voting at the committee on social and humanitarian issues is believed to be the major stage in the process of the adoption of a UN resolution. Its decisions are normally supported by the General Assembly, which is due to consider the resolution in mid-December. The draft resolution expresses “a deep concern over a glorification of the Nazi movement and former members of the Waffen-SS.”Speaking at the committee meeting, Russia’s representative Grigory Lukiyantsev noted that opponents of the resolution maintained that Nazi marches and erecting monuments to those “who eliminated millions of innocent people for the sake of the theory of racial superiority…was the realization of human rights or with freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”He pointed out that only 20 to 30 years ago, when the majority of the WWII veterans were still alive, “no one would even dare to voice such arguments at the UN”. “The delegation of the Russian Federation is confident that the adoption of the resolution by UN-member states will contribute greatly to the elimination of racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance that arise from them,” he is quoted by Itar-tass as saying.Among other things, the Russia-backed draft voices concern over continuing attempts to defile or demolish monuments to those who fought against the Nazis during the Second World War. It also condemns the illegal exhumation or relocation of remains of the warriors who laid their lives countering the Nazi onslaught.The document –which was initiated by Russia and 30 other states – also calls on UN members to take efficient measures to tackle the problem.