Page 40 - Demo

Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesia23endemic conflicts which threaten to spread beyond the bordersof the countries in question. These conflicts often stem fromthe politicization of ethnic, racial and religious differences, orfrom discrimination resulting from foreign interference,frequently resulting in the systematic violation of basic humanrights.We share the view that slavery, slave trading, colonialismand apartheid are major historical sources and manifestationsof racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance, withenduring consequences for the peoples of African and Asiandescent. The contemporary effects of these past practices andpolicies manifest themselves in the form of poverty,underdevelopment, marginalization and socio-economicexclusion which, despite the much-vaunted merits ofglocalization, have worsened in developing countries over thelast few years. These effects not only seriously threaten globalsecurity, they also deny a large fraction of the world%u2019s populationits human rights, dignity and fundamental freedoms. In thisregard, we join in the appeal to the international community toadopt appropriate and remedial action, including reparationand compensatory measures, in order to halt and reverse theconsequences of these past policies and practices.As far back as 1963, the international community set itselfthe task of eradicating racial bias with the adoption of the UNDeclaration on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination. This objective was reinforced in 1965 by afurther commitment through the adoption of the InternationalConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination. Despite the holding of two further WorldConferences on these same issues in 1978 and 1983 and the