54 countries vote against UN resolution on combating neo-Nazism
116 countries, including Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Serbia, and Syria, supported the document
After a spirited debate, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly approved a draft resolution on combating the glorification of Nazism by a recorded vote of 164 in favour to 54 against, with 11 abstentions.
A 74-paragraph resolution document strongly condemned incidents linked with the glorification and propaganda of Nazism, welcomed efforts to preserve historical truth, recommended that measures be taken to avert the denial of crimes against humanity, to prevent revisionism in respect of World War II.
The resolution also “strongly condemns the use in educational settings of educational material and rhetoric that promulgate racism, discrimination, hatred and violence on the basis of ethnic origin, nationality, religion or belief.
“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, South Africa, and other countries. Russia has been traditionally initiating this resolution every year since 2005.
A total of 105 countries, including Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Serbia, and Syria, supported the document. India too voted in favour of the resolution.
India said that the concept of Indigenous Peoples is not applicable in the country’s context, adding that it joins consensus on the resolution with this understanding.
Russian Federation’s delegate voiced concern over an increase in racist and xenophobic rhetoric, calls to deport migrants and refugees, Islamophobia, Afrophobia and antisemitism, the UN said in its release.
However 52 countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine voted against the Russia-initiated resolution.
Along with the above-mentioned countries, Australia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the United States, Poland, France, Finland, the Czech Republic, and Estonia were among them.
Several delegates took to the floor to express concerns over Moscow’s attempt to exploit the pretext of combating neo-Nazism to justify its brutal war against Ukraine, with Ukraine’s delegate asserting that the draft has nothing in common with the genuine fight against Nazism and neo-Nazism.
Echoing his concerns, the United Kingdom’s delegate stressed that the resolution is part of Moscow’s attempt to justify its aggression against Ukraine by furthering lies and distorting history.
The United States’ delegate called the resolution “a cynical attempt” of Moscow to further its geopolitical aims by invoking the Holocaust and Second World War.
In the same vein, Australia’s delegate called Moscow’s weaponization of the Holocaust and Nazism unacceptable.
