COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS RECOMMENDS THAT ASSYRIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR CONSULTATIVE STATUS

Press Release
NGO/332

COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS RECOMMENDS THAT ASSYRIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS NOT BE ACCEPTED FOR CONSULTATIVE STATUS

Acting by vote this morning, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations decided to recommend that the Economic and Social Council not accept the application of the Assyrian National Congress for consultative status.

At the request of the representative of the United States, the Committee voted on Lebanon’s proposal to reject the application, approving it by a vote of 11 in favor to one against (United States), with six abstentions (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, France, Ireland, Romania).

Also this morning, the Committee decided to leave pending its decisions on requests for consultative status by the Kazem Rajavi International Association for the Defense of Human Rights; and Enchante Repertoire de la Tranquilite. It agreed to defer its consideration of the Israel Women’s Network until its May 2000 session.

In the case of Enchante Repertoire de la Tranquilite, the Committee had first decided to recommend rejecting the application, and subsequently agreed to postpone its decision until it received responses to new questions posed by the United States representative.

The Committee is charged with making recommendations to the Economic and Social Council on which groups should be granted roster, special or general consultative status. It makes its decisions based on the criteria set out in the provisions of Council resolution 1996/31, and considers issues such as groups’ capacity to contribute to the work of the Council and support the aims of the United Nations Charter, as well as matters such as membership and financial regimes.

When the Committee was discussing the application of the Assyrian National Congress, Lebanon’s representative said the Committee should recommend rejecting the application on the grounds that the group’s goals and objectives contradicted the provisions of Council resolution 1996/31, as well as the Charter. It did not respect the principles of States sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Assyrian National Congress had not clarified its definitions of “minority” and “indigenous” people, despite the Committee’s repeated questions. The Congress’s most recent response to the Committee’s questions indicated a lack of respect for the Committee.

Committee on NGOs - 2 - Press Release NGO/332 729th Meeting (AM) 26 January 2000

[A letter addressed to the Committee dated 23 January from the Assyrian National Congress states, in part: "No matter how many questions we answer or how many representatives we send, the opposition to our application will not go away. In such circumstances our only option is to appeal our case to the Economic and Social Council or other higher up organs of the United Nations."

The letter also states that the Assyrian National Congress has for years been answering questions raised by the Committee, but has been "confronted by an orchestrated campaign carried out against our application by the ‘Iraqi Observer’ and few [sic] other representatives from the Arab countries". The reason for that, the group writes, is that it monitors abuses against human rights, "including the linguistic and cultural rights, of the indigenous people in Iraq, where a campaign of ‘ethnocide’ and ‘Arabization’ have been carried out against the history and culture of those indigenous people".]

The delegate from the United States suggested that the degree of frustration expressed in the organization’s reply was a reaction to the length of time the Committee had taken to reach a decision. He also felt that the Assyrian National Congress’ stated intention to appeal to the Economic and Social Council if no action was taken on its request during this session was not a threat to the authority of the Committee, but might be a reflection of ignorance of the Committee’s rules and procedures.

Frustration and ignorance was not an excuse for a lack of respect for members and observers of the Committee, Egypt’s representative said. In addition to the fact that the group was promoting historical inaccuracies, he wondered why it had suggested meeting separately with members of the Committee instead of sending a representative to speak to the Committee.

Algeria’s representative said the Committee had been trying for several years to determine what the work of the organization was. Repeated requests for clarification had been met with contradictory responses. If the Assyrian National Congress had been serious about dealing with any of the sensitive issues that had been raised, it would have sent a representative –- particularly as distance was not an issue.

India’s representative said the Committee had tried to have a dialogue with the group in question. But the organization had removed itself from the dialogue. It was engaged in political activity that did not respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States.

Also during the meeting this morning, the Committee took up the application from the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America. Committee members asked for clarification of the terms “practical zionism” and “pragmatic zionism” contained in communications from the group.

The observer from Syria noted that one of the organization’s stated purposes was to try to establish institutions to combat discrimination because of religion, nationality and race. But zionism was based on occupation, terrorism, plundering of resources and land, racial supremacy and elitism, he said. Clarification was

Committee on NGOs - 3 - Press Release NGO/332 729th Meeting (AM) 26 January 2000

needed. Cuba’s representative asked what was meant by the group’s stated objective to promote the external policy of the United States throughout the world.

Statements before today's vote were made by the representatives of Chile, Bolivia, Turkey, Ireland, Russian Federation, India and Cuba.

Also this morning, statements were made by the representatives of Pakistan, Sudan, China, Tunisia, France, and the observers from Iran and Iraq. The Chief of the Non-Governmental Organizations Section, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Hanifa Mezoui, addressed the Committee.

When it meets again at 3 p.m. today and continues its consideration of applications for consultative status, the Committee plans to hear from a representative of the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America.

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