United Nations -- The U.N. General Assembly, on the eve of the second International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, adopted by consensus a resolution condemning any denial of the Holocaust. The United States led the effort, drafting the text and convincing 104 nations to cosponsor the resolution, which "condemns without any reservations any denial of the Holocaust." The resolution also urges all member states "unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end."
(Media-Newswire.com) - United Nations -- The U.N. General Assembly, on the eve of the second International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, adopted by consensus a resolution condemning any denial of the Holocaust.
The United States led the effort, drafting the text and convincing 104 nations to cosponsor the resolution, which "condemns without any reservations any denial of the Holocaust." The resolution also urges all member states "unreservedly to reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end."
U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said after the January 26 vote that the United States was "extraordinarily proud" to head the effort. "It is fitting that today the General Assembly came together to speak with one voice and say to the world the denial of the Holocaust is not to be tolerated."
Wolff, acting head of the U.S. delegation, said that the Holocaust must be remembered "to ensure that such events are never repeated. Those who will deny the Holocaust -- and sadly there are some who do -- reveal not only ignorance but their moral failure. … To deny the events of the Holocaust is tantamount to the approval of genocide in all its forms."
In November 2005, the General Assembly set January 27 for the international observance and urged all nations to develop ways to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that future generations will help prevent similar acts of genocide. January 27 is the date in 1945 on which the Soviet army liberated the largest Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, where more than 1 million prisoners were killed. ( See related article. )
The Holocaust refers to the systematic, bureaucratic effort by the Nazi government of Germany to exterminate Jews and other groups the regime targeted. A total of 6 million Jews and millions of others were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
By unreservedly rejecting any denial of the Holocaust, Wolff said, "this assembly places its moral authority and its political will squarely behind the very first words of our [U.N.] Charter: To save succeeding generations."
The United States introduced the resolution not as a rhetorical exercise nor to counter free speech or intellectual thought, the ambassador said, but because of the dangerous implications of denying the Holocaust.
The resolution "is about avoiding future disasters," he said. "One observer put it simply and powerfully when he stated that 'The black hole of forgetting is the negative force that results in future genocides.'"
"Some experts on the topic have noted that every genocide is followed by denial," Wolff said. "Despite the undeniable truth of the Holocaust, we are now witnessing so-called scholars, even world leaders, attempting to revise history, masking a more dangerous agenda."
Iran was not mentioned in the resolution, but several delegations commented on the December 2006 conference questioning the Holocaust that was convened by Iran’s president, Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad. The Iranian president also has called for the destruction of Israel.
IRAN ISOLATED
Iran disassociated itself from the General Assembly's action, calling it politically motivated.
Wolff said Iran "stands alone in shame, isolated against the rest of the international community," and added that Iran's actions and the words of its president "underscore why this resolution is so important."
"That same regime is under U.N. Security Council sanctions right now to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons in direct violation of its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The confluence of these three forces cannot be viewed abstractly or in isolation of each other. They create a cauldron of conflict that cannot be ignored," he said.
Conferences such as those sponsored by Iran are designed to polarize and incite hatred, he said. If successful, that hatred can be used as a catalyst to justify genocide, Wolff said.
Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman dedicated the resolution to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. "The international community was saying to those survivors: You are not alone and we will make sure that what happened to you will not be forgotten and will never be repeated," he said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the resolution and expressed his "strong desire to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in practice."
The full text of Wolff’s statement on adoption of the resolution is available on the State Department Web site, as is his statement on introduction of the resolution.
( USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov )
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