THE UN’s top human rights official defended an upcoming racism conference yesterday against “unwarranted” criticism, denying it faced a rerun of an anti-Semitism row which marred the last meeting in South Africa in 2001.

South African Navi Pillay, the UN’ s high commissioner for human rights, said the conference in Geneva next month would avoid becoming a forum of anti-Semitic sentiment after Israel and the United States both said they planned to boycott the meeting.

“The review conference has also been the target of a disparaging media and lobbying campaign on the part of those who fear a repetition of anti-Semitic outbursts. This, in my view, is unwarranted,” she said .

Pillay urged all parties to cast aside “narrow, parochial interests and reflexive partisanship”.

“We need to prevent the acrimony of the past from encumbering the fight against intolerance which is – and I am sure we all agree – both of urgent concern and in the best interest of everyone.”

The inaugural racism conference, held in Durban in September 2001, saw a walk-out by Israel and US delegates in protest against a bid by Arab nations to adopt a resolution that equated Zionism with racism.

After Israel and Canada had earlier indicated they would boycott this year’s gathering from April 20- 24 the State Department said last week the US would follow suit after a team sent to assess negotiations on a draft text reported back.

State Department spokesperson Robert Wood said last Friday that the “document being negotiated has gone from bad to worse, and the current text of the draft outcome document is not salvageable.

“As a result, the United States will not engage in further negotiations on this text, nor will we participate in a conference based on this text,” he said . — Sapa-AFP