Unhappy with the Obama administration's decision not to attend an April meeting of the Durban Review Conference, which is connected to an international race gathering, activists plan to hold a Harlem rally to protest the action and urge the U.S. to participate in the important meeting.We want to get the message to President Barack Obama and his administration that we are demanding U.S. participation in Durban II," Roger Wareham, of The December 12th Movement.  The rally and a press conference are set for March 21 in front of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building. The four-day Durban Review Conference begins April 20 in Geneva, Switzerland, and is an outgrowth of the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, which was boycotted by the Bush administration. Controversy arose over demands for reparations for Blacks and anti-Zionist positions that offended Israel at the 2001 meeting in Durban, South Africa.

The review conference, dubbed "Durban II," will evaluate progress toward goals to eliminate racism set in 2001. Significant United Nations conferences are often accompanied by parallel conferences with advocacy groups and government officials.

President Obama, in a break with his predecessor, had sent a delegation to a preparatory meeting for the review conference on Feb. 19. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision.

 "The U.S. cannot provide the leadership necessary to promote and protect human rights by sitting on the sidelines," said Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch executive director, at the time. Dr. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters Feb. 19 it was "critical to show the world that we are willing to engage in a global platform to denounce the remnants of slavery and colonialism.

"Navi Pillay, the top UN official for human rights, in a recent communiquè from Geneva stressed the need for UN member states to put aside differences, "uphold the consensually agreed upon objectives" of the Durban review conference and remember the meeting's importance to millions of victims of racism worldwide.

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