UN's Clouseau to Investigate Phony Phobia
Fri, May 23, 2008 at 9:58:34 am PDT
Adding to our earlier report, it appears that United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance Doudou Diène has another mission on his visit to the United States, in addition to investigating contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in the US Presidential election.
This article says that SROCFORRDXARI Diène will also be looking into the dreaded scourge of “Islamophobia.” And he’ll have plenty of help from the usual merchants of victimhood.
Arab-American advocates expect a UN investigation of racism in the United States to shine a spotlight on racial profiling and other policies that discriminate against people of Middle Eastern origin.
“Islamophobia” will be “high on the agenda” of the UN’s visiting human rights investigator, said Kareem Shora, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee (ADC).
Doudou Diene, a UN special envoy, began a three-week investigation on Monday. He will assess “racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” in the United States during meetings with officials, lawmakers and campaigners. The Senegalese lawyer, who has served in the independent position since 2002, routinely visits countries to assess racism and will report his findings to the UN Human Rights Council next year.
Mr Shora said “post-Sept 11 communities” – Muslims, South Asians, Sikhs and Arabs – still bore the brunt of policies adopted following al Qa’eda’s attacks on New York and Washington almost seven years ago. Mr Shora, whose colleagues will meet with the investigator next month, highlighted the “special registration” of Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Sudanese and Syrians entering the United States as one example of racial profiling that began after the Sept 11 attacks.
The Arab American Institute reported on “grave civil liberties concerns” following Washington’s terrorism-busting initiatives, such as the USA Patriot Act that made immigration procedures stricter for those coming from the Middle East.
Lena Alhusseini, executive director of New York’s Arab American Family Support Center, said hate crimes against her members had increased. “There is a complete misunderstanding and stereotyping and we have all been affected.”
