UN Forum: No Anti-Terror War be Waged at cost of Religion, Human rights

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 14, 2002

UN Forum: No Anti-Terror War be Waged at cost of Religion, Human rights

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The general debate of the 57th General Assembly session entered its second day here Friday, with countries from Asia, Latin America and Europe calling on the international community not to wage a global anti-terrorism at thecost of religion and human rights.

The general debate opened here Thursday one year and one day after the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy. The terrorist attacks, which killed at least 28,000 innocent people, are an experience that reinforces and strengthens common resolve to combat and counter terrorism.

General Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan, said, "Terrorism has no creed, nor a religion."

"In our globalizing world, religious and cultural diversity should, be a vehicle for complementary creativity and dynamism, not the rationale for a new ideological or political confrontation,unfortunately some quarters are utilizing the war against terrorism as a vehicle to spread hatred against Islam and Muslims," the president said.

"A sustained dialogue between the Islamic and Western nations is essential to remove the veil of ignorance and prejudice and to promote harmony and cooperation. As a first step," he said. "I propose that the General Assembly consider the adoption of a Declaration on Religious and Cultural Understanding, Harmony and Cooperation."

"Pakistan is in the forefront of the fight against terrorism," he said. "We have made major sacrifices in this war. We have interdicted infiltration by Al-Qaeda into Pakistan. We have arrested and deported foreign suspects found on our territory. We are determined not to allow anyone to use our soil for terrorist acts inside or outside Pakistan."

President Alejandro Toledro of Peru said the international community should carry out the anti-terrorism war "within the parameters compatible with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the Security Council resolutions."

"We are convinced that the Nations must weave a vast network ofcommitments to cooperate efficiently in all the areas with the goal of defeating terrorism and, with this objective, Peru supports the efforts of the Organization to reach a consensus in the negotiations of the Project for General Convention against Terrorism," he said.

"Peru belongs to the 12 United Nations conventions in the subject of the fight against terrorism and, in this sense, calls the nations that have not yet done so, so that they sign and ratify these conventions," he said.

"We do this from the perspective of a country that lived for more than fifteen years with the violence of terrorism, that costmore than 20 thousand lives and thousands of millions of dollars in material losses," he said.

Meanwhile, Georgi Parvanov, the Bulgarian president, said, "Anti-terrorist efforts require serious rethinking of current approaches to cooperation."

"We are aware that terrorism is often linked to other security threats like organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption, money laundering, the illegal traffic of human beings and illegal arms trade," he said.

"The fight against terrorism should not however lead to persecution on religious or ethnic grounds or infringe on human rights," he said.

Bill Graham, Canadian foreign minister, said, "When the terrorists struck that day, they were also attacking the very principles of international law, security and humanitarianism thatare embodied in the UN Charter."

"Our reaction to terrorism must be steadfast, to be sure, and we must make no concession to the agents of terror," he said. "Butif we want our reaction to be truly effective, it must enhance both national security and individual human security."

"What's more, the fight against terrorism challenges us to findways to open our hearts and minds to the diversity of our world, its cultures and its religions," he said. "Now more than ever, we must promote dialogue and understanding, and encourage people to be tolerant of other people."

"In this way, we will help to eradicate at its source much of the pain in the world today, which all too often translates into rising hatred, extremism and fanaticism of all sorts," he added.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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