U.S. to boycott U.N. anti-racism meeting

NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- The United States will not attend the United Nations meeting on racism in Geneva, Switzerland, the State Department announced Saturday.

In a brief statement, Robert Wood, a spokesman for the Department, said the document produced for approval by the conference next week is a big improvement on earlier drafts. But he said it still contains a one-sided view of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and has added statements on "incitement" that appear to call for restrictions on freedom of speech.

"Unfortunately, it now seems certain these remaining concerns will not be addressed in the document to be adopted by the conference next week," Wood said. "Therefore, with regret, the United States will not join the review conference."

The conference, officially known as the Durban Review Conference, is a followup to the World Conference Against Racism 2001 held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. Australia, Canada, Israel and Italy also plan to stay away.

Human Rights Watch urged the United States to participate in the 2009 conference. In a statement, the group said U.S. participation "is essential to put to rest the tainted history" of the 2001 Durban, South Africa, conference on racism, where U.S. and Israeli representatives walked out when Arab states sought to define Zionism as racist