[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 27 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 27
Condemning the selection of Libya to chair the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2003
Mr. Hyde (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Wexler, Mr.
Chabot, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Faleomavaega, Mr. Royce, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mrs.
Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Burton of
Indiana, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Weller, Mr. Kennedy of
Minnesota, Ms. Harris, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Janklow,
Mr. Engel, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Flake, Mr. Berman,
Mr. Green of Wisconsin, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. Ose) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the selection of Libya to chair the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, and for other purposes.
Whereas on January 20, 2003, Libya, a gross violator of human rights and state
sponsor of terrorism, was elected to chair the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights (``Commission''), a body charged with the responsibility
of promoting universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms
for all;
Whereas according to the rotation system which governs the selection of the
Executive Board of the Commission, 2003 was designated as the year for
the Africa Group to chair the Commission, and the Africa Group selected
Libya as its candidate;
Whereas South Africa's Democratic Alliance spokeswoman, Dene Smuts, was quoted
by the British Broadcasting Corporation as saying that the South African
Government's decision to support Libya's election was an insult to human
rights and that African countries ``should have supported a candidate of
whom all Africans could be proud'';
Whereas Amnesty International has repeatedly documented that Libya's human
rights situation continues to seriously deteriorate with gross
violations taking place systematically, extrajudicial execution used
against government opponents, and political detainees routinely tortured
physically and psychologically during interrogation, with some detainees
dying in custody as a result;
Whereas Human Rights Watch recently underscored that ``[o]ver the past three
decades, Libya's human rights record has been appalling'' and ``Libya
has been a closed country for United Nations and nongovernmental human
rights investigators'';
Whereas Human Rights Watch further stated that ``Libya's election poses a real
test for the Commission . . . [r]epressive governments must not be
allowed to hijack the U.N. human rights system'';
Whereas the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights stated that ``the Government of
Libya should not be entrusted by the United Nations to lead its
international effort to promote human rights around the world'';
Whereas Freedom House declared that ``[a] country [such as Libya] with such a
gross record of human rights abuses should not direct the proceedings of
the UN's main human rights monitoring body . . . [t]his will undermine
the UN's moral authority and send a strong and clear message to fellow
rights violators that they are in the clear'';
Whereas on November 13, 2001, a German court convicted a Libyan national for the
bombing in 1986 of the La Belle disco in Berlin, in which two United
States servicemen were killed, and the court further declared that there
was clear evidence of responsibility of the Libyan Government for the
bombing;
Whereas Libya was responsible for the December 21, 1988, explosion of Pan
American Airline Flight 103 en route from London to New York that
crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers and crew, and 11
others on the ground;
Whereas a French court convicted six Libyan Government officials in absentia for
the bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Niger in 1989;
Whereas United Nations Resolution 748 of March 31, 1992, imposed an arms and air
embargo on Libya and established a United Nations Security Council
sanctions committee to address measures against Libya;
Whereas United Nations Resolution 883 of November 11, 1993, tightened sanctions
on Libya, including the freezing of Libyan funds and financial resources
in third countries, and banned the provision to Libya of equipment for
oil refining and transportation;
Whereas United Nations Resolution 1192 of August 27, 1998, reaffirmed that the
measures set forth in previous resolutions remain in effect and binding
on all member states, and further expressed the intention of the United
Nations to consider additional measures if the accused individuals for
Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 bombings had not arrived or
appeared for trial promptly in accordance with paragraph 8 of the
Resolution;
Whereas in January 2001 a three-judge Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands
found Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi guilty of the bombing of Pan Am
Flight 103, sentenced him to life imprisonment, and said it accepted
evidence that he was a member of Libya's Jamahariya Security
Organization, and in March 2002 Scottish appeal judges in the
Netherlands upheld his conviction;
Whereas as recently as January 12, 2003, Libyan leader, Moammar Gaddafi, in an
interview with Newsweek- Washington Post reporter, Lally Weymouth,
failed to accept responsibility for the attack and had the audacity of
calling for the United States to share the burden of compensation;
Whereas Libya remains on the Department of State's list of state-sponsors of
terrorism;
Whereas the United States found the selection of Libya to chair the Commission
to be an affront to international human rights efforts and, in
particular, to victims of Libya's repression and Libyan-sponsored
terrorism, and therefore broke with precedent and called for a recorded
vote on Libya's chairmanship;
Whereas Canada and one other country joined the United States in voting against
Libya and 17 other countries abstained;
Whereas the European Union's common position was to abstain from the vote
objecting to Libya's selection as chair of the Commission;
Whereas 33 countries ignored Libya's record on human rights and status as a
country subject to United Nations sanctions for the terrorist bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103 and voted for Libya to lead the Commission;
Whereas the majority of these countries are United States foreign aid
recipients;
Whereas the selection of Libya to chair the Commission is but the most recent
example of a malaise plaguing the Commission, whereby its credibility
has been called into question in recent years as its membership ranks
have swelled with other egregious human rights violators;
Whereas the United States' challenge is part of a broader effort to reform the
Commission, reclaim it from the oppressors, and ensure that it fulfills
its mandate;
Whereas on January 20, 2003, Ambassador Kevin Moley, United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations and Other International
Organizations in Geneva, emphasized that ``[w]e seek to actively engage
and strengthen the moral authority of the Commission on Human Rights, so
that it once again proves itself a forceful advocate for those in need
of having their human rights protected . . . [w]e are convinced that the
best way for the Commission to ensure the ideals of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights over the long-term is to have a membership
comprised of countries with strong human rights records at home'';
Whereas a majority of the 53 member states of the Commission are participants in
the Community of Democracies and signed the Seoul Declaration of
November 12, 2002, calling upon democratic nations to work together to
uphold the principles of democracy, freedom, good governance, and
accountability in international organizations;
Whereas the participants in the Seoul Ministerial meeting of the Community of
Democracies issued a Statement on Terrorism in which they ``strongly
denounced terrorism as a grave threat to democratic societies and the
values they embrace . . . [they] reaffirmed that terrorism constitutes a
threat to international peace and security as well as to humanity in
general and indeed to the very foundation on which democracies are built
. . . [and] [t]he most recent terrorist attacks confirm that
international cooperation against terrorism will remain a long-term
effort and requires a sustained universal commitment''; and
Whereas although United Nations sanctions against Libya have been suspended, the
sanctions remain in effect, and Libya's continued status as an
international outlaw nation and its continued unwillingness to accept
responsibility for its terrorist actions should bar it from
consideration as a candidate for membership in the United Nations
Security Council or any other United Nations entity or affiliated
agency: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) strongly condemns the selection of Libya to chair the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights (``Commission'') ;
(2) commends the President and the Administration for the
principled position of the United States in objecting to and
calling for a vote on Libya's chairmanship of the Commission;
(3) commends countries which joined the United States in
objecting to Libya's selection as chair of the Commission;
(4) expresses its dismay at the European Union common
position of abstention on the critical vote over Libya's
chairmanship;
(5) is appalled at the support provided to Libya in its
efforts to lead the Commission;
(6) will hold accountable countries who voted in favor of
Libya's chairmanship;
(7) highlights its grave concern over the continuing
efforts of human rights violators and terrorist countries to
use international fora to legitimize their regimes and continue
to act with impunity, and calls on the President to raise
United States objections to such efforts during bilateral and
multilateral discussions and to direct pertinent Cabinet
secretaries to do the same;
(8) calls on countries at various stages of democratization
to demonstrate their commitment to human rights, democracy,
peace and security, and support efforts to reform the
Commission;
(9) calls on the President to instruct the Secretary of
State to consult with the appropriate congressional committees,
within 30 calendar days of adoption of this resolution,
regarding the United States priorities and strategy for the
59th session of the Commission on Human Rights and strategy and
proposals for reform of the Commission;
(10) calls on the President to issue an objection to the
continued suspension of sanctions against Libya and to call for
their full reinstatement until Libya publicly accepts
responsibility for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, provides
appropriate compensation to the victims, and is in full
compliance with all of the other requirements of the United
Nations sanctions imposed as a result of Libya's orchestration
of the Pan Am 103 terrorist attack; and
(11) calls on the Secretary of State to engage member
countries to support United States efforts to ensure that
states that are gross violators of human rights, sponsors of
terrorist activities, or subject to United Nations sanctions
will not be elected to leadership positions in the United
Nations General Assembly nor will they be elected to membership
or leadership positions on the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights, the United Nations Security Council, or any other
United Nations entity or affiliated agency.
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