[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 27 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  1st Session

                            H. CON. RES. 27

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

     Condemning the selection of Libya to chair the United Nations 
          Commission on Human Rights, and for other purposes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 27

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

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.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.