[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 13 Held at Desk Senate (HDS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 13

     Condemning the selection of Libya to chair the United Nations 
          Commission on Human Rights, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2003

 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Feinstein, 
   Mr. Corzine, and Mr. Schumer) submitted the following concurrent 
             resolution; which was ordered held at the desk

_______________________________________________________________________

                         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 (the ``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 that 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 Government of 
        South Africa's decision to support the election of Libya 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 the human rights 
        situation in Libya continues to seriously deteriorate, with systematic 
        occurrences of gross human rights violations, including the 
        extrajudicial execution of government opponents and the routine torture, 
        and occasional resulting death, of political detainees during 
        interrogation;
Whereas Human Rights Watch recently declared that ``[o]ver the past three 
        decades, Libya's human rights record has been appalling'' and that 
        ``Libya has been a closed country for United Nations and nongovernmental 
        human rights investigators'';
Whereas Human Rights Watch further asserted that ``Libya's election poses a real 
        test for the Commission,'' observing that ``[r]epressive governments 
        must not be allowed to hijack the United Nations human rights system'';
Whereas the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights urged 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 United Nation's main human rights monitoring body'' because it would 
        ``undermine the United Nation'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 
        1986 bombing of the La Belle disco club in Berlin which killed two 
        United States servicemen, and the court further declared that there was 
        clear evidence of responsibility of the Government of Libya for the 
        bombing;
Whereas Libya was responsible for the December 21, 1988, explosion of Pan 
        American World Airways Flight 103 (``Pan Am Flight 103'') en route from 
        London to New York City that crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 
        passengers and crew and 11 other people on the ground;
Whereas a French court convicted 6 Libyan government officials in absentia for 
        the bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Niger in 1989;
Whereas, in response to Libya's complicity in international terrorism, United 
        Nations Security Council 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 Security Council Resolution 883 of November 11, 1993, 
        tightened sanctions on Libya, including the freezing of Libyan funds and 
        financial resources in other countries, and banned the provision to 
        Libya of equipment for oil refining and transportation;
Whereas United Nations Security Council 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 
        individuals charged in connection with the bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 
        and UTA Flight 772 had not promptly arrived or appeared for trial on 
        those charges in accordance with paragraph (8) of that 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 the court 
        accepted evidence that he was a member of Libya's Jamahariya Security 
        Organization, and in March 2002, a five-judge Scottish appeals court 
        sitting in the Netherlands upheld the conviction;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolutions 731, 748, 883, and 1192 
        demanded that the Government of Libya provide appropriate compensation 
        to the families of the victims, accept responsibility for the actions of 
        Libyan officials in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, provide a full 
        accounting of its involvement in that terrorist act, and cease all 
        support for terrorism;
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 among Commission members on Libya's chairmanship;
Whereas Canada and one other country joined the United States in voting 
        against Libya, with 17 countries abstaining from the recorded 
        vote among Commission members on Libya's chairmanship of the 
        Commission;
Whereas the common position of the members of the European Union was to 
        abstain from the recorded vote on the selection of Libya 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 the countries that voted for Libya are 
        recipients of United States foreign aid;
Whereas the selection of Libya to chair the Commission is only the most 
        recent example of a malaise plaguing the Commission that has 
        called into question the Commission's credibility as the 
        membership ranks of the Commission have swelled in recent years 
        with countries that have a history of egregious human rights 
        violations;
Whereas the challenge by the United States to the selection of Libya 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 the 
        United States ``seek[s] 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'' and that ``[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 
        Community of Democracies Statement on Terrorism (the 
        ``Statement on Terrorism'') on November 12, 2002, at the Second 
        Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies held in 
        Seoul, South Korea (the ``Seoul Ministerial''), calling upon 
        democratic nations to work together to uphold the principles of 
        democracy, freedom, good governance, and accountability in 
        international organizations;
Whereas the Seoul Ministerial participants declared in the Statement on 
        Terrorism that they ``strongly denounced terrorism as a grave 
        threat to democratic societies and the values they 
        embrace[,]...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 stated that ``[t]he most recent terrorist 
        attacks confirm that international cooperation against 
        terrorism will remain a long-term effort and requires a 
        sustained universal commitment'';
Whereas the United Nations sanctions against Libya, though suspended, 
        remain in effect; and
Whereas Libya's continued status as an international outlaw nation and 
        its continued unwillingness to accept responsibility for its 
        terrorist actions provide ample justification for barring Libya 
        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 Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) strongly condemns the selection of Libya to chair the 
        United Nations Commission on Human Rights (the ``Commission'');
            (2) commends the President 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 that joined the United States in 
        objecting to Libya's selection as chair of the Commission;
            (4) expresses its dismay at the European Union countries' 
        common position of abstention on the critical vote over Libya's 
        chairmanship;
            (5) expresses its shock and dismay over the support 
        provided to Libya in its efforts to lead the Commission;
            (6) highlights its grave concern over the continuing 
        efforts of countries violating human rights and terrorist 
        countries to use international fora--
                    (A) to legitimize their regimes; and
                    (B) to continue to act with impunity;
            (7) calls on the President to raise United States 
        objections to such efforts during bilateral and multilateral 
        discussions and to direct pertinent members of the President's 
        Cabinet to do the same;
            (8) calls on countries at various stages of democratization 
        to--
                    (A) demonstrate their commitment to human rights, 
                democracy, peace and security; and
                    (B) 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 60 calendar days after the adoption of this resolution, 
        regarding the priorities and strategy of the United States for 
        the 59th session of the Commission on Human Rights and its 
        strategy and proposals for reform of the Commission;
            (10) calls on the President to issue an objection to the 
        continued suspension of United Nations sanctions against Libya 
        until the Government of Libya--
                    (A) publicly accepts responsibility for the bombing 
                of Pan American World Airways Flight 103;
                    (B) provides appropriate compensation to the 
                victims of the bombing; and
                    (C) fully complies with all of the other 
                requirements of the United Nations sanctions imposed as 
                a result of Libya's orchestration of the terrorist 
                attack on Pan American World Airways Flight 103; and
            (11) calls on the Secretary of State to engage Member 
        States of the United Nations to support efforts to ensure that 
        states that are gross violators of human rights, sponsors of 
        terrorist activities, or subjects of United Nations sanctions 
        are not elected to--
                    (A) leadership positions in the United Nations 
                General Assembly; or
                    (B) membership or leadership positions on the 
                United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the United 
                Nations Security Council, or any other United Nations 
                entity or affiliate.
                                 <all>