[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1361 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                    September 23, 2008.
Whereas the United Nations is undertaking preparations for a 2009 Durban Review 
        Conference on the implementation of commitments made as part of the 2001 
        World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa;
Whereas the 2001 World Conference Against Racism marked an important recognition 
        of the historic wounds caused by slavery, colonialism, and related 
        ongoing racism and racial discrimination, including the recognition of 
        the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, and that 
        people of African descent, people of Asian descent, and indigenous 
        peoples who were victims of these acts continue to face discrimination 
        and marginalization as a direct consequence;
Whereas the 2001 World Conference Against Racism also undertook historic efforts 
        to recognize and address ongoing racism and racial discrimination 
        against persons of African descent and members of Jewish, Muslim, caste, 
        indigenous, Roma and Sinti, and other communities, as well as anti-
        migrant xenophobia and incitement to racial and religious hatred;
Whereas the 2001 World Conference Against Racism and its achievements were 
        overshadowed and diminished as some participants in the conference, in 
        particular during the Non-Governmental Organization Forum, called the 
        ``NGO Forum Against Racism'' (NGO Forum), misused human rights language 
        to promote hate, anti-Semitism, incitement, and divert the focus of the 
        conference from problems within their own countries to a focus on 
        Israel;
Whereas the NGO Forum produced a document called the ``NGO Declaration'' that 
        contained abusive language, branding Israel an ``apartheid state'' that 
        is guilty of ``racist crimes against humanity'';
Whereas the United States withdrew its delegation from the 2001 World Conference 
        Against Racism, a decision that Secretary of State Colin Powell 
        explained by stating that ``you do not combat racism by conferences that 
        produce declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a 
        throwback to the days of `Zionism equals racism'; or supports the idea 
        that we have made too much of the Holocaust; or suggests that apartheid 
        exists in Israel; or that singles out only one country in the world--
        Israel--for censure and abuse'';
Whereas the atmosphere of anti-Semitism at the NGO Forum was described as 
        ``hateful, even racist'' by former High Commissioner for Human Rights 
        Mary Robinson and as ``disgraceful'' by Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz 
        Pahad, of South Africa, who also stated that parts of the 2001 World 
        Conference Against Racism were ``hijacked and used by some with an anti-
        Israeli agenda to turn it into an anti-Semitic event'';
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who served as 
        Secretary General of the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, refused 
        to accept the NGO Declaration, and some leading civil and human rights 
        organizations and activists criticized the repugnant anti-Semitism and 
        demonization of Israel in the NGO Forum, and the harassment of Jewish 
        participants it engendered;
Whereas despite recognizing the Holocaust and increased anti-Semitism, the 
        official government declaration adopted by the 2001 World Conference 
        Against Racism, the ``Durban Declaration and Program of Action'', 
        highlighted the ``plight of the Palestinian people under foreign 
        occupation'', and in so doing singled out one regional conflict for 
        discussion in a biased way, and wrongly implied that Israeli Government 
        policies towards the Palestinians are motivated by racism;
Whereas the Human Rights Council agreed in Resolution 3/2 on December 8, 2006, 
        that the 2009 Durban Review Conference would, like other United Nations 
        review conferences, focus on countries' implementation of the many 
        commitments to fight racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and 
        related intolerance contained in the official government Durban 
        Declaration and Program of Action and that there will be ``no 
        renegotiation of the existing agreements contained therein'';
Whereas at the first organizing session of the Durban Review Conference on 
        August 27, 2007, in Geneva, Switzerland, Ambassador Masood Khan of 
        Pakistan, speaking ``on behalf of the OIC'', described the concerns 
        being expressed about the Durban Review Conference as a ``smear 
        campaign'', and made it clear that the Organization of the Islamic 
        Conference (OIC) intends to make so-called ``contemporary'' forms of 
        racism a centerpiece of the conference agenda, urging also that ``[t]he 
        Conference should move the spotlight on the continued plight of 
        Palestinian people and non-recognition of their inalienable right to 
        self-determination'';
Whereas several OIC member states have also made clear their determination to go 
        beyond the comprehensive list of items covered by the Durban Declaration 
        and Program of Action to force consideration by the Durban Review 
        Conference of a global blasphemy code that would legitimize arbitrary 
        restrictions of freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the 
        freedoms of expression and opinion, all in the name of protecting 
        religions from ``defamation'' and ``blasphemy'';
Whereas following the August 27, 2007, preparatory meeting for the Durban Review 
        Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, several countries, including the 
        United States, France, and Israel, stated that the Conference would not 
        be worthwhile or worthy of support if it were not limited to a 
        discussion of country commitments to combat racism, racial 
        discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance contained in the 
        Durban Declaration and Plan of Action;
Whereas the High Commissioner for Human Rights was named Secretary-General of 
        the 2009 Durban Review Conference;
Whereas in advance of determining the modalities, format, duration, and venue of 
        the 2009 Durban Review Conference, the OIC and G-77 member states 
        requested the United Nations General Assembly to fund a $7.2 million 
        preparatory process of international, regional, and national meetings;
Whereas on November 28, 2007, 45 United Nations Member States, including the 
        United States, joined together in the Third Committee (Resolution A/C/3/
        62/L.65/Rev.) to vote against a resolution that contradicted the 2009 
        Durban Review Conference preparatory committee consensus agreements 
        about the framework of the Durban Review Conference, its scope, and 
        sources of funding;
Whereas on December 21, 2007, 40 United Nations Member States, including the 
        United States, joined together in the Fifth Committee (Resolution A/C.5/
        62/21) to vote against a resolution that authorized up to $6.8 million 
        to fund the 2009 Durban Review Conference preparatory process;
Whereas the United States has decided to withhold from its 2008 funding for the 
        United Nations an amount equivalent to the United States share of the 
        United Nations Human Rights Council-administered preparatory process for 
        the 2009 Durban Review Conference; and
Whereas since the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, the need for a credible 
        global forum to review United Nations Member States' efforts to combat 
        racism remains urgent given the continuing scourge of racism, 
        discrimination and related violence, including against persons of 
        African descent, Jewish, Muslim, caste, indigenous, Roma and Sinti, and 
        other communities, anti-migrant xenophobia, and incitement to racial and 
        religious hatred: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) acknowledges that the 2001 World Conference Against Racism 
        marked an important recognition of the historic wounds caused by 
        slavery, colonialism, and related ongoing racism and racial 
        discrimination, including the recognition of the transatlantic slave 
        trade as a crime against humanity, and that people of African descent, 
        people of Asian descent, and indigenous peoples who were victims of 
        these acts continue to face discrimination and marginalization as a 
        direct consequence;
            (2) reaffirms its abiding commitment to the cause of combating 
        continuing racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related 
        intolerance in all its forms;
            (3) calls on the President and the Secretary of State to lead a 
        high-level diplomatic effort to ensure that the Durban Review Conference 
        focuses on the implementation by states of their commitments to combat 
        racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and to 
        defeat any effort by states to use the forum to promote anti-Semitism or 
        hatred against members of any group or to call into question the 
        legitimacy of any state;
            (4) calls on the President to urge other heads of state to condition 
        participation in the 2009 Durban Review Conference on concrete action by 
        the United Nations and United Nations Member States to ensure that it is 
        not a forum to demonize any group, or incite anti-Semitism, hatred, or 
        violence against members of any group or to call into question the 
        existence of any state;
            (5) calls on the Secretary of State to--
                    (A) initiate United States policy into action by calling on 
                counterparts, including the Government of Pakistan as the chair 
                of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the 
                Government of Egypt as the head of the African Group, to insist 
                that they take prompt and effective measures to ensure that the 
                Durban Review Conference does not become a forum for anti-
                Semitism, incitement or hatred against members of any group or 
                to call into question the existence of any state; and
                    (B) demarche foreign capitals raising the concerns of 
                Congress and to report to Congress on what steps the United 
                States and its allies have taken to address these concerns;
            (6) commends all governments, including those of the United States, 
        France, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands that 
        have declared their intentions not to participate in any United Nations 
        Durban Review Conference that sidesteps scrutiny of country commitments 
        to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related 
        intolerance, and that promotes hate, undermines human rights standards, 
        and damages the credibility of the United Nations itself;
            (7) commends the countries that joined the United States, including 
        the member states of the European Union, Albania, Andorra, Australia, 
        Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Israel, Moldova, Monaco, 
        Montenegro, San Marino, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of 
        Macedonia, Ukraine, Canada, and the Republic of Korea, in voting to 
        uphold earlier United Nations consensus agreements that established the 
        scope and funding of the 2009 Durban Review Conference process;
            (8) urges all United Nations Member States not to support a 2009 
        Durban Review Conference process that fails to adhere to established 
        human rights standards and to reject an agenda that incites hatred 
        against any group in the guise of criticism of a particular government 
        or that seeks to forge a global blasphemy code;
            (9) commends the diverse civil society organizations that have 
        joined together to learn from the shortcomings of the 2001 World 
        Conference Against Racism, and to work together in a spirit of 
        solidarity and mutual respect toward a 2009 Durban Review Conference 
        that rejects hatred in all its forms;
            (10) reaffirms that, as recognized by Article 18 of the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights, ``Everyone has the right to freedom of 
        thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change 
        his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with 
        others and in public or private, [and] to manifest his religion or 
        belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance'';
            (11) urges all states to implement their commitments to combat 
        racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to 
        secure just treatment and the realization of universal human rights for 
        all as enshrined in international human rights instruments, in 
        particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International 
        Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the 
        International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
            (12) notes that the Human Rights Council agreed in Resolution 3/2 on 
        December 8, 2006, that the 2009 Durban Review Conference would, like 
        other United Nations review conferences, focus on countries' 
        implementation of the many commitments to fight racism, racial 
        discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance contained in the 
        official government Durban Declaration and Program of Action and that 
        there will be ``no renegotiation of the existing agreements contained 
        therein'';
            (13) recognizes the purposeful attempts of some countries to prevent 
        a focus on ongoing racism by utilizing inflammatory language, employing 
        divisive tactics and strategies, fostering an atmosphere of anti-
        Semitism and otherwise deviating from the commitments made at the 2001 
        World Conference Against Racism in order to divert the 2009 Durban 
        Review Conference from the important goal of eradicating global racism;
            (14) calls on United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to 
        publicly urge the Human Rights Council to adhere to its mandate and to 
        the high responsibility and expectations placed on it, and asks him to 
        personally intervene to refocus the 2009 Durban Review Conference 
        efforts on the review of what United Nations Member States have done to 
        fulfill their commitments to combat racism, racial discrimination, 
        xenophobia and related intolerance, and on concrete action to fight 
        racism, anti-Semitism, and all forms of hatred, intolerance, and 
        violence; and
            (15) calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights to urge United 
        Nations Member States to adhere to the agreed framework of the 2009 
        Durban Review Conference and its previously agreed upon goals and 
        parameters and to urge Member States of the preparatory committee to 
        return to decision making by consensus.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.