[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 36 (Thursday, March 6, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3338-S3339]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONDEMNING THE SELECTION OF LIBYA TO CHAIR THE UNITED NATIONS 
                       COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 13, which is at the desk. This 
is a resolution introduced by Senators Lautenberg and Smith.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 13) condemning the 
     selection of Libya to chair the United Nations Commission on 
     Human Rights, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the Lautenberg amendment at 
the desk be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table; 
further, that the concurrent resolution, as amended, be agreed to and 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that the preamble be 
agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 257) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 8, strike line 21 and insert: ``(10) objects''

  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 13), as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 13

       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;

[[Page S3339]]

       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) objects 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.

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