[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 25 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1657-S1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 387--RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO REPLACE THE UNITED 
    NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION WITH A NEW HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

  Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. Smith, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Coburn, and 
Mr. Kyl) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 387

       Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Commission 
     (hereinafter ``UNHRC'') has lost its credibility as an 
     instrument for the promotion or protection of human rights, 
     instead allowing repressive regimes to shield themselves from 
     criticism for their human rights violations;
       Whereas Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also acknowledged 
     that, ``the Commission's declining credibility has cast a 
     shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system'';
       Whereas the primary deficiency of the Human Rights 
     Commission is directly related to its membership, where 6 of 
     the 53 current members, namely China, Cuba, Eritrea, Saudi 
     Arabia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe, are listed as the worst human-
     rights abusers by Freedom House, and many other members have 
     serious deficiencies concerning commitments to democracy and 
     human rights according to the Department of State Country 
     Reports on Human Rights Practices;
       Whereas the lack of membership criteria of the UNHRC, 
     particularly when combined with the relatively large 
     membership of 53 countries, hinders efforts to filter out 
     countries with poor human rights records from membership;
       Whereas the UNHRC spends a disproportionate amount of time 
     vilifying Israel, its primary target for criticism, but fails 
     to direct such sustained criticism at states engaged in the 
     systematic abuse of human rights, with 30 percent of all 
     country-specific resolutions critical of human rights records 
     over the history of the UNHRC have been directed at Israel 
     alone, while there has never been a single such resolution on 
     China, Syria, or Zimbabwe;
       Whereas the UNHRC has consistently failed to take decisive 
     action against member states implicated in the massive 
     violation of human rights, which is evidenced by the fact 
     that the UNHRC has never held a special emergency session on 
     Sudan despite millions of deaths over 2 decades in Sudan, but 
     the UNHRC has held a special sitting to criticize Israel on 
     the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the leader of Hamas;
       Whereas the UNHRC only meets for 6 weeks each year, 
     providing the UNHRC with insufficient time to review and take 
     action against the most flagrant human rights violators;
       Whereas Israel has been consistently discriminated against 
     by being denied full participatory rights in regional group 
     meetings associated with the operation of the UNHRC, while 
     non-United Nations members such as the Holy See (WEOG) and 
     the Palestinian observer participate in these meetings;
       Whereas the overwhelming failures of the UNHRC led to an 
     international consensus that it must be abolished and 
     replaced with a new Human Rights Council, and the United 
     Nations Summit Outcome Document, signed by all United Nations 
     member states in September 2005, stated that ``Pursuant to 
     our commitment to further strengthen the United Nations human 
     rights machinery, we resolve to create a Human Rights 
     Council. The Council will be responsible for promoting 
     universal respect for the protection of all human rights and 
     fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind 
     and in a fair and equal manner. The Council should address 
     situations of violations of human rights, including gross and 
     systematic violations and make recommendations thereon. It 
     should also promote effective coordination and the 
     mainstreaming of human rights within the United Nations 
     system.''; and
       Whereas efforts by the United States and other committed 
     democracies to carry out the mandate of the Summit Document 
     to create a new credible Human Rights Council have been 
     strongly opposed by human rights abusers at the United 
     Nations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
       (1) the United States remains strongly committed to the 
     creation of a new Human Rights Council to replace the 
     discredited United Nations Human Rights Commission 
     (hereinafter ``UNHRC''), and the proposal for such a Council 
     should work to assure the integrity of its membership as well 
     as provide a strong mandate for action;
       (2) the Senate urges the President to use the present 
     opportunity that has been generated by the international 
     recognition of the need to replace the current UNHRC, and to 
     refrain from supporting any proposal for a Human Rights 
     Council that would result either in only cosmetic changes or 
     changes that would even further degrade the membership and 
     mandate of the current UNHRC;
       (3) the Senate urges the President and the governments of 
     other member countries of the United Nations to continue with 
     negotiations for the creation of a Human Rights Council that 
     is a credible human rights institution; and
       (4) it is the sense of the Senate that an acceptable 
     proposal for a credible Human Rights Council would--
       (A) establish criteria for membership that would serve to 
     exclude the worst human rights abusers, and such criteria 
     would include, but should not be limited to, the automatic 
     exclusion of member countries that are subject to Security 
     Council sanctions;
       (B) include a provision allowing full participation by 
     Israel in all operations associated with the Council;
       (C) set a size limit that is consistent with the goal of 
     ensuring that only countries that respect human rights are 
     members of the primary human rights body of the United 
     Nations;
       (D) establish a human rights review requirement that is 
     tied to a mandatory outcome and takes place prior to 
     elections for membership;
       (E) exclude any provision that prevents the consecutive 
     election of member countries to the Council; and
       (F) utilize a formula for the distribution of membership 
     among United Nations member countries that gives priority to 
     countries that respect human rights, while also giving 
     consideration to geographical distribution, the 
     representation of different forms of civilization, and the 
     principal legal systems.

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