H. Res. 1361 

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 
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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 
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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 Pal-
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estinian 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 
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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 
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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 antiSemitism, 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— 
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(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 
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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 
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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 
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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, antiSemitism, 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 pa-
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rameters and to urge Member States of the preparatory 

committee to return to decision making by consensus. 

Attest: 

Clerk.