III 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 27
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2003
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Condemning the selection of Libya to chair the United Na-
tions Commission on Human Rights, and for other pur-
poses.
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 (‘‘Commission’’), a body charged with the respon-
sibility of promoting universal respect for human rights 
and fundamental freedoms for all;
HCON 27 RFS 
Whereas according to the rotation system which 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 South African Govern-
ment’s decision to support Libya’s election 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 Libya’s human rights situation continues to seri-
ously deteriorate with gross violations taking place sys-
tematically, extrajudicial execution used against govern-
ment opponents, and political detainees routinely tortured 
physically and psychologically during interrogation, with 
some detainees dying in custody as a result; 
Whereas Human Rights Watch recently underscored that 
‘‘[o]ver the past three decades, Libya’s human rights 
record has been appalling’’ and ‘‘Libya has been a closed 
country for United Nations and nongovernmental human 
rights investigators’’; 
Whereas Human Rights Watch further stated that ‘‘Libya’s 
election poses a real test for the Commission . . . 
[r]epressive governments must not be allowed to hijack 
the U.N. human rights system’’; 
Whereas the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights stated 
that ‘‘the Government of Libya should not be entrusted
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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 UN’s main 
human rights monitoring body . . . [t]his will undermine 
the UN’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 bombing in 1986 of the La 
Belle disco in Berlin, in which two United States service-
men were killed, and the court further declared that 
there was clear evidence of responsibility of the Libyan 
Government for the bombing; 
Whereas Libya was responsible for the December 21, 1988, 
explosion of Pan American Airline Flight 103 en route 
from London to New York that crashed in Lockerbie, 
Scotland, killing 259 passengers and crew, and 11 others 
on the ground; 
Whereas a French court convicted six Libyan Government of-
ficials in absentia for the bombing of UTA Flight 772 
over Niger in 1989; 
Whereas United Nations Resolution 748 of March 31, 1992, 
imposed an arms and air embargo on Libya and estab-
lished a United Nations Security Council sanctions com-
mittee to address measures against Libya; 
Whereas United Nations Resolution 883 of November 11, 
1993, tightened sanctions on Libya, including the freez-
ing of Libyan funds and financial resources in third
HCON 27 RFS 
countries, and banned the provision to Libya of equip-
ment for oil refining and transportation; 
Whereas United Nations 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 accused 
individuals for Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 
bombings had not arrived or appeared for trial promptly 
in accordance with paragraph 8 of the 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 it accepted 
evidence that he was a member of Libya’s Jamahariya 
Security Organization, and in March 2002 Scottish ap-
peal judges in the Netherlands upheld his conviction; 
Whereas as recently as January 12, 2003, Libyan leader, 
Moammar Gaddafi, in an interview with Newsweek- 
Washington Post reporter, Lally Weymouth, failed to ac-
cept responsibility for the attack and had the audacity of 
calling for the United States to share the burden of com-
pensation; 
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 on Libya’s chairmanship;
HCON 27 RFS 
Whereas Canada and one other country joined the United 
States in voting against Libya and 17 other countries ab-
stained; 
Whereas the European Union’s common position was to ab-
stain from the vote objecting to Libya’s selection 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 these countries are United States 
foreign aid recipients; 
Whereas the selection of Libya to chair the Commission is 
but the most recent example of a malaise plaguing the 
Commission, whereby its credibility has been called into 
question in recent years as its membership ranks have 
swelled with other egregious human rights violators; 
Whereas the United States’ challenge is part of a broader ef-
fort to reform the Commission, reclaim it from the op-
pressors, 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 Gene-
va, emphasized that ‘‘[w]e seek to actively engage and 
strengthen the moral authority of the Commission on 
Human Rights, so that it once again proves itself a force-
ful advocate for those in need of having their human 
rights protected . . . [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
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have a membership comprised of countries with strong 
human rights records at home’’; 
Whereas a majority of the 53 member states of the Commis-
sion are participants in the Community of Democracies 
and signed the Seoul Declaration of November 12, 2002, 
calling upon democratic nations to work together to up-
hold the principles of democracy, freedom, good govern-
ance, and accountability in international organizations; 
Whereas the participants in the Seoul Ministerial meeting of 
the Community of Democracies issued a Statement on 
Terrorism in which they ‘‘strongly denounced terrorism 
as a grave threat to democratic societies and the values 
they embrace . . . [they] reaffirmed that terrorism con-
stitutes 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] 
[t]he most recent terrorist attacks confirm that inter-
national cooperation against terrorism will remain a long-
term effort and requires a sustained universal commit-
ment’’; and 
Whereas although United Nations sanctions against Libya 
have been suspended, the sanctions remain in effect, and 
Libya’s continued status as an international outlaw na-
tion and its continued unwillingness to accept responsi-
bility for its terrorist actions should bar it from consider-
ation as a candidate for membership in the United Na-
tions Security Council or any other United Nations entity 
or affiliated agency: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring),That Congress—
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(1) strongly condemns the selection of Libya to 
chair the United Nations Commission on Human 
Rights (‘‘Commission’’); 
(2) commends the President and the Adminis-
tration 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 which joined the 
United States in objecting to Libya’s selection as 
chair of the Commission; 
(4) expresses its dismay at the European Union 
common position of abstention on the critical vote 
over Libya’s chairmanship; 
(5) is appalled at the support provided to Libya 
in its efforts to lead the Commission; 
(6) will hold accountable countries who voted in 
favor of Libya’s chairmanship; 
(7) highlights its grave concern over the con-
tinuing efforts of human rights violators and ter-
rorist countries to use international fora to legiti-
mize their regimes and continue to act with impu-
nity, and calls on the President to raise United 
States objections to such efforts during bilateral and 
multilateral discussions and to direct pertinent Cabi-
net secretaries to do the same;
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(8) calls on countries at various stages of de-
mocratization to demonstrate their commitment to 
human rights, democracy, peace and security, and 
support efforts to reform the Commission; 
(9) calls on the President to instruct the Sec-
retary of State to consult with the appropriate con-
gressional committees, within 30 calendar days of 
adoption of this resolution, regarding the United 
States priorities and strategy for the 59th session of 
the Commission on Human Rights and strategy and 
proposals for reform of the Commission; 
(10) calls on the President to issue an objection 
to the continued suspension of sanctions against 
Libya and to call for their full reinstatement until 
Libya publicly accepts responsibility for the Pan Am 
Flight 103 bombing, provides appropriate compensa-
tion to the victims, and is in full compliance with all 
of the other requirements of the United Nations 
sanctions imposed as a result of Libya’s orchestra-
tion of the Pan Am 103 terrorist attack; and 
(11) calls on the Secretary of State to engage 
member countries to support United States efforts 
to ensure that states that are gross violators of 
human rights, sponsors of terrorist activities, or sub-
ject to United Nations sanctions will not be elected
HCON 27 RFS 
to leadership positions in the United Nations Gen-
eral Assembly nor will they be elected to membership 
or leadership positions on the United Nations Com-
mission on Human Rights, the United Nations Secu-
rity Council, or any other United Nations entity or 
affiliated agency.
Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 
2003. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.