•HRES 1361 EH 
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 en-
gendered; 
Whereas despite recognizing the Holocaust and increased 
anti-Semitism, the official government declaration adopt-
ed by the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, the 
‘‘Durban Declaration and Program of Action’’, high-
lighted the ‘‘plight of the Palestinian people under for-
eign occupation’’, and in so doing singled out one re-
gional conflict for discussion in a biased way, and wrong-
ly 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 con-
ferences, focus on countries’ implementation of the many 
commitments to fight racism, racial discrimination, xeno-
phobia 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 be-
half of the OIC’’, described the concerns being expressed 
about the Durban Review Conference as a ‘‘smear cam-
paign’’, and made it clear that the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC) intends to make so-called ‘‘con-
temporary’’ forms of racism a centerpiece of the con-
ference agenda, urging also that ‘‘[t]he Conference 
should move the spotlight on the continued plight of Pal-
•HRES 1361 EH 
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 legiti-
mize arbitrary restrictions of freedom of thought, con-
science and religion, and the freedoms of expression and 
opinion, all in the name of protecting religions from ‘‘def-
amation’’ and ‘‘blasphemy’’; 
Whereas following the August 27, 2007, preparatory meeting 
for the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, Switzer-
land, 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 rac-
ism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intol-
erance 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 Con-
ference, 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 na-
tional 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 Dur-
ban 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 equiva-
lent 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 Na-
tions Member States’ efforts to combat racism remains 
urgent given the continuing scourge of racism, discrimi-
nation and related violence, including against persons of 
African descent, Jewish, Muslim, caste, indigenous, Roma 
and Sinti, and other communities, anti-migrant xeno-
phobia, 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 re-
lated ongoing racism and racial discrimination, including
•HRES 1361 EH 
the recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as a 
crime against humanity, and that people of African de-
scent, people of Asian descent, and indigenous peoples 
who were victims of these acts continue to face discrimi-
nation 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 implemen-
tation 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 Re-
view Conference on concrete action by the United Na-
tions 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—
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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 en-
sure 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 con-
cerns 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 Dur-
ban Review Conference that sidesteps scrutiny of coun-
try commitments to combat racism, racial discrimina-
tion, xenophobia, and related intolerance, and that pro-
motes 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 Re-
public of Korea, in voting to uphold earlier United Na-
tions 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 govern-
ment 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 reli-
gion; this right includes freedom to change his religion 
or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with
•HRES 1361 EH 
others and in public or private, [and] to manifest his re-
ligion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observ-
ance’’; 
(11) urges all states to implement their commit-
ments to combat racism, racial discrimination, xeno-
phobia 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 Ra-
cial 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 Na-
tions review conferences, focus on countries’ implementa-
tion of the many commitments to fight racism, racial 
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance con-
tained in the official government Durban Declaration 
and Program of Action and that there will be ‘‘no re-
negotiation of the existing agreements contained there-
in’’; 
(13) recognizes the purposeful attempts of some 
countries to prevent a focus on ongoing racism by uti-
lizing inflammatory language, employing divisive tactics
•HRES 1361 EH 
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 im-
portant 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 in-
tervene 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 in-
tolerance, and on concrete action to fight racism, anti- 
Semitism, and all forms of hatred, intolerance, and vio-
lence; 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.