VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUCNDT #1207/01 3591853
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241853Z DEC 08
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5603
INFO RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0307
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3474

UNCLAS USUN NEW YORK 001207 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR IO/RHS, DRL/ML; EMBASSIES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERTS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNGA PHUM KSOCI KDEM
SUBJECT: UNGA TAKES ACTION ON THIRD COMMITTEE RESOLUTIONS 
 
REF: A. USUN 1111 
     ¶B. USUN 131888 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  On December 18, the UN General Assembly took 
action on Third Committee resolutions, adopting 39 draft 
resolutions by consensus and 17 by vote.  Five remaining 
resolutions, which had budget implications and needed review 
by the Assembly's Fifth Committee, were adopted on December 
¶24.  The Organization of the Islamic Conference,s defamation 
of religions resolution passed by vote, as did the human 
rights resolutions on North Korea, Iran and Burma.  An 
Iranian no-action motion failed by a margin of 15 votes.  The 
United States remained isolated in voting against resolutions 
on the rights of the child and the right to food, but picked 
up a little support in voting against a Russian resolution on 
contemporary forms of racism and a Cuban resoltion on the 
right to development.  During the December 18 session, a 
group of 66 countries presented a statement on sexual 
orientation and gender identity, urging the decriminalization 
of homosexuality, and a group of mostly Islamic countries 
presented a counter-statement.   END SUMMARY 
 
--------------------- 
CONSENSUS RESOLUTIONS 
--------------------- 
 
¶2. The UNGA adopted the following Third Committee draft 
resolutions by consensus:  A/63/423/1, entitled &Enlargement 
of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;8 A/63/423/2, 
entitled &New international humanitarian order;8 
A/63/423/3, entitled &Office of the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees;8 A/63/423/4, entitled 
&Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in 
Africa;8 A/63/424/1, entitled &Realizing the Millennium 
Development Goals for persons with disabilities through the 
implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning 
Disabled Persons and the Convention on the Rights of Persons 
with Disabilities;8 A/63/424/2, entitled &Follow-up to the 
Second World Assembly on Ageing;8 A/63/424/3, entitled 
&Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for 
Social Development and of the twenty-fourth special session 
of the General Assembly;8 A/63/424/4, entitled &Follow-up 
to the implementation of the International Year of 
Volunteers;8 A/63/424/5, entitled &United Nations Literacy 
Decade:  education for all;8 A/63/425/1, entitled 
&Intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of 
violence against women;8 A/63/425/2, entitled &Trafficking 
in women and girls;8 A/63/425, entitled &Future operation 
of the International Research and Training Institute for the 
Advancement of Women;8 and A/63/425/4, entitled &Supporting 
efforts to end obstetric fistula.8 
 
¶3. Draft resolutions adopted by consensus continued: 
A/63/425/5, entitled &Follow-up to the Fourth World 
Conference on Women and full implementation of the Beijing 
Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the 
twenty-third special session of the General Assembly8 (NB: 
the U.S. disassociated from consensus on this resolution); 
A/63/427, entitled &Indigenous issues;8 A/63/429/1, 
entitled &Universal realization of the right of peoples to 
self-determination;8 A/63/428/3, entitled "International 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial 
Discrimination;" A/63/430/Add.1/1, entitled &Torture and 
other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment;8 
A/63/430/Add.2/2, entitled &The role of the Ombudsman, 
mediator and other national human rights institutions in the 
promotion and protection of human rights;8 A/63/430/Add.2/3, 
entitled &Regional arrangements for the promotion and 
protection of human rights; A/630/430/Add.2/5, entitled 
&National institutions for the promotion and protection of 
human rights;8 A/63/430/Add.2/6, entitled &International 
Year of Human Rights Learning;8 A/63/430/Add.2/7, entitled 
&Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of 
Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and 
Linguistic Minorities;8 A/63/430/Add.2/8, entitled &Human 
rights and extreme poverty;8 A/63/430/Add.2/10, entitled 
&Subregional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in 
Central Africa;8 A/63/430/Add.2/13, entitled &Enhancement 
of international cooperation in the field of human rights;8 
A/63/430/Add.2/14, entitled &Elimination of all forms of 
intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or 
belief;8 A/63/430/Add.2/16, entitled &Missing persons;8 
A/63/430/Add.2/17, entitled &Protection of migrants;8 
A/63/430/Add.2/18, entitled &Protection of human rights and 
fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;8 
A/63/430/Add.2/19, entitled &International Convention for 
the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance;8 
and A/63/430/Add.2/23, entitled "Committee on the Rigths of 
the Child" (NB: the U.S. disassociated from consensus on this 
 
resolution). 
 
¶4. Draft resolutions adopted by consensus continued: 
A/63/430/Add.5, entitled &Convention on the Rights of 
Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol 
thereto;8 A/63/431/1, entitled &Preparations for the 
Twelfth United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and 
Criminal Justice;8 A/63/431/2, entitled &Improving the 
coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons;8 
A/63/431/3, entitled &Strengthening the United Nations Crime 
Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme, in particular its 
technical cooperation capacity;8 A/63/431/4, entitled 
&United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of 
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders;8 A/63/432, entitled 
&International cooperation against the world drug problem;8 
and A/63/433, entitled &Programme of work of the Third 
Committee for the sixty-fourth session of the General 
Assembly.8 
 
----------------- 
VOTED RESOLUTIONS 
----------------- 
 
¶5. The UNGA adopted the following Third Committee draft 
resolutions by vote: 
A/63/435/Add.1, entitled &Report of the Human Rights 
Council,8 which passed 121-7(U.S.)-58; 
A/63/426, entitled "Rights of the Child," which passed 
159-1(US)-0; 
A/63/428/1, entitled &Inadmissibility of certain practices 
that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, 
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,8 
which passed 129-2(U.S.)-54; 
A/63/428/2, entitled "Global efforts for the total 
elimination of racism, racial discrimination, sexophobia and 
related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of 
and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of 
Action," which passed 109-13(US)-35; 
A/63/429/2, entitled &Use of mercenaries as a means of 
violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right 
of peoples to self-determination,8 which passed 
125-52(U.S.)-5; 
A/63/429/3, entitled &The right of the Palestinian people to 
self-determination,8 which passed 173-5(U.S.)-7; 
A/63/430/Add.1/2, entitled &Equitable geographical 
distribution in the membership of the human rights treaty 
bodies,8 which passed 128-55(U.S.)-2; 
A/63/430/Add.2/1, entitled &Moratorium on the use of the 
death penalty,8 which passed 106-46(U.S.)-34; 
A/63/430/Add.2/4, entitled &Combating defamation of 
religions,8 which passed 86-53(U.S.)-42; 
A/63/430/Add.2/9, entitled &Globalization and its impact on 
the full enjoyment of all human rights,8 which passed 
129-54(U.S.)-4; and 
A/63/430/Add.2/11, entitled &The right to development,8 
which passed 182-4(U.S.)-2 
 
¶6. Draft resolutions adopted by vote continued: 
A/63/430/Add.2/12, entitled &Human rights and unilateral 
coercive measures,8 which passed 132-54(U.S.)-0; 
A/63/430/Add.2/15, entitled &Extrajudicial, summary or 
arbitrary executions,8 which passed 127-0-58(U.S.); 
two oral amendments proposed by Uganda on behalf of the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference, attempting to insert 
language related to persons under foreign occupation and to 
delete language referring to sexual orientation were rejected 
in respective votes of 71-75(U.S.)-22 and 60-78(U.S)-28; 
A/63/430/Add.2/20, entitled &The right to food,8 which 
passed 184-1(U.S.)-0; 
A/63/430/Add.2/21, entitled &Respect for the right to 
universal freedom of travel and the vital importance of 
family reunification,8 which passed 121-4(U.S.)-60; 
A/63/430/Add.2/22, entitled &Promotion of a democratic and 
equitable international order,8 which passed 124-55(U.S.)-7; 
A/63/430/Add.3/1, entitled &Situation of human rights in the 
Democratic People,s Republic of Korea,8 which passed 
94(U.S.)-22-63; 
A/63/430/Add.3/2, entitled &Situation of human rights in 
Myanmar," which passed 80(US)-25-45; 
A/63/430/Add.3/3, entitled &Situation of human rights in the 
Islamic Republic of Iran,8 which passed 69(U.S.)-54-57; 
Iran,s no-action motion was rejected in a vote of 
69-84(U.S.)-25, and Iran,s proposed oral amendments striking 
Operative Paragraphs six and seven were rejected in 
respective votes of 50-72(U.S.)-50 and 50-71(U.S.)-51; and 
A/63/434, entitled &Programme planning,8 which passed 
175-3(U.S.)-2. 
 
----------------------------- 
SEXUAL ORIENTATION STATEMENTS 
 
----------------------------- 
 
¶7. Following the December 18 action on human rights 
resolutions, the Permanent Representative of Argentina read a 
statement on behalf of a group of 66 countries reaffirming 
the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual 
orientation or gender identity, and urging decriminalization 
of homosexuality.  The full text can be found at 
http://www.droitslgbt2008.fr/.  In a separate side event, 
French minister for Human Rights Rama Yade, Netherlands 
Foreign Minister Verhagen and seven human rights activists 
representing civil society in a number of countries held a 
panel discussion on the topic.  The non-binding statement, 
which is not an official action of the General Assembly but 
merely an expression of the point of view of a nubmer of 
member states, is the first time the issue of sexual 
orientation has been taken up at the GA.  The U.S. was not 
one of the signatories of the declaration (ref B), despite 
requests from the main co-sponsors, France and Brazil, and 
several U.S. NGOs.  A counter-statement on behalf of the 
members of the OIC and others was written by the Egyptian 
delegation and read by Syria immediately after the reading of 
the statement by Argentina. 
 
--------------------------- 
EXPLANATIONS BY DELEGATIONS 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8. Statements during the meetings were limited to 
Explanations of Procedure or Vote that were not previously 
made in the Third Committee, but Egypt and Singapore echoed 
their statements of strong opposition to the death penalty 
moratorium resolution (ref A).  Syria, speaking on behalf of 
a large group of mostly Arab, African, and Central Asian 
States, expressed concern regarding the inclusion of a 
reference to sexual orientation and gender identity in the 
resolution on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary 
executions, arguing that there is no definition or basis of 
such in international law.  In contrast, Argentina, on behalf 
of a large group of Latin American and European States, urged 
States to investigate and offer protections against human 
rights violations of persons because of their sexual 
orientation or gender identity.  A number of delegations 
delivered Explanations of Position on the draft resolution on 
the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on 
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was adopted by 
consensus during the December 10 UNGA plenary commemorative 
meeting on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights.  The statements were similar to those made 
in the Third Committee (ref A), with some lauding the 
Optional Protocol,s passage, and others echoing concerns 
regarding the individual complaint mechanism, and the 
judicial difference between economic, social and cultural 
rights and civil and political rights.  Although the United 
States remained isolated in the GA plenary in voting against 
the Cuban right to food resolution, it picked up a few votes 
on two other resolutions it opposed: the Russian resolution 
on contemporary forms of racism (joined by the Marshall 
Islands) and the Cuban right to development resolution 
(joined by the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Ukraine). 
Khalilzad