Date: December 21, 2007 Original Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/ga10684.doc.htm Press release excerpts Sixty-second General Assembly Plenary 79th Meeting (PM & Night) CONCLUDING MAIN PART OF SESSION, GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS $4.17 BILLION BUDGET EARLY SATURDAY, IN WAKE OF FIFTH COMMITTEE’S DIPLOMATIC BREAKTHROUGH Several More Texts Adopted, Including Financing for Darfur Hybrid Operation; Assembly President Thanks Members for Enhancing Organization’s Relevance, Vitality ... The Third Committee’s report on the elimination of racism and racial discrimination (document A/62/437), containing draft resolution II on Global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, would have the Assembly express its “profound concern and unequivocal condemnation” at all forms of racism and racial discrimination.  The misuse of the media and the Internet to incite violence motivated by racial hatred would be condemned and the Assembly would call upon States to combat that form of racism.  It would reaffirm the central role of the Human Rights Council in monitoring the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action... ...The Assembly next took up draft resolution II on global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, contained in the Third Committee’s report on the elimination of racism and racial discrimination (document A/62/437). Speaking before the vote and highlighting his country’s opposition to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, the representative of the United States said his country’s record of domestic legislation and policies to vigorously combat such activities demonstrated its commitment to the objectives behind the resolution.  The United States had long been party to the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and while it continued to support the stated objectives of the 2001 World Conference in Durban, the Conference had been deeply flawed and divisive.  Because it reflected those flaws, the resolution at hand was deeply problematic. He said his delegation further believed that the Preparatory Committee following up Durban was, as an organ of the Human Rights Council, duplicating the work of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, as well as that of the Human Rights Committee for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions addressing workers’ rights. When resources were so limited and needs so great, his delegation could not support duplicative work. Thus, it believed that spending United Nations resources to prepare for a Durban Review Conference were not appropriate, he said.  Also, the Human Rights Council should remind itself of the role for which it had been created, namely, addressing human rights situations around the world, particularly emerging situations.  Also, the Secretary-General should not be asked to fund regional preparatory meetings that duplicated work already being done.  Similarly, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights should provide more substantial programming and cooperative assistance in countries around the world to combat racism, instead of devoting resources to conferences. He said each country should have a legal framework to protect individuals from discrimination, and States should focus on implementing existing commitments rather than following up on a flawed process.  The essential elements of a multilateral effort to combat contemporary forms of racism were universal ratification and effective implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  Thus, the United States would vote against the resolution. The Assembly then adopted draft resolution II by a recorded vote of 105 in favour to 46 against, with 6 abstentions ( Armenia, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland) (annex VIII)... ...It then took up the five draft resolutions contained in its reports on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009 (documents A/62/563/Add.1 and Add.2).  Turning to the first report, it considered five resolutions (documents A/C.5/62/L.18, L.19, L.20, L.21 and L.18). The representative of Syria said that, since the adoption of the budget for the Organization’s special political missions last year, his delegation had sought information on the relevant legislative mandates of the Special Envoys of the Secretary-General.   Syria had tried again and again to explain its views to the Secretariat and other delegations.  Its concerns had been appreciated because they concerned serious legal and political errors and discrepancies in the mandate of the Special Envoy charged with the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004) and of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon. Syria’s speaker stressed that the “logical framework” called for had flagrantly gone beyond the reading of resolution 1559 and linked the budget of the relevant envoy to issues that had occurred after the resolution had been adopted.  The framework under consideration had totally ignored the daily violations by Israel of Syria’s sovereignty.  The text would not serve the interests of Lebanon nor of resolution 1559.  Rather, it was an attempt to hold Lebanon’s interest hostage to political agendas.   Syria would follow negotiations on the text in the future, and hoped that its concerns would be taken into account. The representative of Lebanon said –- and repeated -- that Syria was a sisterly and friendly country.  It was a dear neighbour, with which it had a shared a history and future.  He said it wished to have diplomatic relations and exchange representatives, which had been agreed by the Lebanese population by consensus.  The Lebanese had been unanimous on issues that would affect the sisterly relations.  The continued occupation by Israel of its land fell within the work of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General established by resolution 1559 (2004).  He also clarified that there was confusion among certain delegations; operative paragraph 9, which had been a point of argument during informal consultations, was no longer in the draft text.  Thus, he hoped that all delegations would vote in favour of section 5 of the draft. When the Assembly turned to action, the representative of Syria said there was confusion because the draft resolution under consideration was different from the one he had just spoken about. The representative of the United States said his delegation would agree that the board did not reflect the draft that was being discussed.  He agreed with Syria and was confused about what the Assembly was voting on. After the Assembly President clarified the matter, the Assembly adopted draft resolution I on questions relating to the proposed programme budget for 2008-2009, by recorded vote of 142 in favour to 1 against (United States), with no abstentions (annex X)... ANNEX VIII Vote on Follow-up to Durban Declaration The draft resolution on global efforts for the total elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and the comprehensive implementation of and follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, (document A/62/437) was adopted by a recorded vote of 105 in favour to 46 against, with 6 abstentions, as follows: In favour:  Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Against:  Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States. Abstain:  Armenia, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland. Absent:  Albania, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Kiribati, Liberia, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Suriname, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. ANNEX X Vote on Questions Relating to Proposed Programme Budget The draft resolution on questions relating to the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009 (document A/C.5/62/L.18) was adopted by a recorded vote of 142 in favour to 1 against, with no abstentions, as follows: In favour:  Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Against:  United States. Abstain:  None. Absent:  Albania, Azerbaijan, Belize, Bhutan, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Kiribati, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Suriname, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu.