Bill Text: CA ACR129 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: International treaties: reports.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-09-14 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 149, Statutes of 2010. [ACR129 Detail]
Download: California-2009-ACR129-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: ACR 129 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 149
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 2010
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 29, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Monning
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
Relative to international treaties.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 129, Monning. International treaties: reports.
The measure would request the Attorney General to publicize
specified international treaties and protocols to cities, counties,
and state agencies, and to prepare templates for cities, counties,
and state agencies to use to create reports pertaining to those
treaties and protocols.
WHEREAS, California is a coastal state populated by many native
people and immigrants from all nations that has long recognized its
role in the United States and in the global community; and
WHEREAS, The state is required to fulfill and implement its
reporting obligations under international treaties and domestic laws;
and
WHEREAS, The City and County of San Francisco was proud to serve
as the site for the founding of the United Nations and the United
Nations Charter, which was agreed to by the United States in 1945;
and
WHEREAS, In 1992, the United States agreed to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), a treaty that
includes many of the rights set forth in the United States Bill of
Rights and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in which the
United States made commitments to (1) publicize the text of the
treaty throughout its states and territories, and (2) make reports
every five years to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations
that administers the ICCPR, including reports at the federal, state,
and local levels; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, the United States agreed to the International
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (ICAT), a treaty including some of the
provisions in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution,
in which the United States made commitments to (1) publicize the
text of the treaty throughout its states and territories, and (2)
make reports every four years to the United Nations Committee Against
Torture (CAT) administering the ICAT, including reports at the
federal, state, and local levels; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, the United States agreed to the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(ICERD), a treaty including provisions of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and
24th Amendments to the United States Constitution, in which the
United States made commitments to (1) publicize the text of the
treaty throughout its states and territories, and (2) make reports
every two years to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (CERD), including reports at the federal,
state, and local levels; and
WHEREAS, In 2002, the United States agreed to optional protocols
to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(CRC)--the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Child Pornography (CRC Optional Protocols),
protocols that include some of the provisions of the United States
military and pornography law--in which the United States made
commitments to (1) publicize the text of the protocols throughout its
states and territories, and (2) make reports every five years to the
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
administering the Protocols, including reports at the federal, state,
and local levels; and
WHEREAS, To date, California has not received a formal notice from
the United States Department of State that reports are due under
these treaties and protocols and has failed to make any required
report to any of the four United Nations committees; and
WHEREAS, On January 20, 2010, the Legal Adviser to the United
States Department of State issued an unclassified Memorandum for
State Governors on United States Human Rights Treaty Reports stating
that "we would appreciate your forwarding this communication to your
Attorney General's office, and to the departments and offices that
deal with human rights, civil rights, housing, employment and related
issues in your administration"; and
WHEREAS, In 1994, the City of Berkeley, informed of the treaties
by its Peace and Justice Commission, submitted its initial local
reports to the United States Department of State for inclusion in its
report, and directly to the Human Rights Committee, and in 2006 and
2007, submitted its local reports to the CERD and CAT under city
council resolutions; and
WHEREAS, City officials in Berkeley found that these submissions
heightened awareness among city officials and staff of the
significance of their enforcing human rights; and
WHEREAS, The members of the three United Nations committees
recently used information from unofficial reports by nongovernmental
organizations in their discussions of the official United States
reports, and specifically stated in their Concluding Observations
that they expect to receive information at the local level in all
future United States reports; and
WHEREAS, All of the facts and statistics needed to make the
reports to the four United Nations committees are available in
reports already prepared by the state for other purposes; and
WHEREAS, California can become a leader among the states in
fulfilling reporting obligations under these treaties and protocols
by taking steps to ease the task of compiling and organizing data for
cities, counties, and state agencies; and
WHEREAS, The next reports from the United States are due to the
Human Rights Committee of the United Nations on August 1, 2010, to
the CERD Committee on November 20, 2011, to the CAT Committee on
November 19, 2011, and to the CRC Committee in 2015; now, therefore,
be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
hereby requests the Attorney General to (1) publicize the text of the
three treaties and two protocols among all city, county, and state
agencies, and (2) prepare templates for use by cities, counties, and
state agencies on which to make concise, complete, and accurate
reports to fulfill reporting obligations under these treaties and
protocols; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Attorney General, President and Vice President
of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, the Legal
Adviser to the United States Department of State, the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Chair of the Human Rights
Committee of the United Nations, the Chair of the Committee Against
Torture of the United Nations, the Chair of the Committee on
Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the United Nations, and the
Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United
Nations.
