California Assembly Bill ACR129 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: ACR 129AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Monning FEBRUARY 18, 2010 Relative to international treaties. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 129, as amended, Monning. International treaties: reports. The measure would request the Attorney General to publicize  3  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  . Fiscal committee: yes. 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 fulfil 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  ratified   agreed to  by the United States  Senate  in 1945; and WHEREAS, In 1992, the United States  Senate ratified   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  United Nations  Human Rights Committee  administering   of the United Nations that administers  the ICCPR, including reports at the federal, state, and local levels; and WHEREAS, In 1994, the United States  Senate ratified   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  Senate ratified   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 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 protoc   ols  and has failed to make any required report to any of the  three   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  have  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  three   four  United Nations committees are available in reports already prepared by the state for other purposes; and WHEREAS, California can become the first state in the nation to prepare and file the reports  and protocols  required under these three treaties by obtaining information from all cities and counties and from state agencies; and WHEREAS, The next reports from the United States are due to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations on August  8   1  , 2010, to the CERD Committee on November 20, 2011,  and  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 that the state can merge and submit in its reports to the  three   four  United Nations committees; 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 Advisor 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  ,  and to  the Chair of the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination  in Geneva   of the United Nations, and the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations  . ____ CORRECTIONS Text--Page 3. ____