[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 240 (Tuesday, December 15, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 68991-68993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-33348]
                        Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 240 / Tuesday, December 15, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 68991]]
                Executive Order 13107 of December 10, 1998
Implementation of Human Rights Treaties
                By the authority vested in me as President by the
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of
                America, and bearing in mind the obligations of the
                United States pursuant to the International Covenant on
                Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention
                Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
                Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the
                Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
                (CERD), and other relevant treaties concerned with the
                protection and promotion of human rights to which the
                United States is now or may become a party in the
                future, it is hereby ordered as follows:
                Section 1. Implementation of Human Rights Obligations.
                (a) It shall be the policy and practice of the
                Government of the United States, being committed to the
                protection and promotion of human rights and
                fundamental freedoms, fully to respect and implement
                its obligations under the international human rights
                treaties to which it is a party, including the ICCPR,
                the CAT, and the CERD.
                    (b) It shall also be the policy and practice of the
                Government of the United States to promote respect for
                international human rights, both in our relationships
                with all other countries and by working with and
                strengthening the various international mechanisms for
                the promotion of human rights, including, inter alia,
                those of the United Nations, the International Labor
                Organization, and the Organization of American States.
                Sec. 2. Responsibility of Executive Departments and
                Agencies. (a) All executive departments and agencies
                (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 101-105, including boards and
                commissions, and hereinafter referred to collectively
                as ``agency'' or ``agencies'') shall maintain a current
                awareness of United States international human rights
                obligations that are relevant to their functions and
                shall perform such functions so as to respect and
                implement those obligations fully. The head of each
                agency shall designate a single contact officer who
                will be responsible for overall coordination of the
                implementation of this order. Under this order, all
                such agencies shall retain their established
                institutional roles in the implementation,
                interpretation, and enforcement of Federal law and
                policy.
                    (b) The heads of agencies shall have lead
                responsibility, in coordination with other appropriate
                agencies, for questions concerning implementation of
                human rights obligations that fall within their
                respective operating and program responsibilities and
                authorities or, to the extent that matters do not fall
                within the operating and program responsibilities and
                authorities of any agency, that most closely relate to
                their general areas of concern.
                Sec. 3. Human Rights Inquiries and Complaints. Each
                agency shall take lead responsibility, in coordination
                with other appropriate agencies, for responding to
                inquiries, requests for information, and complaints
                about violations of human rights obligations that fall
                within its areas of responsibility or, if the matter
                does not fall within its areas of responsibility,
                referring it to the appropriate agency for response.
                Sec. 4. Interagency Working Group on Human Rights
                Treaties. (a) There is hereby established an
                Interagency Working Group on Human Rights Treaties for
                the purpose of providing guidance, oversight, and
                coordination with respect to questions concerning the
                adherence to and implementation of human rights
                obligations and related matters.
[[Page 68992]]
                    (b) The designee of the Assistant to the President
                for National Security Affairs shall chair the
                Interagency Working Group, which shall consist of
                appropriate policy and legal representatives at the
                Assistant Secretary level from the Department of State,
                the Department of Justice, the Department of Labor, the
                Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and
                other agencies as the chair deems appropriate. The
                principal members may designate alternates to attend
                meetings in their stead.
                    (c) The principal functions of the Interagency
                Working Group shall include:
                    (i) coordinating the interagency review of any
                significant issues concerning the implementation of
                this order and analysis and recommendations in
                connection with pursuing the ratification of human
                rights treaties, as such questions may from time to
                time arise;
                    (ii) coordinating the preparation of reports that
                are to be submitted by the United States in fulfillment
                of treaty obligations;
                    (iii) coordinating the responses of the United
                States Government to complaints against it concerning
                alleged human rights violations submitted to the United
                Nations, the Organization of American States, and other
                international organizations;
                    (iv) developing effective mechanisms to ensure that
                legislation proposed by the Administration is reviewed
                for conformity with international human rights
                obligations and that these obligations are taken into
                account in reviewing legislation under consideration by
                the Congress as well;
                    (v) developing recommended proposals and mechanisms
                for improving the monitoring of the actions by the
                various States, Commonwealths, and territories of the
                United States and, where appropriate, of Native
                Americans and Federally recognized Indian tribes,
                including the review of State, Commonwealth, and
                territorial laws for their conformity with relevant
                treaties, the provision of relevant information for
                reports and other monitoring purposes, and the
                promotion of effective remedial mechanisms;
                    (vi) developing plans for public outreach and
                education concerning the provisions of the ICCPR, CAT,
                CERD, and other relevant treaties, and human rights-
                related provisions of domestic law;
                    (vii) coordinating and directing an annual review
                of United States reservations, declarations, and
                understandings to human rights treaties, and matters as
                to which there have been nontrivial complaints or
                allegations of inconsistency with or breach of
                international human rights obligations, in order to
                determine whether there should be consideration of any
                modification of relevant reservations, declarations,
                and understandings to human rights treaties, or United
                States practices or laws. The results and
                recommendations of this review shall be reviewed by the
                head of each participating agency;
                    (viii) making such other recommendations as it
                shall deem appropriate to the President, through the
                Assistant to the President for National Security
                Affairs, concerning United States adherence to or
                implementation of human rights treaties and related
                matters; and
                    (ix) coordinating such other significant tasks in
                connection with human rights treaties or international
                human rights institutions, including the Inter-American
                Commission on Human Rights and the Special Rapporteurs
                and complaints procedures established by the United
                Nations Human Rights Commission.
                    (d) The work of the Interagency Working Group shall
                not supplant the work of other interagency entities,
                including the President's Committee on the
                International Labor Organization, that address
                international human rights issues.
                Sec. 5. Cooperation Among Executive Departments and
                Agencies. All agencies shall cooperate in carrying out
                the provisions of this order. The Interagency Working
                Group shall facilitate such cooperative measures.
[[Page 68993]]
                Sec. 6. Judicial Review, Scope, and Administration. (a)
                Nothing in this order shall create any right or
                benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any
                party against the United States, its agencies or
                instrumentalities, its officers or employees, or any
                other person.
                    (b) This order does not supersede Federal statutes
                and does not impose any justiciable obligations on the
                executive branch.
                    (c) The term ``treaty obligations'' shall mean
                treaty obligations as approved by the Senate pursuant
                to Article II, section 2, clause 2 of the United States
                Constitution.
                    (d) To the maximum extent practicable and subject
                to the availability of appropriations, agencies shall
                carry out the provisions of this order.
                    (Presidential Sig.)
                THE WHITE HOUSE,
                    December 10, 1998.
[FR Doc. 98-33348
Filed 12-14-98; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P