A/HRC/37/L.30
General Statement by the United States of America
as delivered by Jason Mack
Human Rights Council, 37th Session
Geneva, March 22, 2018
Thank you, Mr. President.
We are pleased to cosponsor this resolution and are grateful to the core group for their collaborative approach throughout the development of this text. The United States has been unwavering in its commitment to protect and preserve cultural heritage around the world, and to prevent trafficking in cultural property that funds criminal and terrorist networks.
With respect to OP 9, we stress that the international community recognizes that human rights are held and enjoyed by the individual, not by collectives, although individuals may exercise their human rights in concert with others. Separately, the international community recognizes that indigenous peoples, as collectives, enjoy certain additional, collective rights, as set forth in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.