MEMBERSHIP EVENTS AND TRAINING
USHRN Releases Joint UPR Reports
(August 23, 2010)
The report on domestic human rights issues submitted by the State Department to the UN Human Rights Council is a positive step, but more work needs to be done to rectify well-documented U.S. human rights problems and ensure compliance with international human rights standards. In contrast to the federal report, a compilation of 26 stakeholder reports published by the US Human Rights Network reveals the full breadth and depth of human rights issues that U.S. citizens continue to confront on a daily basis. Read the entire press release. Download both reports and other relevant reports here.
SAVE THE DATE Thursday, September 23. Mark your calendars for the Sexual Freedom Gala from 6:30 to 9 pm at the Equality Center in Washington, DC. Join the festivities and celebrate with the award winners of the "Vicki" - Woodhull's recognition of very special individuals who have significantly advanced sexual freedom as a fundamental human right! The Gala caps the first-ever National Sexual Freedom Day featuring panels and workshops from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., including a 2 p.m. press conference release of the first State of Sexual Freedom Report at the National Press Club, Washington, DC. More info about the Woodhull Foundation here
Thursday, October 14, 2010 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty's McKinney-Vento Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have advanced solutions to homelessness and poverty. These awards also pay tribute to two outstanding national leaders in the fight to end homelessness, Stewart B. McKinney and Bruce F. Vento. Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will present a keynote address at this year's ceremony. More information here
USHRN PRESS RELEASE
U.S. Human Rights Review Both Necessary and Worthwhile; Civil Society Report Details Issues Still To Be Addressed (September 2, 2010) The report on human rights in the United States submitted by the State Department to the United Nations on August 20 has been met with criticism from conservative quarters. Most recently, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer demanded that an innocuous mention of Arizona’s controversial immigration law be removed from the report. The criticisms demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about the purpose of the report, prepared as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process that examines the human rights records of all U.N. member states every four years. Moreover, a comprehensive report of domestic human rights issues coordinated and released by the US Human Rights Network clearly demonstrates that the problems addressed in the government report are not only real, but understated. Read the press release and the full report.
VIDEO
ACTION ALERT
Act Now to Protect Afro-Colombian Communities in Cauca and Nariño
The US Network in Solidarity with Afro-Colombian Grassroots Communities urges you to contact US policymakers to protect the lives and territories belonging to Afrodescendants in La Toma ( Cauca ) and the Black Communities of Western Nariño (COPDICONC). On July 25, 2010 the paramilitary group Los Rastrojos allegedly murdered two young Afro-Colombians in the municipality of Santa Barbara de Iscuande, Nariño. These killings follow an increase of this illegal armed group’s menacing presence in the territories. For additional information please contact Charo Mina Rojas, PCN or Gimena Sanchez, WOLA. Add yourself to the Facebook Cause on La Toma.
Join the Racial Profiling: Face the Truth campaign. Mr. Abe Dabdoub, a US citizen, was detained at the US/Canada border over a dozen times by US Customs and Border Patrol. The first four times, he was handcuffed. Once, his wife pleaded with the agents not to handcuff him in front of their 5 and 7 year-old sons. Each time he asked why he was told by Customs officers, "We can't tell you for national security reasons." The Rights Working Group is asking for people to sign the petition here.
President Obama Considering Executive Order on Human Rights The Executive Order would address the human rights obligations of the United States and put concrete action behind President Obama’s recognition that human rights begin at home. Act now!
CURRENT NEWS
Rape in Haiti: Human Rights Groups Release Comprehensive Report on Violence Against Women and Girls in Post-Earthquake Haiti July 27, 2010. More than six months after Port-au-Prince was leveled by the January 12 earthquake, hundreds of thousands of displaced women and girls live in fear of rape in tent cities that lack lighting, privacy and security. Today, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH) along with partners MADRE, TransAfrica Forum, and the law schools of the University of Virginia released Our Bodies are Still Trembling: Haitian Women's Fight Against Rape, the first report of its kind to focus exclusively on the crisis of violence against Haitian women and girls that has emerged in the aftermath of the earthquake. The report is the product of a fact-finding delegation to Haiti in May coordinated by IJDH's Lawyers Earthquake Response Network (LERN).
Sudan: African Commission issues scathing decision against Sudanese government for atrocities in Darfur In a landmark decision, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has ruled against the Sudanese government, accusing it of committing a wide range of human rights violations against the people of Darfur. The ruling, released today, was made in a case brought by the Geneva-based international human rights group, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), against the Sudanese government in 2005. The ruling came less than three weeks after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a second arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, on charges of genocide. For more information
Amnesty International Applauds Passage of Landmark Legislation Addressing Sexual Violence Against Native Women
Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today applauded House passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010, a groundbreaking piece of legislation that tackles the complex jurisdictional maze that allows violent crime against American Indians to continue unabated. The Tribal Law and Order Act, a long overdue effort to address public safety issues in Indian Country, would enhance the criminal justice system by improving coordination and communication between federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. For more information
Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz in Huffington Post, "Corporate Control of Our Democracy: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" Read more.
Far Worse Than Watergate: Report Reveals Widening Scandal Regarding Intelligence Agency as New Government Takes Office in Colombia Read more.
Why Human Rights are Indispensable to Financial Regulation What does the financial crisis have to do with human rights? When we hear the words "human rights," we may think about Darfur, stifled dissent in Burma, or the killings of protestors in Guinea, yet, here the biggest economic meltdown in the US since the Great Depression continues to erode fundamental human rights. Read more.
ONGOING CAMPAIGNS / PROJECTS
Report on the US Social Forum - August 2010 The second US Social Forum, held in Detroit, Michigan June 22nd – 26th was a major advance for the cause of human rights in the US and a critical advance for the US Human Rights Network. Read the report.
Universal Periodic Review The U.N.’s first Universal Periodic Review of the U.S., scheduled to take place December 2010, offers an important opportunity both to measure how the U.S. is meeting its human rights obligations and to continue pressuring the government to live up to those obligations. Read More.
Take Back the Land Action Group! The overall objective of this campaign is to compel the United States government to recognize that housing is a fundamental human right and to meet its obligations under international law. Read more.
Katrina Campaign, this Campaign is a local, state, national and international initiative dedicated to ensuring that all levels of the US government comply with its domestic and international legal obligations and norms concerning the rights and protections accorded to persons displaced by natural disaster. Read more
Mapping and Documentation Project The USHRN is excited to announce the launch of the Human Rights Mapping Database, a unique interactive portal for tracking human rights trainers, events, and resources. Get Involved and submit information.
Human Rights at Home Campaign. The campaign calls for strengthened commitment to human rights at home and abroad, and seeks to build a political culture from coast to coast that supports and advocates for human rights at home and abroad. Read More.
CERD Project The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, also known as ICERD, or more commonly, CERD, is an international treaty designed to protect individuals from discrimination based on race, whether that discrimination is intentional, or is the result of seemingly neutral policies. Read More.
