On March 18, the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to consider its final report of Libya’s human rights record that was conducted under the body’s Universal Periodic Review. The first part of the human rights review of the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya”, conducted on November 9, 2010, was an all too typical dog and pony show. Libya’s submission to the Council asserted that the regime observed and protected a host of basic human rights including freedoms of expression, religion, and association. During the review, governments lined …
Was it wise for the Obama administration to reverse the Bush administration’s policy of distancing the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council? With the Council’s 15th session underway, it’s a question worth asking. The Council has been receiving more attention than unusual lately because the administration recently submitted a report on the U.S. human rights record for the Council’s Universal Periodic Review process. The report has led many to question what America gets out of membership on that body. In response, the U.S. ambassador to the Council, Eileen …
President Obama has submitted his administration’s legal dispute with Arizona over immigration to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer called that move “downright offensive.” Her characterization is correct, albeit somewhat mild. It is highly offensive that the administration would submit a constitutional argument over federalism and federal preemption to an international body for review – especially when that body includes dictatorial tyrannies such as Cuba and China that violate human rights routinely and with prejudice. It is another sign that President Obama holds our constitutional system of …
Last week, we noted that the U.S. State Department had submitted its “Report of the United States of America” to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was compiled as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) organized by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The U.S. report is revealing of the Obama Administration’s dissatisfaction with parts of America’s record on human rights. Steven Groves and Brett Schaefer have outlined basic flaws in the UPR process including the poor human rights records of the HRC’s members. …
The fact that the Obama Administration mentioned the Arizona law involving illegal immigration and the federal government’s legal challenge in its submission to the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) for the upcoming review of America’s human rights record under the Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) has been raising eyebrows. The UPR is a relatively new effort created by the HRC (at the instruction of the U.N. General Assembly resolution establishing the council) to review the human rights practices of all countries in the world. The UPR began in 2008 and …
This morning, the U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. had submitted its “Report of the United States of America” to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was submitted as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). In November, the U.S. Administration will formally present the findings of its report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Judging from the content of the U.S. report, that November presentation will consist of much wailing and gnashing of …
As the season of human rights meetings progresses at the United Nations, support for the proposed new entity dedicated to gender issues has been building, despite the fact that, to date, it has no leader, no funds, and an expansive mission statement that promises additional bureaucracy and no real benefit to the victimized women it aims to protect. Calling for a more authoritative and funded gender entity, the co-directors of AIDS-Free World recently released this position paper, Without Operational Capacity, the New UN Entity for Women Will Not Succeed, claiming …
A story by CNSNews today discussed how the U.S. State Department has been quietly holding meetings and soliciting comments on America’s human rights record for inclusion in a report it must submit this fall to the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC). Designed to be an improvement over the discredited U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the HRC has proven gravely disappointing. In its first four years, the HRC has been weak and ineffectual in promoting fundamental human rights, in large part because influential countries opposed to strong HRC scrutiny of human …
On the anniversary of the November 2008 election, it seems appropriate to assess the impact of the Administration on America’s relationship with the United Nations. After all, one of President Obama’s sharpest criticisms of the Bush Administration was its supposed resistance to multilateral efforts—particularly U.N.-led multilateral efforts—to resolve international problems. Well, we can’t say we weren’t warned. In its first 9 months, the Obama administration has sought to purchase goodwill at the U.N. by conceding U.S. policy positions, downplaying the U.N.’s many problems, and seeking to engage with the U.N. …
Last month, President Obama proudly announced at the United Nations the steps taken under his administration to “embrace a new era of engagement” in international affairs by correcting the actions of past administration that might lead people to “question the character and cause” of America including supporting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, addressing global warming through the U.N., joining the Human Rights Council, signing the Disabilities Convention, supporting the Millennium Development Goals, and paying America’s arrears to the United Nations without asking the organization to implement reforms to prevent …
