Presented by:

Harshita Goel
8th Rose

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the UN

system made up of 47 States responsible for strengthening the
promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The
Council was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006
with the main purpose of addressing situations of human rights
violations and make recommendations on them.

One year after holding its first meeting, on 18 June 2007, the Council
adopted its Institution-building package [Word file] providing elements
to guide it in its future work. Among the elements is the new Universal
Periodic Review mechanism which will assess the human rights
situations in all 192 UN Member States. Other features include a
new Advisory Committee which serves as the Councils think tank
providing it with expertise and advice on thematic human rights issues
and the revised Complaints Procedure mechanism which allows
individuals and organizations to bring complaints about human rights
violations to the attention of the Council. The Human Rights Council
also continues to work closely with the UN Special
Procedures established by the former Commission on Human Rights
and assumed by the Council.

INTRODUCTION

Human rights in the United States are legally protected by the Constitution of the United
States and amendments, conferred by treaty, and enacted legislatively through Congress, state legislatures,
and plebiscites (state referenda). Federal courts in the United States have jurisdiction over international
human rights laws as a federal question, arising under international law, which is part of the law of the United
States.
The first human rights organization in the Thirteen Colonies of British America, dedicated to the abolition of
slavery, was formed by Anthony Benezet in 1775. A year later, the Declaration of Independence would
advocate for civil liberties based on the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness. This view of human liberties postulates that fundamental rights are not granted by the
government but are inalienable and inherent to each individual, anteceding government.
Holding to these principles, the United States Constitution, adopted in 1787, created a republic that
guaranteed several rights and civil liberties. Those rights and liberties were further codified in the Bill of
Rights and subsequently extended over time to more universal applicability through judicial rulings and law
and reflecting the evolving norms of society slavery being constitutionally abolished in 1865 and women's
suffrage being established nationally in 1920.
In the 20th century, the United States took a leading role in the creation of the United Nations and in the
drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Much of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights was modeled in part on the U.S. Bill of Rights.[In the latter part of the 20th century, however, the US
has participated in few of the international human rights treaties, covenants and declarations adopted by the
UN member states.
In the 21st century, the US actively attempted to undermine the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court. The United States government has been criticized for human rights violations both domestically and
overseas, particularly in the criminal justice system and in national security issues, as well as for its
treatment of sexual orientation in the realms of anti-discrimination laws and same-sex marriage.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON
SUPPORT
TREATIES RATIFIED
INTERNATIONAL BILL OF RIGHTS
OTHER TREATIES NOT SIGNED OR
SIGNED BUT NOT RATIFIED
COVERAGE OF VIOLATIONS IN THE
MEDIA

SUPPORT

The U.S. Department of State publishes a yearly report "Supporting Human Rights and
Democracy: The U.S. Record" in compliance with a 2002 law which requires the Department to
report on actions taken by the U.S. Government to encourage respect for human rights. It also
publishes a yearly "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.". In 2006 the United States
created a "Human Rights Defenders Fund" and "Freedom Awards." The "Ambassadorial
Roundtable Series", created in 2006, are informal discussions between newly-confirmed
U.S. Ambassadors and human rights and democracy non-governmental organizations. The
United States also support democracy and human rights through several other tools.
The "Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award" recognizes the exceptional
achievement of officers of foreign affairs agencies posted abroad.
In 2006 the award went to Joshua Morris of the embassy in Mauritania who recognized
necessary democracy and human rights improvements in Mauritania and made democracy
promotion one of his primary responsibilities. He persuaded the Government of Mauritania to
re-open voter registration lists to an additional 85,000 citizens, which includes a significant
number of Afro-Mauritanian minority individuals. He also organized and managed the largest
youth-focused democracy project in Mauritania in 5 years.
Nathaniel Jensen of the embassy in Vietnam was runner-up. He successfully advanced the
human rights agenda on several fronts, including organizing the resumption of a bilateral
Human Rights Dialogue, pushing for the release of Vietnams prisoners of concern, and
dedicating himself to improving religion freedom in northern Vietnam.
Under legislation by congress, the United States declared that countries utilizing child soldiers
may no longer be eligible for US military assistance, in an attempt to end this practice.

TREATIES RATIFIED

The U.S. has signed and ratified the following human

rights treaties:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

(ratified with 5 reservations, 5 understandings, and 4

declarations.)
Optional protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography

Non-binding documents voted for:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

INTERNATIONAL BILL OF RIGHTS

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and

the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights (ICESCR) are the legal treaties that enshrine the rights which are
outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Together, and along
with the first and second optional protocols of the ICCPR they constitute
the International bill of rights. The US has not ratified the ICESCR or either
of the optional protocols of the ICCPR.
The US's ratification of the ICCPR was done with five reservations or
limits on the treaty, 5 understandings and 4 declarations. Among these is
the rejection of sections of the treaty which prohibit capital
punishment. Included in the Senate's ratification was the declaration that
"the provisions of Article 1 through 27 of the Covenant are not selfexecuting", and in a Senate Executive Report stated that the declaration
was meant to "clarify that the Covenant will not create a private cause of
action in U.S. Courts." This way of ratifying the treaty was criticized as
incompatible with the Supremacy Clause by Louis Henkin.
As a reservation that is "incompatible with the object and purpose" of a
treaty is void as a matter of international law, Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties, art. 19, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force Jan. 27, 1980)
(specifying conditions under which signatory States can offer
"reservations"), there is some issue as to whether the non-self-execution
declaration is even legal under domestic law. At any rate, the United States
is but a signatory in name only.

OTHER TREATIES NOT SIGNED

OR SIGNED BUT NOT RATIFIED

Where the signature is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval, the signature does not
establish the consent to be bound. However, it is a means of authentication and expresses the
willingness of the signatory state to continue the treaty-making process. The signature qualifies
the signatory state to proceed to ratification, acceptance or approval. It also creates an obligation
to refrain, in good faith, from acts that would defeat the object and the purpose of the treaty.
The U.S. has not ratified the following international human rights treaties:
First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming
at the abolition of the death penalty
Optional Protocol to CEDAW
Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954)
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961)
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of their Families
The US has signed but not ratified the following treaties:
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
(signed but not ratified)
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (signed but not ratified)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (signed but not ratified)
Non-binding documents voted against:
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007.

COVERAGE OF VIOLATIONS IN
THE MEDIA

Studies have found that the New York

Times coverage of worldwide human rights violations
is biased, predominantly focusing on the human
rights violations in nations where there is clear U.S.
involvement, while having relatively little coverage of
the human rights violations in other nations. Amnesty
International's Secretary General Irene
Khan explains, "If we focus on the U.S. it's because
we believe that the U.S. is a country whose
enormous influence and power has to be used
constructively ... When countries like the U.S. are
seen to undermine or ignore human rights, it sends a
very powerful message to others

GUANTNAMO BAY

Guantnamo Bay is a detainment facility of the United States located in Cuba. The facility was
established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and
later Iraq. It is operated by the Joint Task Force Guantnamo of the United States
government in Guantnamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantnamo Bay. The detainment
areas consist of three camps: Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray,
the last of which has been closed. The facility is often referred to as Guantnamo, or Gitmo, and has the
military abbreviation GTMO.
After the Justice Department advised that the Guantnamo Bay Detention Camp could be considered
outside U.S. legal jurisdiction, the first twenty captives arrived at Guantnamo on January 11, 2002. After
the Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva
Conventions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on June 29, 2006, that they were
entitled to the minimal protections listed under Common Article 3of the Geneva Conventions.] Following
this, on July 7, 2006, the Department of Defense issued an internal memo stating that prisoners would in
the future be entitled to protection under Common Article 3. The detainees held as of June 2008 have been
classified by the United States as "enemy combatants".
On January 22, 2009, the White House announced that President Barack Obama had signed an order to
suspend the proceedings of the Guantanamo military commission for 120 days and that the detention
facility would be shut down within the year. On January 29, 2009, a military judge at Guantnamo rejected
the White House request in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, creating an unexpected challenge for the
administration as it reviews how America puts Guantnamo detainees on trial.
On May 20, 2009, the United States Senate passed an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act
of 2009 (H.R. 2346) by a 90-6 vote to block funds needed for the transfer or release of prisoners held at
the Guantnamo Bay detention camp. As of November 2010, 174 detainees remain at Guantanamo.[
President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum dated December 15, 2009, ordering the
preparation of the Thomson Correctional Center, Thomson,Illinois so as to enable the transfer of
Guantanamo prisoners there.

CONDITIONS
One of the allegations of abuse at the camp is the abuse of the
religion of the detainees.The U.S. government has claimed that
they respect all religious and cultural sensitivities. However,
prisoners released from the camp have alleged that abuse of
religion including flushing the Qur'an down the toilet, defacing
the Qur'an, writing comments and remarks on the Qur'an,
tearing pages out of the Qur'an and denying detainees a copy
of the Qur'an. These allegations were highlighted by Pakistani
politician Imran Khan. Some of these abuses have been seen
as emblematic of the whole military leadership's approach
toward treatment of the prisoners while others argue that many
abuses are performed and directed on an individual level with
severe disciplinary repercussions if discovered. One of the
justifications offered for the continued detention of Mesut Sen,
during his Administrative Review Board hearing, was:
"Emerging as a leader, the detainee has been leading the
detainees around him in prayer. The detainees listen to him
speak and follow his actions during prayer."

Prisoner complaints

Three British Muslim prisoners, now known in the media as the "Tipton Three", were released in
2004 without charge. The three have alleged ongoing torture, sexual degradation, forced drugging
and religious persecution being committed by U.S. forces at GuantnamoBay. Former Guantnamo
detainee Mehdi Ghezali was freed without charge on July 9, 2004, after two and a half years
internment. Ghezali has claimed that he was the victim of repeated torture. Omar Deghayes alleges
he was blinded by pepper spray during his detention. Juma Al Dossary claims he was interrogated
hundreds of times, beaten, tortured with broken glass, barbed wire, burning cigarettes, and sexual
assaults. David Hicks also made allegations of torture and mistreatment in Guantnamo Bay, but as
part of his plea bargain Hicks withdrew the allegations.
Forced feeding accusations by hunger-striking detainees began in the fall of 2005: "Detainees said
large feeding tubes were forcibly shoved up their noses and down into their stomachs, with guards
using the same tubes from one patient to another. The detainees say no sedatives were provided
during these procedures, which they allege took place in front of U.S. physicians, including the head
of the prison hospital. A hunger striking detainee at Guantnamo Bay wants a judge to order the
removal of his feeding tube so he can be allowed to die, one of his lawyers has said."] Within a few
weeks, the Department of Defense "extended an invitation to United Nations Special Rapporteurs to
visit detention facilities at Guantnamo Bay Naval Station". This was rejected by the U.N. considering
the restrictions "that [the] three human rights officials invited to Guantnamo Bay wouldn't be allowed
to conduct private interviews" with prisoners. Simultaneously, media reports ensued surrounding the
question of prisoner treatment. "District Court Judge Gladys Kessler also ordered the U.S.
government to give medical records going back a week before such feedings take place."[In early
November 2005, the U.S. suddenly accelerated, for unknown reasons, the rate of prisoner release,
but this was un -sustained.
In 2005, it was reported that sexual methods were allegedly used by female interrogators to break
Muslim prisoners.

Suicides and suicide attempts

By 2008 there had been at least four suicides and hundreds of suicide attempts
in Guantnamo that are in public knowledge. There is no information available
on the number suicide attempts that may be classified secret, if any.
During August 2003, there were 23 suicide attempts. The U.S. officials would
not say why they had not previously reported the incident.
After this event the Pentagon reclassified suicides as "manipulative selfinjurious behaviors" because it is alleged by camp physicians that detainees do
not genuinely wish to end their lives.[
Guantnamo officials have reported 41 unsuccessful suicide attempts by 25
detainees since the U.S. began taking prisoners to the base in January 2002.
Defense lawyers contend the number of suicide attempts is higher. On May 19,
2002, a UN panel said that holding detainees indefinitely at Guantnamo
violated the world's ban on torture and that the United States should close the
detention center. Mark Denbeaux, a law professor at Seton Hall
University in New Jersey who represents two Tunisians at Guantnamo, said
he believes others are candidates for suicide.
In 2008 a video was released of an interrogation between Canadian Security
Intelligence Service, and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer and Omar
Khadr, a youth held in Guantnamo Bay, in which Khadr repeatedly cries,
saying what sounds to be either "help me", "kill me" or calling for his mother, in
Arabic.

Reported suicides of June

2006

On June 10, 2006, three detainees were found dead, who, according to the
Pentagon, "killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact". Prison commander
Rear Admiral Harry Harris claimed this was not an act of desperation,
despite prisoners' pleas to the contrary, but rather "an act of asymmetric
warfare committed against us. According to a study published by Seton Hall
Law's Center for Policy and Research on December 7, 2009, titled "Death in
Camp Delta," the government's investigation does not support that these men
committed suicide by hanging themselves inside of their cells.

Homicide accusations
Four members of the Military Intelligence unit assigned to guard Camp Delta, including a
decorated non-commissioned Army officer who was on duty as sergeant of the guard the
night of June 910, 2006, have presented an account that contradicts the report
published by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service(NCIS). According to its
spokeswoman Laura Sweeney, the Department of Justice has disputed certain facts
contained in the article about the soldiers' account, which was published by the
magazine Harper's.
Statements by human rights organizations
At the time, human rights groups called for an independent public inquiry into the deaths.
Amnesty International said the apparent suicides "are the tragic results of years of
arbitrary and indefinite detention" and called the prison "an indictment" of the George W.
Bush administration's human rights record. Saudi Arabia's state-sponsored Saudi Human
Rights group blamed the U.S. for the deaths. "There are no independent monitors at the
detention camp so it is easy to pin the crime on the prisoners... it's possible they were
tortured," said Mufleh al-Qahtani, the group's deputy director, in a statement to the local
Al-Riyadh newspaper.

RELEASE OF PRISONERS

In late January 2004, U.S. officials released three children aged 13 to 15 and returned them to Afghanistan. In
March 2004, twenty-three adult prisoners were released to Afghanistan, five were released to the United
Kingdom (the final four British detainees were released in January 2005), and three were sent to Pakistan.

On July 27, 2004, four French detainees were repatriated and remanded in custody by the French intelligence
agency Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire. The remaining three French detainees were released in
March 2005.

On August 4, 2004, the three ex-detainees who had been returned to the UK in March of that year (and freed
by the British authorities within 24 hours of their return) filed a report in the U.S. claiming persistent severe
abuse at the camp, of themselves and others. They claimed that false confessions were extracted from them
under duress, in conditions that amounted to torture. They alleged that conditions deteriorated when Major
General Geoffrey D. Miller took charge of the camp, including increased periods of solitary confinement for the
detainees. They claimed that the abuse took place with the knowledge of the intelligence forces. Their claims
are currently being investigated by the British government. There are five British residents remaining: Bisher
Amin Khalil Al-Rawi, Jamil al Banna,Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, Jamal Abdullah and Omar Deghayes.

Italy agreed on June 15, 2009, to accept three prisoners. Ireland agreed on July 29, 2009, to accept two
prisoners. The same day, the European Union said that its member states would accept some detainees.

The Guantanamo Review Task Force issued a Final Report January 22, 2010, but did not publicly release it
until May 28, 2010. The report recommended releasing 126 current detainees to their homes or to a third
country, 36 be prosecuted in either federal court or a military commission, and 48 be held indefinitely under
the laws of war. In addition, 30 Yemenis were approved for release if security conditions in their home country
improve.

NGO REPORTS

On November 30, 2009, The New York Times published excerpts from an internal
memo leaked from the U.S. administration, referring to a report from the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC reports of several activities that, it said,
were "tantamount to torture": exposure to loud noise or music, prolonged extreme
temperatures, or beatings. It also reported that a Behavioral Science Consultation
Team (BSCT), also called 'Biscuit,' and military physicians communicated confidential
medical information to the interrogation teams (weaknesses, phobias, etc.), resulting in
the prisoners losing confidence in their medical care.
Access of the ICRC to the base was conditional, as is normal for
ICRC humanitarian operations, on the confidentiality of their report; sources have
reported heated debates had taken place at the ICRC headquarters, as some of those
involved wanted to make the report public, or confront the U.S. administration. The
newspaper said the administration and the Pentagon had seen the ICRC report in July
2004 but rejected its findings. The story was originally reported in several newspapers,
including The Guardian, and the ICRC reacted to the article when the report was
leaked in May.
In a foreword to Amnesty International's International Report 2005, the Secretary
General, Irene Khan, made a passing reference to the Guantnamo Bay prison as
"the gulag of our times," breaking an internal AI policy on not comparing different
human rights abuses. The report reflected ongoing claims of prisoner abuse at
Guantnamo and other military prisons.
A number of children are interned at Guantanamo Bay, in apparent contravention of
international law.

Criticism and condemnation

European Union members and the Organization of American States, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have
protested the legal status and physical condition of detainees at Guantnamo. The human
rights organization Human Rights Watch has criticized the Bush administration over this
designation in its 2003 world report, stating: "Washington has ignored human rights
standards in its own treatment of terrorism suspects. It has refused to apply the Geneva
Conventions to prisoners of war from Afghanistan, and has misused the designation of 'illegal
combatant' to apply to criminal suspects on U.S. soil.. The New York Times and other
newspapers are critical of the camp; columnist Thomas Friedman urged George W. Bush to
"just shut it down", calling Camp Delta "... worse than an embarrassment.[ Another New York
Times editorial supported Friedman's proposal, arguing that Guantnamo is part of "... a
chain of shadowy detention camps that includes Abu Ghraib in Iraq, the military
prison at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and other secret locations run by the intelligence
agencies" that are "part of a tightly linked global detention system with no accountability in
law

In November 2005, a group of experts from the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights called off their visit to Camp Delta, originally scheduled for December 6, saying that
the United States was not allowing them to conduct private interviews with the prisoners.
"Since the Americans have not accepted the minimum requirements for such a visit, we must
cancel [it]," Manfred Nowak, the UN envoy in charge of investigating torture allegations
around the world, told AFP. The group, nevertheless, stated its intention to write a report on
conditions at the prison based on eyewitness accounts from released detainees, meetings
with lawyers and information from human rights groups.

Government and military

inquiries

Senior law enforcement agents with the Criminal Investigation Task Force told
msnbc.com in 2006 that they began to complain inside the Defense Department
in 2002 that the interrogation tactics used by a separate team of intelligence
investigators were unproductive, not likely to produce reliable information and
probably illegal. Unable to get satisfaction from the Army commanders running
the detainee camp, they took their concerns to David Brant, director of the Naval
Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), who alerted Navy General Counsel Alberto
J. Mora.

General Counsel Mora and Navy Judge Advocate General Michael Lohr believed
the detainee treatment to be unlawful and campaigned among other top lawyers
and officials in the Defense Department to investigate, and to provide clear
standards prohibiting coercive interrogation tactics. In response, on January 15,
2003, Donald Rumsfeld suspended the approved interrogation tactics at
Guantnamo until a new set of guidelines could be produced by a working group
headed by General Counsel of the Air Force Mary Walker. The working group
based its new guidelines on a legal memo from the Department of Justice Office
of Legal Counsel written by John Yoo and signed by Jay S. Bybee, which would
later become widely known as the "Torture Memo". General Counsel Mora led a
faction of the Working Group in arguing against these standards, and argued the
issues with Yoo in person. The working group's final report, was signed and
delivered to Guantnamo without

FUTURE

During his 2008 Presidential campaign, Barack Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter
in American history" and promised to close down the prison in 2009. After being elected, Obama
reiterated his campaign promise on 60 Minutes and the ABC program "This Week.

On January 22, 2009, President Obama stated that he ordered the government to suspend
prosecutions of Guantanamo Bay detainees for 120 days to review all the detainees' cases to
determine whether and how each detainee should be prosecuted. A day later, Obama signed
an executive order stating that Guantanamo Detention Camp would be closed within the year.[ His
plan encountered a setback, however, when incoming officials of his administration discovered that
there were no comprehensive files concerning many of the detainees, so that merely assembling
the available evidence about them could take weeks or months.[ In May, Obama announced that
the prosecutions would be revived In November 2009, President Obama admitted that the "specific
deadline" he had set for closure of the Guantanamo Bay camp would be "missed." He said the
camp would probably be closed later in 2010, but did not set a specific deadline.

In 2009 the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the Standish Maximum
Correctional Facility in Standish, Michigan, were being considered as the United States site for
more than 220 prisoners. Kansas public officials including both of its senators and governor have
objected.However many in Standish where the unemployment rate is 17% are reported to be
welcoming the move.[

However, President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum dated December 15, 2009,
formally closing the detention center and ordering the transfer of prisoners to the Thomson
Correctional Center, Thomson, Illinois.[ Attorney Marc Falkoff, who represents some of the Yemeni
detainees, said that his clients might prefer to remain in Guantanamo rather than move into the
more stark conditions at Thomson.