News from Democracy Now!
The U.N. Human Rights Committee has issued a wide-ranging report criticizing the human rights record of the United States. The report assessed U.S. compliance with a key human rights treaty and found it lacking in more than two dozen areas. Issues of concern included the Obama administration’s drone program, National Security Agency spying, the death penalty, detention of homeless people and immigrants, life sentences imposed on juveniles, racial profiling and police brutality. The committee called for closing Guantánamo, releasing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on the George W. Bush administration’s torture and rendition program, and prosecuting those involved in torturing prisoners.
The American Civil Rights Union provides more details and links to the UN report “U.N. Holds U.S. Accountable for Human Rights Violations at Home and Abroad” and their own research on these issues: “The ACLU’s Shadow Report to the HRC, Dimming the Beacon of Freedom: U.S. Violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is available online at www.aclu.org/intlhumanrights/gen/25924pub20060620.html
