/* Written 2:26 pm Nov 30, 1993 by peacelaw@igc.apc.org in igc:pax.law */
/* ---------- "Work Session on U.S. Human Rights" ---------- */
TO: U.S. Organizations Working on Civil Rights, Civil Liberties,
Human Rights, Labor, Women, Children, etc.
We invite organizations and individuals to an
EMERGENCY WORK SESSION ON U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS COVENANT REPORT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1994
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Our Opportunity
All of our concerns about violations of civil rights and civil
liberties in this country are tied into the report the State
Department must issue to comply with the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, which the U.S. ratified (very quietly)
in 1992.
The Senate vote to consent to this treaty means that, for the
first time, the U.S. has agreed to be bound by international
standards of human rights, like 115 other countries. The U.S.
agreed to submit a report to an international committee of experts
(not ambassadors) detailing human rights violations and successes
on Sept. 8, 1993. The Committee members are expected to ask pointed
questions and persist in seeking answers based on the report and on
facts we give them that are not included in the State Dept. report.
Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland have all
changed some of their laws as to immigrants and native peoples as
a result of undergoing the report process under this Covenant.
Organizations like yours, working in these countries, also filed
reports with the UN Committee, which led the experts on the
Committee to ask probing questions of government representatives
and to undergo dialog in public sessions in New York or Geneva.
(This is all documented in Ginger, "The Energizing Effect of
Enforcing a Human Rights Treaty," 39 DePaul Law Review (1993)
(available in late December).)
The Problem
The United States first report is expected by the end of
December.
The report to the UN Committee must discuss U.S. enforcement of all
human rights on which our organizations are working, not only those
in our forward-looking 18th century Constitution and Bill of
Rights. Specifically, the report must discuss our new
treaty commitment to enforce human rights for all and to make "no
distinction of any kind such as race, color, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status." (Civil Rights Covenant, Art.
2(1).) (Italicized words not listed in U.S. Constitution)
The U.S. also committed itself, in all areas under its
jurisdiction "in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities
exist," not to deny to any person "the right, in community with the
other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to ...
practice their own religion, or to use their own language." (Art.
27) The U.S. made many other specific commitments to protect
children, families, immigrants, defendants, prisoners, the right to
join unions, and the right to life protected by law, spelled out in
Arts. 1-27 of the Covenant, originally signed for the U.S. by Pres.
Jimmy Carter in 1977 (see the attached blue flyer).
We, as active citizens and committed civil rights activists,
should read and critique the report submitted by the government,
and then we should submit additional facts on every point where
that report is lacking. The UN Committee is empowered to receive
such communications from NonGovernmental Organizations (NGOs in UN
language) and to use this information in analyzing the formal U.S.
report.
The Emergency Work Session
Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute and the Center for
Advancement of the Covenant at San Francisco State University and
the Council for International and Public Affairs in New York invite
you to an Emergency Work Session in San Francisco on Thursday,
January 13th, 1994, bringing together 50+ national, state and local
leaders to figure out how best to bring to the attention of the UN
Human Rights Committee all of the pertinent facts on the human
rights situation in the U. S. for public discussion in the
Committee's meeting in New York or Geneva to consider the U.S.
report.
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Registration Form
Emergency Work Session on the U.S. Civil Rights Covenant Report
Date and Time: Thursday, January 13th, 1994, 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: University Club, 1650 Holloway Avenue, 2nd floor, San
Francisco State University
Low income: ___ $10.00 Organization: ___ $30.00
Friend: ___ $50.00 Sponsor: ___ $100.00
Name:
Organization:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
Send check for registration before 12/24/93 to:
MCLI, Box 673, Berkeley, CA 94701-0673
Questions? Please CALL (510) 848-0599, Fax: (510) 848-6008
Overnight accommodations are available on the University campus.
Single: $74/night, Double: $88/night. Contact: Guest Center, (415)
406-5700, 798 Font Blvd., SF, CA 94132.
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