Another Human Rights Failure

Dear Friends,

I am not sure why I am continually surprised by some of President Obama's actions.  Nevertheless an article in The New York Times this morning by Charlie Savage entitled, "U.S., Rebuffing U.N., Maintains Stance That Rights Treaty Does Not Apply Abroad" (here) surprised me.  It details yet another human rights failure by President Obama.

The Clinton and Bush Administrations took the position that the United Nations International Convention on Civil and Political Rights only obligates a country with respect to actions within its own borders and not overseas.  The Clinton Administration announced this position with respect to the United States intercepting Haitian refugees in international waters. The Bush Administration took this position with respect to it torture and rendition policies.  In President Obama's first term, there was hope that the United States would join the world community by repudiating the position taken by Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Harold Koh, the State Department legal advisor in President Obama's first term wrote a memo concluding that the position of the United States was legally untenable.  Mr. Koh's legal position is consistent with that of most of the rest of the world and certainly that taken by the United Nations.  After acknowledging that the position was under review, President Obama has now decided to continue to take this position.

Two paragraphs from The New York Times article with comments from human rights advocates say it all with respect to President Obama's words and actions contradicting each other.

“Whereas the Bush administration scorned human rights, President Obama claimed to usher in a new day in which human rights would be embraced,” said Margaret Huang, a deputy executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A. “Now the cosmetics have changed, but the failure of leadership is the same.”

Jamil Dakwar, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, said the Obama administration’s position both “keeps the U.S. as an outlier in the world.” 

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal