Blog of Rights
Nahal
Zamani
12/31/2009

A Year in Human Rights Achievements

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 2:11pm

Since 2004, the ACLU Human Rights Program (along with other ACLU national projects, our legislative office in D.C. and affiliate offices across the country) has worked to ensure that the U.S. government complies with its international human rights obligations and commitments.

The ACLU Human Rights Program turned five earlier in 2009. To mark the occasion, we thought we'd share with you just a few of our accomplishments from this past year.

Just this month, a panel of 11 judges from the 9th Circuit Court of  Appeals heard the government's appeal of an earlier ruling in April that allowed our lawsuit on behalf of rendition victims against Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. to proceed. We're also part of a class action lawsuit on behalf of workers trafficked to the U.S. from India to work in shipyards after Hurricane Katrina.

Read More»
12/16/2009

Senate Subcommittee Hold Historic Hearing on U.S. Human Rights Treaty Implementation

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 11:07am

Today the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, is holding a hearing entitled "The Law of the Land: U.S. Implementation of Human Rights Treaties."

The ACLU submitted this written statement for the hearing record. In our statement, we noted the importance of the hearing:

The importance of this hearing cannot be overstated, as it is the first oversight hearing on human rights treaty implementation since 1992, when the Senate ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It is our hope that this hearing will be first of many hearings to come to focus on U.S. compliance with human rights treaty obligations and elevate the role of Congress in monitoring and implementing human rights treaties.

Further, effectively implementing our human rights treaty commitments and obligations would send an unequivocal message to the world that the U.S. is ready to reclaim its role as a leader in human rights.

Read More»
12/10/2009

We Must Do Better

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 2:53pm

Today marks “Human Rights Day” and the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR, arguably the founding document of the modern human rights system, outlines the basic rights and protections that are to be enjoyed by all people. 

Please note that by playing this clip You Tube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube's privacy statement on their website and Google's privacy statement on theirs to learn more. To view the ACLU's privacy statement, click here.
Read More»
12/04/2009
Disability Rights

Human Dignity for People with Disabilities

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 5:23pm

(Originally posted on FDL's The Seminal.)

December 3 marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a day where we mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. To mark the occasion, we're taking the opportunity to look at the past year and see how we're faring in light of the anniversary.

Read More»
11/20/2009
Juvenile Life Without Parole

Expanding Opportunity and Hope for Children in America

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 3:17pm

(Originally posted in Daily Kos.)

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most comprehensive treaty on children’s rights. The convention has been ratified by nearly every country in the world, except for the United States. The convention would fill current gaps in U.S. laws, and provide all children in America with the same robust protections that children in 193 countries are already entitled to.

Read More»
11/17/2009

20 Years of Neglecting Children's Rights

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 5:40pm

This coming Friday marks the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most comprehensive treaty on children’s rights. The convention has been ratified by nearly every country in the world, except for the United States. The convention would fill current gaps in U.S. laws, and provide all children in America with the same robust protections that children in 193 countries are already entitled to.

Read More»
11/09/2009

U.S. Out of Step with the Rest of the World

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 5:48pm

Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida. In both cases, the petitioners argued that when a child is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, it violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Both Sullivan and Graham committed crimes in which no-one was killed: when he was 13, Joe Sullivan raped a woman, and at 16, Terrance Graham committed armed burglary. Sullivan and Graham are sentenced to die in prison. (Read more about the Graham and Sullivan cases and about the international human rights law angle here.) (PDF)

Read More»
10/13/2009

We've Come So Far, But Have So Much Farther to Go

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 5:15pm

The U.S. is the world's leading incarcerator with over 2.3 million people – or 1 in 99 adults – in prisons and jails across the country. Our incarceration rate of 760 per 100,000 people is the highest in the world -- five to ten times that of other Western democracies. In addition, because of increased reliance on detention as an immigration enforcement strategy, the number of immigrant detainees has tripled in the last ten years.

Read More»
10/09/2009

World Day Against the Death Penalty

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 2:42pm

Tomorrow marks World Day Against the Death Penalty, and it is only fitting that a global call was issued to abolish the practice. We join the ambassadors of the European Union (EU) who gathered today to call on all nations to abolish the cruel practice.

Ambassador John Bruton, the head of EU delegation to the U.S., stated: "The EU not only considers capital punishment to be cruel and inhumane, but it also fails to deter criminal behavior and represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. Miscarriages of justice are inevitable in any legal system – and any miscarriage of justice that results in the death penalty is irreversible."

Read More»
10/08/2009

Profile-Me-Not

By Nahal Zamani, Human Rights Program at 3:53pm

In a letter to the Obama administration made public today, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concerns over a lack of progress to end racial discrimination in the United States. In particular, the letter urged the Obama administration and Congress to do more to end racial profiling, like passing the End Racial Profiling Act and reconsidering the 287(g) program. Monday's announcement that the federal government will investigate allegations of bias against Latino crime victims by police in Suffolk County, New York is an encouraging step, though there is plenty more to be done.

Read More»
Statistics image