Blog of Rights

U.N. Working Group Finds That U.S. Needs to Do More to Address the Adverse Business Impacts on Human Rights

By Katie Haas, ACLU Human Rights Program at 4:45pm

The United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises yesterday completed its first country visit to the United States. The Working Group was formed by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2011 to disseminate and implement the recently developed "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights," which set forth countries' obligation to protect people from human rights violations caused by businesses or other entities and the necessity of appropriate remedies for such violations. The Guiding Principles also outline businesses' responsibility to respect human rights. At the invitation of the U.S. government, the Working Group visited many cities and met with diverse stakeholders including federal and state officials, businesses, trade unions, and civil society organizations.

WATCH: Condoleezza Rice Defends Torture Program and Confirms Bush's Role in It

By Alexander Abdo, Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project at 10:48am

A video meant to be presented at yesterday's dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum featured Condoleezza...

­Executing Human Dignity: U.S. Death Penalty System Dominates IACHR Report

By Jamil Dakwar, Director, ACLU Human Rights Program at 4:09pm

According to a recent Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report on the death penalty in the Americas, the United States stands out as an outlier in a region that has come close to abolishing the death penalty. This report will be officially launched at a public event next Monday at the American Bar Association, moderated by the ACLU.

International Body Slams U.S. Solitary Confinement Practices

By Ian Kysel, Aryeh Neier Fellow, ACLU Human Rights Program at 5:07pm

There are more than 80,000 people in solitary confinement in the United States. Last week, the widespread misuse and abuse of solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the country drew international condemnation when the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized the United States following weeks of hearings on human rights practices across the Americas region.

New Pope Washes the Feet of 12 Kids in Prison: An Easter Reminder for the U.S.

By Ajmel Quereshi, Staff Counsel, ACLU at 10:34am

Last week, while Christians around the world were preparing to celebrate Easter, the newly elected Pope Francis visited Casal Del Marmo...

"Zero-Tolerance" on Trafficking Must Mean What It Says

By Allison Frankel, ACLU Human Rights Program at 4:54pm

U.S. officials have acknowledged that human trafficking is a problem of "crisis proportions," both outside and inside America's borders. Yet despite professed intent to end this scourge, including with the help of a "zero-tolerance, one strike approach," human trafficking remains a pervasive and ongoing problem in this nation. As part of ongoing efforts to combat the phenomenon, the ACLU and a coalition of anti-trafficking organizations submitted a written statement last week to the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council, urging the U.S. government to translate its words into actions.

New York Subjects Prisoners to Solitary as a Disciplinary Tool of First Resort

By Elena Landriscina, Legal Fellow, NYCLU at 1:52pm

On any given day in New York State, approximately 4,500 people are confined for 22 to 24 hours a day in solitary confinement...

ACLU to Testify Today: Solitary Confinement is a Human Rights Violation Happening on U.S. Soil

By Hilary Krase, ACLU National Prison Project at 10:01am

The world will get a glimpse this week into how the United States treats those we lock in solitary confinement, when the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights hears ACLU testimonies on how our treatment of vulnerable prisoners violates international human rights norms. The short story: we should be ashamed. For a more detailed picture, check back throughout the week for an ongoing blog series on the issue.

Both domestically and abroad, there is an increasing recognition of the negative effects of prolonged solitary confinement – yet this harmful practice still occurs in our own backyard.

The Change in Maine: The Pine Tree State Leads the Way on Solitary Confinement Reform

By Rachel Healy, Director of Public Education and Communications, ACLU of Maine at 4:22pm

The world will get a glimpse this week into how the United States treats those we lock in solitary confinement, when the Inter-American Commission...

Let's Crowdsource Our Own Hollywood Movie About Torture

By Ateqah Khaki at 3:08pm

Originally posted on The Huffington Post.

With controversy still swirling around the film Zero Dark Thirty and its misleading suggestion that torture put the CIA on the trail of Osama bin Laden, it's time to take the tools of filmmaking into our own hands to refocus the discussion on why torture is always wrong.

Many in the intelligence community - including former CIA and FBI agents with firsthand experience with interrogations - have spoken out about the film's inaccuracies, the fact that real intelligence is better produced through humane and lawful interrogations, and the fact that torture almost always leads to false information. But that's a message that is likely lost among most viewers, especially because the film opens with the words, "Based on Firsthand Accounts of Actual Events."