Racial Justice
New Report From ACLU And RWG Finds Racial Profiling Still Pervasive
A new report out by the ACLU and the Rights Working Group finds that racial profiling by law enforcement agents remains a pervasive problem throughout the United States. The report was submitted to the U.N. CERD Committee.
> Read the CERD Follow-up Report
> Podcast: The Pervasive Problem of Racial Profiling
> Learn More about the ACLU's work before the CERD Committee
> Blog: Send Racial Profiling into Retirement

National Security
Italian "Extraordinary Rendition" Victim Still Held In Morocco Based On Tortured Confession
The ACLU and Alkarama for Human Rights asked two U.N. Special Rapporteurs to investigate the case of Abou Elkassim Britel, an Italian citizen and victim of the CIA's unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program who is currently held in a Moroccan prison based on a confession coerced from him through torture.
> Today's filings with the Special Rapporteurs
> Blog: Awaiting an End to Injustice: Rendition Victim's Wife Speaks About Accountability and Torture
> More: ACLU's lawsuit against Jeppesen DataPlan

National Security
Charitable Giving and the "War on Terrorism Financing"
The ACLU released a comprehensive report, Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity, documenting the consequence of U.S. government actions on American Muslims' exercise of their right to profess and practice their religion through charitable giving.
> Read the ACLU report
> Learn more about the issue
> Blog: Restore Religious Freedom for Charitable Donors
> (Arabic Language Release)

United Nations Advocacy
ACLU and Others Call on CERD Committee to Consider Juvenile Life Without Parole in the United States
The ACLU joined other organizations in submitting a letter to the CERD Committee regarding the practice of sentencing juveniles to life without parole. The U.S. is the only country in the world that imposes these sentences.
> Letter: Read the letter to the CERD Committee >>
> House Subcommittee Considers Bill To End "Life Without Parole" For Children (6/9/2009)
> Learn more: Sentencing Juveniles to Life Without Parole

United Nations Advocacy
U.N. Experts Present Before Human Rights Council
In mid June, the UN expert on Racism presented a report of his findings after a fact-finding mission to the U.S. last year.  He urged the U.S. to address racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
>ACLU on GRITtv ((off-site))
> Blog: U.N. Expert Provides the U.S. "A Real Roadmap Forward"
> UN Expert Calls On U.S. To Address Ongoing Issues Of Racism
> Learn more: U.N. Special Rapporteur on Racism
In early June, the UN expert on Extrajudicial Killings presented his report on U.S. policies and practices that have led to unlawful deaths and other abuses. The repost is based on a fact-finding mission to the United States in June 2008.
> U.N. Expert On Extrajudicial Killings Calls For Special Prosecutor
> Read the report
> Take Action: Join our demand for a special prosecutor

National Security
Federal Court Permits Landmark ACLU Rendition Case To Go Forward
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that our "extraordinary rendition" lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan, Inc. can go forward.
> Blog: Rendition Case to Move Forward (Finally!)
> Learn more: Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen

United Nations Advocacy
Obama Administration Produces First List Of Human Rights Commitments
The U.S. State Department released its "Human Rights Commitments and Pledges of the U.S." as part of the its efforts to secure a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The list leaves out key national security issues.
> Blog: Deeds, Not Words, Matter Most
> Read Human Rights Commitments and Pledges of the U.S.

Children's Rights
A Day Without Corporal Punishment
On April 30th, advocates will gather around the country to combat corporal punishment. Join us in our advocacy to end corporal punishment in public schools.
> Letter to Ohio Legislature in Support of HB 26
> Report: A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment of Children in U.S. Public Schools

United Nations Advocacy
Recommendations from UN Minority Forum
Following a hearing in December, the UN Minority Forum issued its recommendations, noting "education is a human right that is crucial to the realization of a wide array of other human rights, and an indispensable agency for the expansion of human capabilities and the enhancement of human dignity." The ACLU testified during the Forum in December on minority access to education in the United States.
> Testimony of Dennis D. Parker Before the United Nations Forum
> Developments and Recommendations by the ACLU regarding Minority Access to Education in the United States
> The School-to-Prison-Pipeline

On March 5, 2009, the ACLU Women's Rights Project and Human Rights Program hosted a roundtable discussion in conjunction with the 53rd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). Learn More >>

Racial Justice
Stimulus Funds Should Go To Improving Education For Poor And Minority Communities, Says ACLU
The ACLU sent a letter urging Secretary of Education to use education funds included in the stimulus bill to further human rights policies in schools to meet the United States' treaty obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
> ACLU Letter to Secretary of Education
> Blog: Stimulus Funds: Mind the Gap
> More information about CERD

Guantánamo
Pentagon Report Whitewashes Gitmo Abuses
The Department of Defense released a report on the conditions at Guantánamo Naval Bay, alleging they were in compliance with the Geneva Conventions.
> Department of Defense Report: Review of Department Compliance with President’s Executive Order on Detainee Conditions of Confinement
> ACLU Letter to Joseph A. Benkert, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Regarding the Walsh Report on Conditions of Confinement at Guantánamo
> Coalition Letter to President Obama Requesting Access to Guantánamo Bay Detention Camps

National Security
ACLU In Court Today To Argue Extraordinary Rendition Case Should Go Forward
The ACLU argued in court in early February in a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan for its role in the extraordinary rendition program and for the disappearance and torture of the ACLU's clients.
> Blog: Is This the “Change We Can Believe In”?
> Video: Understanding Rendition: An ACLU case
> Podcast: Ben Wizner discusses Rendition with Glenn Greenwald on Salon Radio

Guantánamo
Coalition Letter to President Obama Requesting Access to Guantánamo Bay Detention Camps
The ACLU, Amnesty International, Human Rights First and Human Rights Watch wrote to President Obama requesting full access to the Guantánamo Bay detention camps to independently examine and report on conditions of confinement.
> Blog: Pursuing Real Transparency and Humane Treatment At Guantánamo

Guantánamo
ACLU Calls On International Bodies To Intervene In Case Of Alleged Child Soldier At Guantánamo
The ACLU called upon the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child and the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict to intervene in the case of Omar Khadr, the 22-year-old Canadian national slated to be tried by military commission at Guantánamo for war crimes allegedly committed when he was 15.
> Blog: International Intervention Needed on Behalf of Obama’s Child Soldiers
> Blog: Obama’s Child Soldiers
> Video: Obama’s Child Soldiers

Racial Justice
Human Rights Groups Call on Obama to Implement CERD Recommendations
Human Rights Groups call on Obama administration to implement recommendations by the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
> Blog: Far Too Little, Much Too Late
> The ACLU's shadow report to the Committee and more information about CERD

Guantánamo
ACLU Calls For End To Inhumane Force-Feeding Of Guantánamo Prisoners
The ACLU sent an urgent letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates to bring his attention to the cruel, inhuman, degrading and unlawful treatment of the 30 hunger striking detainees currently held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.
> Blog: End the Inhumane Force-Feeding Of Guantánamo Prisoners

Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Celebrate 60 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
December 10, 2008, will mark the 60th Anniversary of the UDHR, the founding document of the modern human rights system.
> Celebrate the anniversary with the ACLU around the United States
> Learn more about the ACLU's advocacy campaign to raise awareness of U.S. obligations under the UDHR

Immigrants' Rights
ACLU Joins Lawsuit Challenging Trafficking Of Indian Guestworkers
Workers trafficked to the U.S. from India to work in shipyards after Hurricane Katrina were lured here with dishonest assurances of becoming lawful permanent U.S. residents.
> Blog: International Migrants' Day — "Best-Kept Secret" in the USA
> Blog: Guestworkers Are Not Slaves
> Learn More: David, et al. v. Signal International, LLC, et al.

Women's Rights
Domestic Violence Survivor Goes Before International Tribunal
In the first case brought by a survivor of domestic violence against the U.S. before an international human rights tribunal, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard testimony by Jessica Lenahan (formerly Gonzales), whose three daughters were abducted by her estranged husband and killed after the Colorado police refused to enforce a restraining order against him.
> Blog: Protection From Domestic Violence Is a Human Right (10/22/2008)
> Learn More: Jessica Gonazles v. United States of America
> Watch Jessica's testimony before the IACHR: English | En Español (Launches Windows Media Player)

Guantánamo
The Right to Fair Trial - Guantánamo Military Commissions
Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, delivered a statement to the Organization for Security and Co-operation of Europe's (OSCE) Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, on September 29, 2008. The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the OSCE is one of the most significant human rights conferences in Europe.
> Jamil Dakwar Discusses Novel My Guantánamo Diary with the Book's Author, Mahvish Rukhsana Khan

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