Us Universal Periodic Review

United States Universal Periodic Review in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): We have found the Universal Periodic Review a useful tool to assess how the U.S. country can continue to improve in achieving its own human rights goals. Civil society has been involved in each and every step of the U.S. UPR: from an unprecedented series of a dozen listening sessions that involved representatives of local and national civil society organizations as well as hundreds of citizens from communities across the U.S. country, to the Town Hall gathering for civil society held here last November in Geneva, and since then the U.S. Federal agencies have held numerous meetings with civil society to discuss the U.S. response to the many recommendations.

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When we presented the U.S. initial report last November, we received 228 recommendations. We have considered the substance of each and every one of the recommendations, even those whose tone suggests they were not offered in a constructive spirit. While the U.S. written submission provides a specific response to each recommendation, in my time today, let me discuss the ten thematic areas these recommendations cover, and review significant changes that have occurred since the U.S. report last November.

First, we support many recommendations concerning civil rights and discrimination. . .

. . . the U.S. government has taken important recent steps in this regard, notably enactment on December 22, 2010, of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, which will allow gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military. . .

Developments

In a second area, criminal justice, the United States continues to work . . . to ensure protection under the U.S. Constitution and laws of the rights of those accused of committing crimes and held in prisons or jails. We set and enforce high standards of conduct for law enforcement personnel. In New Orleans, the Civil Rights Division recently secured convictions against police officers who engaged in misconduct in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. . . .

About 25 countries . . . also raised capital punishment as an issue of concern. While we respect those who make these recommendations, as I noted last November, they reflect continuing differences of policy, not differences about what the rules of international human rights law currently require. To those who desire as a matter of policy to end capital punishment in the United States—and I count myself among those—I note the decision made by the government of Illinois on March 9 to abolish that state's death penalty.

In a third area, the rights of indigenous peoples, the United States recognizes past wrongs and has committed itself to working with tribal governments to address the many issues facing their communities, including two particular recommendations. . . .

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At his second White House Tribal Nations Conference last December, President Obama…announced the United States' support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and issued a statement detailing U.S. support for the Declaration and ongoing work on Native American issues. His announcement capped a year in which the President had directed that consultations with tribal officials be reinvigorated throughout the U.S. Government.

Civil society and countries . . . made recommendations to us concerning a fourth area: national security. . . .

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. . . [O]thers made recommendations about the Guantánamo detention facility. As the White House indicated last Monday, President Obama remains committed to closing that facility, although that will clearly take more time, due to restrictive legislation and complex politics. As this effort continues, we are committed to ensuring that all practices on Guantánamo fully accord with international law. On March 7, 2011, the President announced five steps reaffirming the framework first outlined in his 2009 National Archives Speech, to ensure we have a lawful, sustainable, and principled regime handling Guantánamo detainees consistent with the U.S. national security interests and the U.S. national values. The first element is a continued commitment to civilian trials in Federal courts . . . The second element is a resumption of prosecutions by military commissions, which had previously been suspended. Third, we continue efforts to lawfully and safely transfer detainees from Guantánamo. Fourth, the President formalized a process of periodic review, to ensure that individuals on Guantánamo are detained only when both lawful and necessary to protect U.S. security. Fifth and finally, we reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to humane treatment of detainees in the U.S. custody by announcing that the United States will seek advice and consent to Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions and will also—out of a sense of legal obligation – adhere to the humane treatment and fair trial safeguards in Article 75 of Additional Protocol I in international armed conflicts.

United States Universal Periodic Review in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): In 2011, the United States concluded its first Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”) by making both written and oral submissions to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The United States submitted its report in connection with the UPR in 2010. A Working Group of the UPR made 228 recommendations to the U.S. based on its review of the report. see this world legal encyclopedia in relation with the year 2010 at 202-08 for excerpts from the U.S. report and the initial response of the U.S. to the recommendations of the Working Group. On March 4, 2011, the United States presented its written response to the 228 recommendations of the Working Group, grouping the recommendations into ten categories and identifying those which enjoy the support of the United States, those which enjoy U.S. support in part, and those which do not enjoy U.S. support, also providing a short explanation in many cases. The U.S. submission also included the following explanation of the decisions. The submission can be found in full at (internet link) state.gov/g/drl/upr/157986.htm.

Developments

3. What it means for a recommendation to enjoy the U.S. support needs explanation. Some recommendations ask us to achieve an ideal, e.g., end discrimination or police brutality, and others request action not entirely under the control of the U.S. Federal Executive Branch, e.g., adopt legislation, ratify particular treaties, or take action at the state level. Such recommendations enjoy the U.S. support, or enjoy the U.S. support in part, when we share the ideal that the recommendations express, are making serious efforts toward achieving their goals, and intend to continue to do so. Nonetheless, we recognize, realistically, that the United States may never completely accomplish what is described in the literal terms of the recommendation. We are also comfortable supporting a recommendation to do something that we already do, and intend to continue doing, without in any way implying that we agree with a recommendation that understates the success of the U.S. ongoing efforts.

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4. Some countries added to their recommendations inaccurate assumptions, assertions, or factual predicates, some of which are contrary to the spirit of the UPR. In such cases, we have decided whether we support a recommendation by looking past the rhetoric to the specific action or objective being proposed. When we say we “support in part” such recommendations, we mean that we support the proposed action or objective but reject the often provocative assumption or assertion embedded in the recommendation.

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On March 18, 2011, State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh made an oral presentation to conclude the United States' first UPR. Excerpts follow from Mr. Koh's statement, which can be found in full at (internet link) geneva.usmission.gov/2011/03/18/us-upr-adoption.

United States Universal Periodic Review in 2011

United States views on international law (based on the document “Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law”): In a fifth area, immigration, we accepted many recommendations . . .

In keeping with commitments relating to the U.S. status as party to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, the U.S. government is reviewing its handling of emergent refugee cases to improve accessibility and efficiency in the program. Last December, the Department of Homeland Security improved accessibility of care for immigration detainees, by simplifying the process for detainees to receive authorized health care. And in January, the Department improved its procedures for handling, investigating, and correcting complaints regarding all kinds of civil rights issues. In 2010, the Department of Homeland Security provided 10,000 victims of crime and over 9,000 of their immediate family members with the opportunity to work and live permanently in the United States.

In a sixth area—economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights—…local, State, and Federal governments in the United States continue to protect the environment in which we live and to take significant action to address what President Roosevelt called “freedom from want.” …

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In a seventh area—workplace protections and the fight against human trafficking—the United States has long been a leader. . . . The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency launched the “No Te Enganes” (Don't Be Fooled) media campaign in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico, which offers information on the dangers of human trafficking and advises how to avoid becoming a victim. Last year the Department of Justice prosecuted its highest annual number of human trafficking cases ever, including one involving more than 400 victims. We continue to address worker protections in countless ways, including through the President's Equal Pay Taskforce to strengthen the U.S. response to wage differences between men and women, the Justice and Equality in the Workplace Program, and joint enforcement and education campaigns focused on civil rights of immigrant workers.

We are committed to an eighth goal as well—robust domestic implementation of the U.S. international human rights obligations. . . .

As a party to several human rights treaties, the United States is bound to comply with its obligations at Federal, State, and local levels. Under the U.S. Constitution and federal system of government, the different levels and branches of the U.S. government ensure a comprehensive web of protections and enforcement mechanisms that reinforce the U.S. country's ability to guarantee respect of human rights.

Developments

The ninth and largest group of recommendations that we received concerned ratification of treaties and other international instruments. . . . [T]he Administration has pushed for positive Senate action on a number of human rights and other treaties that afford humanitarian protection, and will continue to do so. As I have noted earlier, eleven days ago the Administration announced its intent to seek, as soon as practicable, Senate advice and consent to ratify Additional Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. . . . The U.S. also declared that, out of a sense of legal obligation, it will treat the principles set forth in Article 75 of Additional Protocol I as applicable to any individual it detains in an international armed conflict, and expects all other nations to adhere to these principles as well.

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Tenth and finally, we address together a number of the recommendations made at the UPR that did not fit into other categories. As the U.S. written report says, we do not support recommendations that urged particular action in pending judicial cases. Nor do we support certain other inappropriate or politically motivated recommendations. Despite some countries' desire to use the UPR for their own political ends, we have worked, with respect for the process, to consider the merits of each and every one of the 228 recommendations made to us, and to respond honestly to each.

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See Also

• International Human Rights
• Human Rights Council
• United States