SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights issued a report on "devastating inequality" in the U.S. last year. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
'Quietly and Unnoticed,' Trump Administration Won't Cooperate with UN Investigators on Human Rights Violations in US
"Great news for Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Syria...If the U.S. doesn't have to answer for the suffering it inflicts on its own people, why should they?"
Jan 03, 2019
Displaying what one United Nations human rights expert called "arrogance" considering international outcry over the Trump administration's record of human rights violations, the State Department has refused to cooperate with U.N. investigators regarding their complaints about such issues for the better part of a year.
As the Guardian reported Friday, the administration has "quietly and unnoticed" left unanswered at least 13 official requests from U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights since last May. The failure to respond began a month before Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty, issued a scathing report detailing "devastating inequality" in the U.S., made worse by the policies of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.
\u201cIn a move that will be music to the ear's of the world's tyrants, the Trump administration has stopped inviting or responding to UN rights experts. Obama welcomed 16 UN rights-expert visits during his term. https://t.co/MABkpV88M9\u201d— Kenneth Roth (@Kenneth Roth) 1546606152
\u201cGreat news for Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Syria \u2013 the Trump administration has stopped cooperating with UN human rights monitors. If the US doesn't have to answer for the suffering it inflicts on its own people, why should they? https://t.co/POfuCtf8Xq\u201d— Ed Pilkington (@Ed Pilkington) 1546602221
As Alston said, the administration's refusal to answer questions and cooperate not only leaves issues including inequality and the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers unaddressed in the U.S., but also sends a harmful message to other human rights abusers leading countries around the world.
"This sends a message that you can opt out of routine scrutiny if you don't like what is being said about your record on human rights," he told the Guardian.
ACLU human rights director Jamil Dakwar also called the State Department's conduct "a serious setback to the system created after World War II to ensure that domestic human rights violations could no longer be seen as an internal matter."
The administration was dismissive of Alston's report, which made headlines last June. Then-UN ambassador Nikki Haley called the study "patently ridiculous" and suggested that no human rights violations exist in the U.S.--despite well documented evidence of growing income inequality, a federal minimum wage which cannot pay the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in any state in the country, the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) forcible separation of thousands of children from their parents.
The Trump administration's attitude toward the U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights "demonstrates a rather inappropriate arrogance, at a time when human rights in the U.S. are particularly fragile," said Leilani Farha, investigator on adequate housing.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Displaying what one United Nations human rights expert called "arrogance" considering international outcry over the Trump administration's record of human rights violations, the State Department has refused to cooperate with U.N. investigators regarding their complaints about such issues for the better part of a year.
As the Guardian reported Friday, the administration has "quietly and unnoticed" left unanswered at least 13 official requests from U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights since last May. The failure to respond began a month before Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty, issued a scathing report detailing "devastating inequality" in the U.S., made worse by the policies of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.
\u201cIn a move that will be music to the ear's of the world's tyrants, the Trump administration has stopped inviting or responding to UN rights experts. Obama welcomed 16 UN rights-expert visits during his term. https://t.co/MABkpV88M9\u201d— Kenneth Roth (@Kenneth Roth) 1546606152
\u201cGreat news for Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Syria \u2013 the Trump administration has stopped cooperating with UN human rights monitors. If the US doesn't have to answer for the suffering it inflicts on its own people, why should they? https://t.co/POfuCtf8Xq\u201d— Ed Pilkington (@Ed Pilkington) 1546602221
As Alston said, the administration's refusal to answer questions and cooperate not only leaves issues including inequality and the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers unaddressed in the U.S., but also sends a harmful message to other human rights abusers leading countries around the world.
"This sends a message that you can opt out of routine scrutiny if you don't like what is being said about your record on human rights," he told the Guardian.
ACLU human rights director Jamil Dakwar also called the State Department's conduct "a serious setback to the system created after World War II to ensure that domestic human rights violations could no longer be seen as an internal matter."
The administration was dismissive of Alston's report, which made headlines last June. Then-UN ambassador Nikki Haley called the study "patently ridiculous" and suggested that no human rights violations exist in the U.S.--despite well documented evidence of growing income inequality, a federal minimum wage which cannot pay the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in any state in the country, the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) forcible separation of thousands of children from their parents.
The Trump administration's attitude toward the U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights "demonstrates a rather inappropriate arrogance, at a time when human rights in the U.S. are particularly fragile," said Leilani Farha, investigator on adequate housing.
Displaying what one United Nations human rights expert called "arrogance" considering international outcry over the Trump administration's record of human rights violations, the State Department has refused to cooperate with U.N. investigators regarding their complaints about such issues for the better part of a year.
As the Guardian reported Friday, the administration has "quietly and unnoticed" left unanswered at least 13 official requests from U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights since last May. The failure to respond began a month before Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty, issued a scathing report detailing "devastating inequality" in the U.S., made worse by the policies of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.
\u201cIn a move that will be music to the ear's of the world's tyrants, the Trump administration has stopped inviting or responding to UN rights experts. Obama welcomed 16 UN rights-expert visits during his term. https://t.co/MABkpV88M9\u201d— Kenneth Roth (@Kenneth Roth) 1546606152
\u201cGreat news for Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Syria \u2013 the Trump administration has stopped cooperating with UN human rights monitors. If the US doesn't have to answer for the suffering it inflicts on its own people, why should they? https://t.co/POfuCtf8Xq\u201d— Ed Pilkington (@Ed Pilkington) 1546602221
As Alston said, the administration's refusal to answer questions and cooperate not only leaves issues including inequality and the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers unaddressed in the U.S., but also sends a harmful message to other human rights abusers leading countries around the world.
"This sends a message that you can opt out of routine scrutiny if you don't like what is being said about your record on human rights," he told the Guardian.
ACLU human rights director Jamil Dakwar also called the State Department's conduct "a serious setback to the system created after World War II to ensure that domestic human rights violations could no longer be seen as an internal matter."
The administration was dismissive of Alston's report, which made headlines last June. Then-UN ambassador Nikki Haley called the study "patently ridiculous" and suggested that no human rights violations exist in the U.S.--despite well documented evidence of growing income inequality, a federal minimum wage which cannot pay the rent on a two-bedroom apartment in any state in the country, the use of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons, and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) forcible separation of thousands of children from their parents.
The Trump administration's attitude toward the U.N. special rapporteurs on human rights "demonstrates a rather inappropriate arrogance, at a time when human rights in the U.S. are particularly fragile," said Leilani Farha, investigator on adequate housing.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.