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The United States has been praised for its progressive human rights record. The United States is committed to the principle of liberty and has sheltered many political and economic refugees in times of international strife. It has a powerful and independent judiciary and a constitution that attempts in many areas to enforce separation of powers to prevent tyranny. Legally, Human Rights within the United States are those rights recognized by the Constitution of the United States and those recognized by treaties ratified by the United States Senate as well as certain rights articulated by the Congress of the United States. The Constitution and treaties are generally interpreted by the Judicial Branch and particularly the Supreme Court. Human rights within the United States are thus largely determined by the Judiciary.

International law applies fully to the United States, this law generally consists of treaties ratified by the Senate, the most significant of these being the 1948 United Nations Charter as interpreted by the US Judiciary and the UN Security Council.

Overview

On September 17 1787 the United States Constitution was adopted, which created a distinguished progressive liberal democracy that guaranteed unprecedented social and economic rights for all its citizenry. The American system seeks to ensure a free society where life, liberty and a host of inalienable human rights are guaranteed by its Constitution, including the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments of the Constitution), and as called for by the Declaration of Independence. Civil liberties in the United States are built on what has been described as a self-evident truth that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". This view of human liberty reflects the understanding that fundamental rights are not granted by the state but are inherent to each individual (hence these rights are "unalienable" and each human is "endowed" to them by their Creator). The Constitution recognizes a number of inalienable human rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, and the right to a fair trial and trial by jury.

Constitutional amendments have been enacted as the needs of the society of the United States changed. The Ninth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment recognize that not all human rights have yet been enumerated. The Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act are examples of human rights that were enumerated by Congress well after its writing.

The scope of the legal protections of human rights afforded by the US government is defined by case law, particularly by the precedents of the Supreme Court of the United States. Within the government, the debate about what may or may not prove to be an emerging human right is held in two forums, the United States Congress which may enumerate these or the Supreme Court which may articulate rights not recognized.

Equality

Racial

The Constitution of the United States did not recognize the human rights of many, particularly African Americans and Native Americans. The US Supreme Court held this in the pivotal decision Dred Scott. From the 1640s until the end of the American Civil War in 1865, the slave states had legal slavery of African Americans. On July 9 1868, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteed principles of legal egalitarianism; and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 guaranteed equality in public accommodations.

The egalitarian principle was used to challenge Jim Crow laws, which had little success before the 20th centry. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was found unconstitutional in 1883; Separate but equal, which allowed racial segregation in the South was upheld in the Plessy v. Ferguson (1898)decision until the Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe decisions in 1954. In the 20th centry, Policies disfranchising African Americans such as grandfather clause, literacy test, poll taxes and white primaries were forbidden by the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Guinn v. United States decision (1913), the Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections decision (1966) and the Smith v. Allwright decision (1944). In addition Lynching by the Ku Klux Klan of African Americans and their white Republican supporters was relatively common in Southern states until the middle of the 20th century, when lynching was targeted and ended by the federal government. Native Americans did not have any citizenship rights until the Dawes Act of 1887 and the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

Some criticize the overrepresentation of blacks on death row as evidence of the unequal racial application of the death penalty. This over-representation is not limited to capital offenses, in 1992 although blacks account for 12% of the US population, about 34 percent of prison inmates were from this group. In McCleskey v. Kemp, it was alleged the capital sentencing process was administered in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 2003, Amnesty International reported those who kill whites are more likely to be executed than those who kill blacks, citing of the 845 people executed since 1977, 80 percent were put to death for killing whites and 13 percent were executed for killing blacks, even though blacks and whites are murdered in almost equal numbers.

Gender

With the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920, the country had its first federal requirement for women to have equal rights with men with respect to voting. The amendment stated that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex". While this does not necessarily guarantee all women the right to vote, as suffrage qualifications are determined by individual states, it does mean that states' suffrage qualifications may not prevent women from voting due to their gender.

The proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution, first adopted in Congress in 1971 but never ratified by the state legislatures, would have constitutionally guaranteed the equal rights of men and women. The amendment was re-introduced in 2007 by Representative Carolyn Maloney (Democrat). There is no constitutional recognition of any gender rights except for the 19th Amendment, but there are constitutional guarantees for equal rights for all.

Women are not restricted in employment rights, except in the United States military, which does not permit women to serve as Navy SEALs or in some front-line combat units in the United States Army or United States Marine Corps. However, this is in line with most countries' military policies. The Selective Service system does not require women to register for a possible military draft, a policy which was upheld in 1981 by the United States Supreme Court in Rostker v. Goldberg; the Court ruled that this did not constitute discrimination against men. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 promotes equal pay for women, however, sometimes glass ceiling forces women to hold lower positions.

Age

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act bans employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older, and an amendment in 1978 forbids mandatory retirement in most sectors. In the Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents decision, the Supreme Court rules the state governments are exempt from this law. A special interest group AARP, is a powerful lobbying force against age discrimination.

Disability

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 adds similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. However, in the case Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett, the Supreme Court rules its Title I unconstitutional. In the Bragdon v. Abbott decision the Supreme Court extends the protection to people with Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Sexual orientation

The Constitution of the United States does not recognize any sexual orientation rights. All Americans are guaranteed identical rights. Some states and some state constitutions have recognized such rights which are discussed below.

Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriage. In 1996, Hawaii ruled same-sex marriage is a Hawaiian constitutional right.

The Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996. The Defense of Marriage Act stated no state (or other political subdivision within the United States) need recognize a marriage between persons of the same sex, even if the marriage was concluded or recognized in another state and the Federal Government may not recognize same-sex or polygamous marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states. The US Constitution denies the federal government any authority to limit state recognition of sexual orientation rights or protections. This federal law only limits the intra-state recognition of individual state laws and does not limit state law in any way.

The 14th Amendment recognizes that some human rights may exist but are not yet recognized within constitutional law. Civil rights and disability rights are examples of such rights long unrecognized. There may exist additional gender-related civil rights that are presently not recognized by US law, but if so, they are presently not recognized by US law.

Privacy

Privacy is not explicitly stated in the United State Constitution. In the Griswold v. Connecticut case, the Supreme Court rules that it is implied in the constitution. In the Roe v. Wade case, the Supreme Court uses privacy rights to overturn most laws against abortion in the United States. In the Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health case, the Supreme Court holds that the patient had a right of privacy to terminate medical treatment. In the Gonzales v. Oregon case, the Supreme Court holds the Federal Controlled Substances Act can not prohibit physician-assisted suicide allowed by the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.

Accused

United States maintains a presumption of innocence in legal procedures.The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with the rights of criminal suspects. Later the protection is extended to civiil cases as well In the Gideon v. Wainwright case, the Supreme Court requires that indigent criminal defendants who unable to afford their own attorney be provided counsel at trial. In the Miranda v. Arizona case, the United States requires police departments inform arrested persons of their rights, which is later called Miranda warning and typically begins with "You have the right to remain silent."

Capital punishment is used in some states. In the Furman v. Georgia case, the Supreme Court overturned arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty on the grounds of Eighth and Fourteenth United States Constitution Amendments that forbid cruel and unusual punishment and due process of law. This decision halts execution of prisoners until the Gregg v. Georgia decision, which approved the retooled procedures be used to enact death penalty after the Furman decision. The decisions in the Roper v. Simmons and Atkins v. Virginia cases ban imposing capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18 or by the mentally retarded.

Freedoms

Freedom of religion

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes the principle of the Separating the church and the state, while Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion. The Supreme Court's Lemon v. Kurtzman decision established the "Lemon test" exception, which details the requirements for legislation concerning religion.

This separate principle is used to limit school praying. In the Engel v. Vitale case, Government-directed prayer is ruled unconstitutional. In the Wallace v. Jaffree case, silence moment allocated for praying is also banned. The Supreme Court also ruled Clergy-led prayer public high school graduation and student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games illegal in the Lee v. Weisman case and the Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe case.

This freedom of exercising religion is also limited by Supreme Court rulings. In the Employment Division v. Smith decision, the Supreme Court maintains a "neutral law of general applicability" can be used to limit religion exercises. In the City of Boerne v. Flores decision, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is struck down as exceeding congressional power, however the decision's effect is limited by the Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal decision, which requires states to express compelling interest in prohibiting illegal dug use in religious practices.

Freedom of expression

In the United States, like other liberal democracies, freedom of expression (including speech, media, and public assembly) is an important right and is given special protection. According to Supreme Court precedent, the federal and lower governments may not apply prior restraint to expression, with certain exceptions, such as national security and obscenity. There is no law punishing insults against the government, ethnic groups, or religious groups. Symbols of the government or its officials may be destroyed in protest, including the American flag. Legal limits on expression include:

• Solicitation, fraud, specific threats of violence, or disclosure of classified information.
• Civil offenses involving defamation, fraud, or workplace harassment
• Copyright violations
• Federal Communications Commission rules governing the use of broadcast media.
• Crimes involving sexual obscenity in pornography and text only erotic stories.
• Ordinances requiring mass demonstrations on public property to register in advance.
• The use of free speech zones and protest free zones.
• Military censorship of blogs written by military personnel claiming some include sensitive information ineligible for release. Some critics view military officials as trying to suppress dissent from troops in the field.

Some laws remain controversial due to concerns that they infringe on freedom of expression. These include the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. In two high profile cases, grand juries have decided that Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper and New York Times reporter Judith Miller must reveal their sources in cases involving CIA leaks. Time magazine exhausted its legal appeals, and Mr. Cooper eventually agreed to testify. Ms. Miller was jailed for 85 days before cooperating. U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan ruled that the First Amendment does not insulate Time magazine reporters from a requirement to testify before a criminal grand jury that's conducting the investigation into the possible illegal disclosure of classified information.

As of June 2004, over a dozen foreign journalists who arrived in the United States without an I-visa were apprehended and deported. The journalists were unaware of requirement, as open societies generally do not have a special visa requirement for journalists, as such with countries like Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Zimbabwe.

When citizens' right to peacefully gather was acknowledged and written into the Bill of Rights, there were no clauses about "free speech zones", "permits" to hold demonstrations, or "protest free zones".

A controversial test of free speech rights took place when University of Florida student Andrew Meyer was grabbed by police while asking questions to Senator John Kerry at a Constitution Day forum at the University of Florida in Gainesville on September 17, 2007. Meyers was forced to the ground, tasered, and arrested for "inciting a riot". He was later charged with "resisting an officer" and "disturbing the peace". He was forced to apologize to the University and the police to avoid more time in jail.

In Reporters Without Borders’ 2006 worldwide press freedom index, United States is ranked 53rd out of 168.

Freedom of movement

Chapter 4 of the Articles of Confederation guarantees the freedom of movement to free citizens except paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice. However, escaped slaves were not recognized as free citizens. The Article Four of the United States Constitution removes the restriction on paupers and vagabonds, but fugitive slaves were still limited until the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. The Fourteenth Amendment extends the freedom to all persons within United States' jurisdictions. In the Shapiro v. Thompson case, the decision establishes new residents' welfare rights and a fundamental "right to travel" in U.S. law. In the Oregon v. Mitchell case, the Supreme Court establishes new residents' voting rights in presidential and vice-presidential elections.

The Supreme Court maintains this principle by struck down state and local act of settlement laws. In the Edwards v. California case, a California law prohibiting the bringing of a non-resident "indigent person" into the state was ruled unconstitutional. In the United States v. Cassiagnol case, laws banning wandering on public property was ruled unconstitutional. Both a Jacksonville vagrancy ordinance that criminalize nightwalking, habtitually living without visible means of support and a New York ordinance that criminalize wandering near public transportation stations were ruled unconstitutional in the Papachristou v. Jacksonville and People v. Bright cases.

National security exceptions

The United States government has suspended (or claimed exceptions to) various guaranteed rights on national security grounds, typically in wartime and conflicts (such as the United States Civil War, Cold War or the War against Terror). In some instances the federal courts have allowed these exceptions, while in others the courts have decided that the national security interest was insufficient.

Historical restrictions

Sedition laws have sometimes placed restrictions on freedom of expression. The Alien and Sedition Acts, passed by President John Adams during an undeclared naval conflict with France, allowed the government to punish "false" statements about the government and to deport "dangerous" immigrants. The Federalist Party used these acts to harass supporters of the Democratic-Republican Party. While Woodrow Wilson was president, another broad sedition law called the Sedition Act of 1918, was passed during World War I. It also caused the arrest and ten year sentencing of Socialist Party of America Presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs for speaking out against the atrocities of World War I, although he would later be released early by President Warren G. Harding. Countless others, labeled as "subverts" (especially the Wobblies), were investigated by the Woodrow Wilson Administration.

Presidents have claimed the power to imprison summarily, under military jurisdiction, those suspected of being combatants for states or groups at war against the United States. Abraham Lincoln invoked this power in the American Civil War to imprison Maryland secessionists. In that case, the Supreme Court concluded that only Congress could suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and the government released the detainees. During World War II, the United States interned thousands of Japanese-Americans on alleged fears that Japan might use them as saboteurs. This has since been proven false, and the United States Government has publicly acknowledged the racist undertones and motives of these acts.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution forbids unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant, but some administrations have claimed exceptions to this rule to investigate alleged conspiracies against the government. During the Cold War, the Federal Bureau of Investigation established COINTELPRO to infiltrate and disrupt left-wing organizations, including those that supported the rights of black Americans.

National security, as well as other concerns like unemployment, has sometimes led the United States to toughen its generally liberal immigration policy. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 all but banned Chinese immigrants, who were accused of crowding out American workers.

Inhumane treatment

Death penalty

The United States, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are the only developed nations to use capital punishment in practice during peacetime. This practice is controversial. Death penalty opponents regard the death penalty as inhumane and criticize it for its irreversibility and claim that it lacks a deterrent effect; in California v. Anderson, the Supreme Court of California classified capital punishment as cruel and unusual and outlawed the use of capital punishment in California, until it was reinstated in 1976 after a federal ruling. The death penalty has been abolished in District of Columbia and thirteen states, mainly in the Northeast and Midwest. The death penalty is also prohibited in international human rights documents and treaties, including the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 there have been 1077 executions in the United States ([[as of 2007|as of May 23, 2007). There were 53 executions in 2006. Texas overwhelmingly leads the United States in executions, with 379 executions from 1976 to 2006; the second-highest ranking state is Virginia, with 98 executions.

A ruling on March 1, 2005 by the United States Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons prohibits the execution of people who committed their crimes when they were under the age of 18. Between 1990 and 2005, Amnesty International recorded 19 executions in the United States for crime committed by a juvenile.

It is the official policy of the European Union and a number of non-EU nations to achieve global abolition of the death penalty. For this reason the EU is vocal in its criticism of the death penalty in the US and has submitted amicus curiae briefs in a number of important US court cases related to capital punishment.

Some opponents criticize the overrepresentation of blacks on death row as evidence of the unequal racial application of the death penalty. This over-representation is not limited to capital offenses, in 1992 although blacks account for 12% of the US population, about 34 percent of prison inmates were from this group. In McCleskey v. Kemp, it was alleged the capital sentencing process was administered in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 2003, Amnesty International reported those who kill whites are more likely to be executed than those who kill blacks, citing of the 845 people executed since 1977, 80 percent were put to death for killing whites and 13 percent were executed for killing blacks, even though blacks and whites are murdered in almost equal numbers.

Prison system

Some have criticized the United States for having an extremely large prison population, where there have been reported abuses. As of 2004 the United States had the highest percentage of people in prison of any nation. There were more than 2.2 million in prisons or jails, or 737 per 100,000 population, or roughly 1 out of every 136 Americans. "Human Rights Watch believes the extraordinary rate of incarceration in the United States wreaks havoc on individuals, families and communities, and saps the strength of the nation as a whole."

Examples of mistreatment claimed include prisoners left naked and exposed in harsh weather or cold air; "routine" use of rubber bullets and pepper spray; forced immersion in scalding water causing second and third degree burns (one documented case); solitary confinement of violent prisoners in soundproofed cells for 23 or 24 hours a day; and a range of injuries from serious injury to fatal gunshot wounds, with force at one California prison "often vastly disproportionate to the actual need or risk that prison staff faced." Such behaviors are illegal, and "professional standards clearly limit staff use of force to that which is necessary to control prisoner disorder."

Human Rights Watch raised concerns with prisoner rape and medical care for inmates. In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in Midwestern prisons by Prison Journal, about 21% claimed they had been coerced or pressured into sexual activity during their incarceration and 7% claimed that they had been raped in their current facility. Tolerance of serious sexual abuse and rape in United States prisons are consistently reported as widespread. It has been fought against by organizations such as Stop Prisoner Rape.

The United States has been criticized for having a high amount of non-violent and victim-less offenders incarcerated, as half of all persons incarcerated under State jurisdiction are for non-violent offences and 20 percent are incarcerated for drug offences.

The United States is the only country in the world allowing sentencing of young adolescents to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. There are currently 73 Americans serving such sentences for crimes they committed at the age of 13 or 14. In December 2006 the United Nations took up a resolution calling for the abolition of this kind of punishment for children and young teenagers. 185 countries voted for the resolution and only the United States against.

Police brutality

In a 1999 report, Amnesty International said it had "documented patterns of ill-treatment across the U.S., including police beatings, unjustified shootings and the use of dangerous restraint techniques." According to a 1998 Human Rights Watch report, incidents of police use of excessive force had occurred in cities throughout the U.S., and this behavior goes largely unchecked. In 2001, a New York Times piece report that the U.S. government is unable or unwilling to collect statistics showing the precise number of people killed by the police or the prevalence of the use of excessive force. Since 1999, at least 148 people have died in the United States and Canada after being shocked with Tasers by police officers, according to a 2005 ACLU report.

Health care

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948, states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one’s family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care.” In addition, the Principles of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association require medical doctors to respect the human rights of the patient, including that of providing medical treatment when it is needed. Unlike most other industrialized nations, the United States does not offer its citizens universal health care. The United States provides limited coverage to individuals and families with low incomes and resources through Medicaid, provides coverage to persons age 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria through Medicare, and federal law ensures public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986 ensures patients the right to emergency medical care regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Universal health care debate

The level of government involvement in providing, ensuring, and enforcing the right to adequate health care is a topic of longstanding political debate. Several Democratic Presidents (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton) and legislators have attempted to institute universal coverage, as well as Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. The most recent attempt to institute universal coverage was in 1994 when First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, an attorney and social activist experienced in the area, strongly supported by trade unions, tried to implement a universal-care plan without a single-payer system; however, Republicans in Congress, strongly supported by the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, defeated the measure, heavily airing a series of commercials featuring a fictitious couple, "Harry and Louise", who were shown wondering how the Clinton plan would affect their existing coverage. Several candidates (mostly Democratic) for the 2008 Presidential election are supporting various forms of universal coverage. Most Republicans believe health care costs should be left to the market with minimal government involvement. 2008 GOP Presidential contender Mitt Romney, as Governor of Massachusetts, helped institute a system requiring Massachusetts residents to buy private health insurance, with subsidies for those who cannot afford it.

Influential figures, such as Pope John Paul II, have stated denying access to afforable health care is a violation of the right to life. According to a March 2007 poll by CBS News and the New York Times, 81 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the cost of health care. 46.6 million Americans, or 15.9 percent, were without health insurance coverage in 2005. The Center for Economic and Social Rights, an international human rights advocacy group, calls for health care reforms in the US to reflect the "right to health."

International human rights

Support for human rights

The U.S. Department of State publishes a yearly report "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record" in compliance with a 2002 law which requires the Department to report on actions taken by the U.S. Government to encourage respect for human rights. It also publishes a yearly "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.". In 2006 the United States created a "Human Rights Defenders Fund" and "Freedom Awards." The "Ambassadorial Roundtable Series", created in 2006, are informal discussions between newly-confirmed U.S. Ambassadors and human rights and democracy non-governmental organizations. The United States also support democracy and human rights through several other tools.

The "Human Rights and Democracy Achievement Award" recognizes the exceptional achievement of officers of foreign affairs agencies posted abroad.

• In 2006 the award went to Joshua Morris of the embassy in Mauritania who recognized necessary democracy and human rights improvements in Mauritania and made democracy promotion one of his primary responsibilities. He persuaded the Government of Mauritania to re-open voter registration lists to an additional 85,000 citizens, which includes a significant number of Afro-Mauritanian minority individuals. He also organized and managed the largest youth-focused democracy project in Mauritania in 5 years.
• Nathaniel Jensen of the embassy in Vietnam was runner-up. He successfully advanced the human rights agenda on several fronts, including organizing the resumption of a bilateral Human Rights Dialogue, pushing for the release of Vietnam’s prisoners of concern, and dedicating himself to improving religion freedom in northern Vietnam.

The U.S. and the International Bill of Rights

The US has not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), one of the three core texts that make up the International Bill of Rights (along with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The covenant - which was opened for signature in 1966 - came into force in 1976 and has been ratified by all but five (one of which being the US) of the UN member states. The ICCPR and the ICESCR are the legal treaties that enshrine the rights which are outlined in the Universal Declaration. The US's ratification of the ICCPR was done with five reservations – or limits – on the treaty. Among these is the rejection of sections of the treaty which prohibit capital punishment.

The U.S. and the inter-American human rights system

The US is a signatory to the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and has signed but not ratified the 1969 American Convention on Human Rights. It does not accept the adjudicatory jurisdiction of the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Other international human rights documents

The U.S. was one of only four countries which voted against the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007.

The U.S. and the International Criminal Court

The U.S. has not ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which was created for prosecuting individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, with nations that accept its jurisdiction - or when the UN Security Council orders jurisdiction invountarily. The primary international legal tribunal for such matters is the UN Security Council which may also address the crime of aggression. As well as failing to ratify the statute, the US has actively attempted to undermine the court, encouraging smaller nations around the world to sign "bilateral immunity agreements" prohibiting the surrender of US personnel before the ICC. The US Congress also passed a law, American Servicemembers' Protection Act (ASPA), known by critics as "The Hague Invasion Act" authorising the use of military force to free any US personnel that are brought before the court. For more information see United States and the International Criminal Court.

Coverage of international human rights violations in the media

Studies have found that the New York Times coverage of worldwide human rights violations is biased, predominantly focusing on the human rights violations in nations where there is clear U.S. involvement, while having relatively little coverage of the human rights violations in other nations. Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan explains, "If we focus on the U.S. it's because we believe that the U.S. is a country whose enormous influence and power has to be used constructively ... When countries like the U.S. are seen to undermine or ignore human rights, it sends a very powerful message to others."

Alleged violations of national sovereignty

The Iran-Contra Affair was a highly publicized political scandal, in which the United States helped illegally sell arms to Iran to finance the rebel Contras guerrillas, a group implicated in serious human rights violations, in their war against the Nicaraguan government. The case of Nicaragua v. United States was heard by the International Court of Justice and the court found that the US had violated international law by supporting guerrillas and by direct action of U.S. personnel, such as laying mines in Nicaragua's harbors and sabotage. The support for the Contras violated the obligation not to intervene in the affairs of another State. The U.S. had also encouraged human rights violations by disseminating the manual "Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare", but had little control over the Contras for such violations to be imputable to the U.S. The United States disagreed that the court had jurisdiction or power over its actions and was not bound by its ruling. The UN Security Council had the authority to enforce this court decision that the court lacked, and it elected not to do so.

Extraordinary rendition

United States citizens and foreign nationals are occasionally captured (and at times claimed to be abducted) outside of the United States and transferred to secret US administered detention facilities, sometimes being held incommunicado for periods of months or years, a process known as extraordinary rendition.

According to The New Yorker, "The most common destinations for rendered suspects are Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Jordan, all of which have been cited for human-rights violations by the State Department, and are known to torture suspects." There are also allegations that persons categorized as prisoners of war have been tortured, abused or humiliated; or otherwise have had their rights afforded by the Geneva Convention violated.

In 2005 Amnesty International expressed alarm at the erosion in civil liberties since the 9/11 attacks. According to Amnesty International:

The Guantánamo Bay detention camp has become a symbol of the United States administration’s refusal to put human rights and the rule of law at the heart of its response to the atrocities of 11 September 2001. It has become synonymous with the United States executive’s pursuit of unfettered power, and has become firmly associated with the systematic denial of human dignity and resort to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment that has marked the USA’s detentions and interrogations in the "war on terror".

Amnesty International also condemned the Guantánamo facility as "the gulag of our times", which raised heated conversation in the United States. The purported legal status of "unlawful combatants" in those nations currently holding detainees under that name has been the subject of criticism by other nations and international human rights institutions including Human Rights Watch and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The ICRC, in response to the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, published a paper on the subject The legal situation of unlawful/unprivileged combatants (IRRC March 2003 Vol.85 No 849). See Unlawful combatant. HRW cites two sergeants and a captain accusing U.S. troops of torturing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Notable cases

In November 2001, Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen, was captured by Afghan Northern Alliance forces in Konduz, Afghanistan, amongst hundreds of surrendering Taliban fighters and was transferred into U.S. custody. The U.S. government alleged that Hamdi was there fighting for the Taliban, while Hamdi, through his father, has claimed that he was merely there as a relief worker and was mistakenly captured. Hamdi was transferred into CIA custody and transferred to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, but when it was discovered that he was a U.S. citizen, he was transferred to naval brig in Norfolk, Virginia and then he was transferred brig in Charleston, South Carolina. The Bush Administration identified him as an unlawful combatant and denied him access to an attorney or the court system, despite his Fifth Amendment right to due process. In 2002 Hamdi's father filed a habeas corpus petition, the Judge ruled in Hamdi's favor and required he be allowed a public defender; however, on appeal the decision was reversed. In 2004, in the case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld the U.S. Supreme court reversed the dismissal of a habeas corpus petition and ruled detainees who are U.S. citizens must have the ability to challenge their detention before an impartial judge.

In December 2004, Khalid El-Masri, a German citizen, was apprehended by Macedonian authorities when traveling to Skopje because his name was similar to Khalid al-Masri, an alleged metor to the al-Qaeda Hamburg cell. After being held in a motel in Macedonia for over three weeks he was transferred to the CIA and extradited to Afghanistan. While held in Afghanistan, El-Masri claims he was sodomized, beaten, and repeatedly interrorgated about alleged terrorist ties. After being in custody for five months, Condoleezza Rice learned of his detention and ordered his release. El-Masri was released at night on a desolate road in Albania, without apology, or funds to return home. He was intercepted by Albanian guards, who believed him to be a terrorist due to his haggard and unkept appearance. He was subsequently reunited with his wife who had returned to her family in Lebanon, with their children, because she thought her husband had abandoned them. Using isotope analysis, scientists at the Bavarian archive for geology in Munich analyzed his hair and verified that he was malnourished during his disappearance.

Treatment of captured non-citizens

International and U.S. law prohibits torture and other ill-treatment of any person in custody in all circumstances. However, the United States Government has categorized a large number of people as unlawful combatants, a United States classification, which denies the privileges of prisoner of war (POW) designation of the Geneva Conventions. Once a combatant is found by a competent tribunal to be an unlawful combatant, he or she no longer has the rights and privileges accorded to POW. Abuse of prisoners is considered a crime in the United States Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In 2004, photos showing humiliation and abuse of prisoners leaked from Abu Ghraib prison, causing a political and media scandal in the US. Forced humiliation of the detainees included, but is not limited to nudity, human piling of nude detainees, masturbation, eating food out of toilets, crawling on hand and knees while American soldiers were sitting on their back sometimes requiring them to bark like dogs, and hooking up electrical wires to fingers, toes, and penis. In addition to the acts of humiliation, there were more violent claims, such as American soldiers sodomizing detainees (including an event involving an underage boy), an incident where a phosphoric light was broken and the chemicals poured on a detainee, repeated beatings, and threats of death. Six military personnel were charged and convicted of with prisoner abuse in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. The harshest sentence was handed out to Charles Graner, who received a 10 year sentence to be served in a military prison; his subordinates received lighter sentences.

The United States maintains a detention center at its military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba and its executive branch controversially asserts that prisoners held there are not subject to constitutional protections. Prisoners there generally do not receive trials and detention is indefinite.

Assessments of human rights organizations

United Nations

The United States has refused to seek a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) since 2006 and on March 5 2007, the U.S. State Department asserted the UNHRC had lost its credibility with repeated attacks on Israel and a failure to confront other rights abusers.

On May 18 2006, The United Nations Human Rights Council released a report, which urged the United States to adopt their recommendations. The recommendations included: holding senior official who acquiesced, authorized, or consented to acts of torture committed by their subordinates; closing all secret prisons; closing Guantanamo Bay detention camp; registering detainees captured in the War on Terrorism; and ending extraordinary rendition. The report rejected the United States' claim the United Nations Convention Against Torture does not apply to U.S. personnel acting outside the U.S. or acting during wartime and stated " has the obligation to implement the Convention against Torture in full at the domestic level." The report further criticized how the United States allows executions by lethal injection, houses children in adult jails, and subjects prisoners to prolonged isolation in supermax prisons.

In May 2007, Martin Scheinin, a United Nations rapporteur on rights in countering terrorism, released a preliminary report for the United Nations Human Rights Council. The report stated the United States violated international law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and criticized the classification of unlawful combatants and the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act; however, the report stated " is a country which still has a great deal to be proud of."

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights offered an opinion that the persisting racial poverty gaps in the U.S. amount to human rights violations.

The United Nations Human Rights Council lacks any legal authority except to make recommendations to the UN Security Council. The Security Council has recieved all of the recomendations detailed and has not found any violations of any human rights or international laws.

The United States is the only country in the world allowing sentencing of young adolescents to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. There are currently 73 Americans serving such sentences for crimes they committed at the age of 13 or 14. In December 2006 the United Nations General Assembly took up a non-binding resolution calling for the abolition of this kind of punishment for children and young teenagers. 185 countries voted for the resolution and only the United States against.

Worldwide ratings

According to the annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, the United States was ranked 53rd from the top in 2006 (out of 168), 44th in 2005. 22nd in 2004, 31st in 2003 and 17th in 2002,

According to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, which was published by Transparency International, the United States was ranked 20th from the top in 2006 (out of 163), 17th in 2005, 18th in 2003, and 16th in 2002.

According to Freedom in the World, an annual report by Freedom House, which rates political rights and civil liberties, in 2007, the United States was ranked "Free" (the highest possible rating), together with 92 other countries.

The Polity data series, which rate regime and authority characteristics, covering the years 1800-2004, has ranked the United States with the highest possible rating since 1871.

See also

• Legality of the Iraq war
• Democracy in the United States
• Civil rights
• Allegations of state terrorism committed by the United States
• Criticism of the government response to Hurricane Katrina
• United States and the International Criminal Court

History

• First Red Scare
• Second Red Scare

External links

• Freedom in the World 2006: United States from Freedom House
• Censorship in the US from IFEX
• Human Rights from United States Department of State
• Human Rights from United Nations
• Publications on the United States from Amnesty International
• United States: Human Rights World Report 2006 from Human Rights Watch
• United States Human Rights Network
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights from United Nations

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Template:US topics

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• United States law
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• Law enforcement in the United States
• Penal system in the United States
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