Bring Human Rights Day Home 9DEZ11

10 DEZEMBER is HUMAN RIGHTS DAY around the world. The United States has generally been a leader, and example (though not perfect) for other nations, setting the standard for honoring and protecting human rights. But since 9/11 and the Patriot Act our record on human rights in America has declined, and the hypocrisy of our government's words compared to our government's actions brings shame on our nation. Here are 13 serious human rights issues the ACLU is addressing, you can click the link to tell congress you expect them to take action on these issues and do more to restore the U.S. to a leadership role on human rights.....

Tomorrow is Human Rights Day and will mark the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR, created in response to the egregious atrocities of the Second World War, is the most foundational and internationally recognized human rights document ever developed.
The United States has a long tradition of leading the cause of human rights worldwide. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s historic 1941 State of the Union address articulated “four freedoms” that ought to be guaranteed for all humans: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Seven years later, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and the United States played a central role in the drafting of the UDHR, and the “four freedoms” outlined by F.D.R. were explicitly incorporated into the document’s preamble.
In keeping with this long tradition, President Obama made a historic commitment to LGBT rights on Tuesday by issuing a memorandum directing all federal agencies abroad to take measures to protect the human rights of LGBT persons. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, delivered a landmark address that candidly and forcefully argued for the defense of LGBT rights worldwide, boldly declaring that “[G]ay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.”
But the fight is far from over for the United States; in fact, some of the greatest human rights challenges that we face are not overseas, but are instead here at home.  In commemoration of this year’s Human Rights Day, we are releasing an updated fact sheet that presents a glimpse of 13 critical human rights issues that the United States faces domestically in the following areas:

• Women’s Rights
• Immigration Detention
• Criminal Justice (more specifically, mass incarceration, capital punishment, life without parole for children)
• Voting Rights
• LGBT Rights
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Socioeconomic Rights
• Racial Profiling
• Children’s Rights
• Accountability for Torture

As the fact sheet explains:

“Without doubt the U.S. continues to provide global leadership on some human rights issues. For example, the current administration has re-engaged with international human rights bodies and provided vigorous leadership in fighting for LGBT equality, demanded easier access to reproductive health services and information, and championed free speech and freedom of assembly.But while some U.S. laws and policies have been comparatively advanced in protecting civil rights and civil liberties, the U.S. has fallen behind in protecting the universal human rights recognized by the UDHR. Our government has only partially and selectively embraced these rights, ignoring international obligations and widening the gap between the United States’ sixty-three-year-old promise and its own current practice.”

In addition to our government’s overseas rhetoric, we must create effective mechanisms to monitor, enforce, and protect human rights on our own local, state, and federal levels. The legitimacy of our longstanding tradition with human rights can survive only if our practices at home reflect our words and speeches that champion human rights abroad.
You can learn more about the ACLU’s fight for domestic human rights implementation here, and we hope you’ll join us in asking the government to bring human rights home!

International Human Rights Day: Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011 (PHOTOS) 10DEZ10

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY and this post from HuffPost offers information on some of the worst violators. Click the header to go to the site to see the pictures, and look for links on this blog to check out AI / Amnesty International, HRF / Human Rights First, ACLU, and Doctors Without Borders, mabe join or send them a donation.
In lieu of the ongoing controversy surrounding jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, China has the dubious distinction of joining the world's top 10 human rights offenders, according to a new report.
Released to coincide with International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, the Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011 evaluated 196 countries on their performance across 30 different categories, which included human security, labor standards, as well as civil and political freedoms. Prepared by the British global advisory firm Maplecroft, the new report shows there are now 92 nations listed as being in the "extreme" and "high risk" categories, up from 83 countries last year.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was ranked as the world's riskiest nation, with China falling two spots from last year to come in at #10. On the opposite end of the scale, the U.S. was ranked as having a "medium risk" at #131, while both the United Kingom (#154) and Germany (#181) are considered to have "low risk."

Human rights deteriorating in fastest growing economies of Pakistan, China, Russia, Colombia, Bangladesh, Nigeria and India

10/12/2010

Maplecroft invites interested organisations to a WebEx presentation on Thursday 16 December 2010, 3pm GMT about the Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011 focusing on key findings and analysis. For WebEx details contact info@maplecroft.com

The human rights situation is worsening worldwide and especially in the important emerging economies of Pakistan, China, Russia, Colombia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, Philippines and Mexico. These are the findings of the Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011 that calculates and maps the risk of complicity in human rights abuses for companies operating worldwide.
According to Maplecroft, who publish the Atlas for the fifth successive year, there are now 92 countries in the ‘extreme’ and ‘high risk’ categories as opposed to 83 last year, a rise of nearly 10%. It is the emerging economies which cause most concern, as many multinational companies and investors now have considerable interests centred there and strong economic growth is not being translated into improving human rights, posing a range of legal, reputational, operational and strategic challenges for business.
The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011, released for International Human Rights Day on 10 December, evaluates 196 countries on their performance across 30 human rights categories, which cover human security, labour standards and protections, civil and political rights and access to remedy.
Most significantly for business, given it plays a major role in supply chains, China has fallen two places in the ranking from last year to 10th. China joins DR Congo (1), Somalia (2), Pakistan (3), Sudan (4), Myanmar (5), Chad (6), Afghanistan (7), Zimbabwe (8), and North Korea (9) as the countries with the worst human rights records.
Russia (14), Colombia (15), Bangladesh (16), Nigeria (17) India (21), Philippines (25) and Mexico (26) have also seen their scores worsen and are featured in the ‘extreme risk’ category.
China’s poor ranking in the overall Human Rights Risk Index (HRRI) reflects the dire situation found across several core human rights areas, where the country is ranked worst or joint bottom of the league. These include violation categories such as freedom of speech, the press and religion; minority rights; judicial independence; and arbitrary arrest and detention. The country also ranked bottom for trafficking and forced labour violations and scored 0.02 out of a possible 10 for child labour.

Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011

Legend
Extreme risk
High risk
Medium risk
Low risk
No Data

Rank	Country	Rating
1	DR Congo	Extreme
2	Somalia	Extreme
3	Pakistan	Extreme
4	Sudan	Extreme
5	Myanmar	Extreme

Rank	Country	Rating
6	Chad	Extreme
7	Afghanistan	Extreme
8	Zimbabwe	Extreme
9	North Korea	Extreme
10	China	Extreme

© Maplecroft, 2010

Labour rights violations, especially in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, are commonplace in China due to weak and inconsistent enforcement of labour laws, although with the introduction of new Labour Contract Law in 2008, the situation is slowly set to change as Chinese work forces demand improved pay and conditions.
The Chinese government reportedly monitors and harasses labour rights organisations and political opponents, lawyers are disbarred for taking on politically sensitive cases and victims of human rights abuses are obstructed in seeking redress. China’s performance is compounded by the actions of state security forces acting with impunity, which are reported to take part in extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary arrests.
“The worsening of the human rights landscape in fast growing emerging markets is a worry for business,” said Maplecroft CEO, Professor Alyson Warhurst, also a member of the UN Global Compact’s Human Rights Working Group. “The UN’s Special Representative has proposed that companies are responsible for respecting human rights that are impacted by their business activities. They will increasingly be required to exercise due diligence including undertaking human rights impact assessment and human rights monitoring. The Human Rights Risk Atlas supports such monitoring.”
India, which is important to the ICT, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, performs particularly badly in the area of labour rights protections. It is ranked joint first for child labour, forced labour and discrimination and 7th for trafficking, which includes the use of girls in bonded labour and sexual exploitation. Estimates of the number of child labourers varied widely. The government's 2004 national survey estimated the number of working children from aged 5-14 at 16.4 million. NGOs, however, claimed the number of child labourers was closer to 55 million.
Of the G7 nations, which are amongst the largest consumers of goods from the emerging economies, Italy (129), USA (131) and Japan (145) are rated medium risk, whilst France (152), United Kingdom (154), Canada (172) and Germany (181) rated low risk.
Japan scores high risk in minority rights, trafficking and arbitrary arrest and detention. For example, trafficking is a significant problem and during the 2009 period the Japanese government demonstrated diminished anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts.
The Human Rights Risk Atlas 2011 includes interactive maps and indices for 30 human rights categories and scorecards for 196 countries. It also features sub-national mapping of human rights violations and human security incidents down to site-specific levels worldwide. It is supported by sector specific country human rights risk reports.

Register for trial access to see examples of Maplecroft's indices, interactive maps, scorecards, briefings and in-depth reports.