Tuesday, December 11, 2007

NGO Coalition Slams U.S. Record at Home

by William Fisher

NEW YORK - A coalition of more than 200 not-for-profit human rights and social justice organisations charge that the George W. Bush administration is contributing to racial, religious and ethnic discrimination in the U.S. — and attempting to cover up its violations in a report to the United Nations they term “a complete whitewash”.1210 02 1

The charges are contained in a “shadow report” timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day Monday, and designed to rebut a far more positive picture painted by the U.S. State Department. State’s report, quietly submitted to the U.N. last spring and posted without publicity on the department’s website, was a requirement under the world body’s International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, to which the U.S. is a signatory.

The shadow report was prepared by the U.S. Human Rights Network (USHRN), a large group of non-governmental organisations ranging from Amnesty International to the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund.

Keep reading . . .

No comments: