Human Rights

In February 2008, over 120 U.S. lawyers and activists traveled to Geneva to
participate in the U.N.'s review of U.S. compliance with the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), an international human rights treaty ratified by the U.S. in 1994 that
prohibits racial discrimination. On March 7, 2008, the CERD Committee
issued its Concluding Observations and Recommendations on the United
States' compliance with the treaty. The Committee expressed deep concern
over the United States' record on racial discrimination and urged the
government to make sweeping reforms to policies affecting racial and ethnic
minorities, women, and immigrants.

Among its recommendations, the committee called on the U.S. to:

* Pass the federal End Racial Profiling Act or similar legislation and
combat widespread ethnic and racial profiling practices by law enforcement,
especially against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians in the wake of the 9/11
attacks;

* Protect non-citizens from being subjected to torture and abuse by means
of transfer or rendition to foreign countries for torture;

* Adopt and strengthen the use of affirmative action programs to eliminate
discrimination, and allow school districts to voluntarily promote school
integration;

* Eliminate systemic inadequacies in criminal defense programs that have a
disproportionate effect on indigent minorities and ensure competent counsel
in all cases;

* Address the problem of the school-to-prison pipeline — the trend of
funneling minority children into prison;

* Restrict felony disfranchisement policies and eliminate barriers to
post-sentence voting rights restoration;

* Address the problem of violence against indigenous, minority and
immigrant women, including migrant workers, and especially domestic
workers; and

* Pass the Civil Rights Act of 2008 or similar legislation, and otherwise
ensure the rights of minority and immigrant workers, including undocumented
migrant workers, to effective protection and remedies when their employers
have violated their human rights.

Many activists assert that international human rights standards provide
broader protections against racial discrimination than current U.S. law and
impose affirmative obligations on the government to respect and ensure
equal access to economic and social rights. Panelists will discuss U.S.
obligations under CERD and examine how international human rights standards
are changing domestic advocacy for human rights - civil, political,
economic, and social rights -- in the U.S.

Panelists

Caroline Bettinger-López, Human Rights Fellow, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School

Cynthia Soohoo, Domestic Legal Director, Center for Reproductive Rights

Jamil Dakwar, Director, ACLU Human Rights Program

Cristóbal Joshua Alex, Campaign Coordinator, National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights

A light dinner will be provided.