I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. --Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 19, 1776
Dear President Elect Barack Obama,
No American president in my memory has taken office with more challenges as our nation moves forward into an unknown and frightening future. Two mismanaged wars and the economy in shambles, the stakes could not be higher.
In 1776, Thomas Paine described the great promise of America as “an asylum for mankind” and named the cause of America “…in a great measure, the cause of all mankind”. Over the past eight years, Americans and the world have stood helplessly by as the current administration has betrayed this promise, violated international standards of human decency, and abdicated America’s moral authority as a nation which honors human rights and freedom.
And, yet, no other president has taken office with such promise to restore America’s greatness in the eyes of the world. The opportunity exists for you to restore the honor of America in one stroke. I implore you to call on Congress to finally ratify the international human rights conventions which were signed but never embraced and to remove the “reservations, understandings and declarations” (RUDs) which have negated the tenets of all those key international covenants and conventions which the United States has ratified.
You have much in common with Thomas Paine for you both are patriots who believe in the promise of America and were able to inspire Americans to believe with you. As Thomas Paine wrote in his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, which altered the destiny of America and thereby the world:
“We have it in our power to begin the world over again”.
Status Of Ratifications Of The Principal International Human Rights Treaties, Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights (as of June 2004)
The following is a short list (with links) of those conventions which need signature, ratification, or rescinding of RUDs: (The first date in parentheses is the date it was presented for signature.)
CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW) (1979) (non ratifying nations: Sudan, Iran, Somalia and the United States)
THE CONVENTION ON THE PROHIBITION, USE, STOCKPILING, PRODUCTION AND TRANSFER OF ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES AND ON THEIR DESTRUCTION (THE OTTAWA TREATY) (1997) (Ratified by 143 nations but not the United States)
CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (1989) (Ratified by 192 nations but not the United States)
INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGANIZATION (ILO) CONVENTIONS (Out of 162 conventions, the United States has ratified only 14, signing only 2 out of 8 “fundamental” conventions and is “out of compliance” with The Abolition of Forced Labor Convention, ratified in 1991)
INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS (1966) (ratified by 149 nations but not the United States)
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF ALL MIGRANT WORKERS AND MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES (MWC) (1990) (Ratified by 27 nations with no industrialized nations signing)
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (CERD) (1969) (Ratified in 1994 but negated by RUDs)
THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) (Ratified by 98 nations. In 2002, the United States rescinded President Clinton’s signature, refusing ratification)
United States Failure to Ratify Key International Conventions, Treaties And Laws, The Feminist Majority
http://www.feministcampus.org/fmla/printable-materials/global_project/ratify_factsheet.pdf
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Comments
Sorry for the inconvenince. It was involuntary blogwhoring.
Aloha
rated
G
I hope you are able to get this to Obama in one form or another.
Well done!
Thanks! I'm just gonna have to post on human geography! Want to get over to your religion/evolution post also.
O'K! My biggest fan!
Greag,
Thanks! A well done from you means a lot to me.
Just Kathy,
Thanks! At your prompting, I dropped it at change.gov. I do hope it hits the mark. There are no major human rights conventions that the US has signed "as is" without putting in provisos which take the power out of them. Dangerous ideas like the right to health care which is why I think that Obama may be open to finally making this right.
You are quite right, of course. There are many nations who are signatories who have no intention of embracing the ideas. However, it's like the young man who refuses to marry because of the rate of divorce. I'd like to think that it would mean something to us as a nation. Just signing on to the International Court of Justice would be an incredible affirmation that we believe in global justice.
Thanks, Ann! My years in Model UN gave me a global perspective.
Tom, Right ON! That's why I included my personal favorite founding father, Thomas Paine. After he helped launch our revolution, he traveled to Britain and then France. By the time he made it back to America, he felt that the revolution had been sold out to the capitalists.
Seeing this list is embarrassing. It is truly indicative of how far off course we've gone as a nation. I'm going to have to say I don't see much hope for these things occurring. But even a few of them do, it will be a step in the right direction.
RATED
It is my hope that, even when we find ourselves in this difficult space, we can still hold out hope to the world.
Stephanie,
Already put it in the slot at change.gov. Hope there is someone on the other side...
Rick,
Yes, when I first found out our record on all these key conventions on human rights, I was shamed. Most of these have been "under study", often for forty years as you can see by the dates.
In my last post on Afghan women, Dr. Sima Samar, the Director of Human Rights there, asked Bush to ratify the CEDAW to show the world that the US cared about women's position in the world. Her request was met with silence. And we need those women so much.
Jimgat,
You made me laugh until I had a coughing fit. (Had a ocld this week, so I needed it. No details.) That is what Model United Nations does to you: Hands you the world and all its problems and bids you solve them. We all knew that, after a conference, all our resolutions would be sent to the real UN and we loved that. It is a very big building and perhaps no one saw them at all, but it gave us a care for global issues and peoples.
Jimmiemac,
I love Thomas Paine. I find myself going to his Common Sense quite often.
At his funeral, only his French housekeeper and son were in attendence; and, when they lowered him into the ground, she spoke up and thanked him for her native country. Many years later, when his memory began to be honored, they dug up his bones and shipped them to England but lost them in transit. His legacy is in our nation. Let us hope and pray that we can honor him with what the United States does now.
Yeah, I spring eternal... The CEDAW for women is the one I especially would like to see embraced since women are so important to peace and reconstruction. Just that one and I would be happy.
hyblaean,
They are cool documents. I have a 3" binder of all the human rights conventions, the Geneva Conventions, etc that I used in Model UN and could not part with it. The one I did not include today is the first one: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--remarkable and written in 1948. A short document but splendid.
Emphasizing that the eradication of apartheid, all forms of racism, racial discrimination, colonialism, neocolonialism, aggression, foreign occupation and domination and interference in the internal affairs of States is essential to the full enjoyment of the rights of men and women that the strengthening of international peace and security, the relaxation of international tension, mutual cooperation among all States irrespective of their social and economic systems, general and complete disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament under strict and effective international control, the affirmation of the principles of justice, equality and mutual benefit in relations among countries and the realization of the right of peoples under alien and colonial domination and foreign occupation to self- determination and independence, as well as respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, will promote social progress and development and as a consequence will contribute to the attainment of full equality between men and women,
from your lips ...
I love the UN. The people who went through WWII never wanted it to happen again. These ideas are on the international stage because of the UN where all voices are heard.
It is a pdf file. Sometimes they won't open for me unless I first open my Acrobat thingie. I just clicked on it and can read it (and with my myopic vision, that is saying something.) Not a techie here at all.
I wish my photo wasn't so icky and fuzzy. Kent Pitman sent me instructions long ago on how to improve my pics--something about turning off the html but I never could figure it out...
Thanks for attempting to look through them. It is a lot. The best one is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which you can google. And, it is mercifully short!
The film is: "John Adams" - with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.
The books are: "Paine" and "Franklin" - by David Freeman Hawke.
The film offers a gritty, realistic look at the life of Adams, from his young days as a Braintree, Massachusetts farmer and aspiring Boston lawyer, through the pre-revolutionary period when he successfully defended British soldiers accused of massacring city residents during an uprising against the colonial government, to his rise, eventually to second president. There are good sketches of his relationships with Washington and Jefferson. His family life gets a lot of play throughout, with an emphasis on the formidable presence of his wife, Abigail. Also, after he becomes president, there are very tough, bleak scenes of the Adamses touring the new "White House" - shown in the film, under construction, with a labor force made up entirely of slaves.
The two biographies of Paine and Franklin are good reads, and Hawke's work is regarded as well above average in terms of works on these two seminal figures of American history.
Cheers ...
My pleasure reading is fairly curtailed since I am in school, but I will keep these titles for summer when I devour books. I love Abigal Adams. Have seen an OPB special on them and she was quite extraordinary.
The Adams film is on DVD, an HBO production.
As for the blues tunes, start our with "Love in Vain", "Mannish Boy", and "Highway 49".
Good luck Barry!
Thanks!
It's more important to me that we live by those creeds before we go around talking about how we signed on to them. Where I differ from you is that I don't think ratification would necessarily be sincere. I think we probably are the boy who won't get married because of the high divorce rates.
The important thing we need to remember is that the important thing about America is not its reality, but the IDEA of America. The reality of America has always been violent and embarrassing. But the idea of America has taken on something much larger than what is here in the United States. America is not in the Presidency, the congress, or even the heartland. It transcends boundaries and and nationalities. It is the realization of the enlightenment. And that will never die.
Rated!
--- Thomas Paine
Remind you of anyone?
Thanks so much for stopping back again.
I can appreciate your comments and the time it took to get back here and write.
You are so right that many nations sign these covenents and have no intention of following them at all. Easy to talk the talk... The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has a consitution better than ours.
Would it be sincere? Not for everyone. Some of these have sat for over 40 years for reasons.
I am impressed with India as well. Particularly Kerala which has a history of educating women since the 1860s. Civic involvement is the key, I believe, at least in this state. I am hoping that US citizens will become more active in their governance, especially when it hurts them in the wallet. We shall see.
My intent here is not so much what it means inside the US but the value of a grand gesture in reclaiming our true American character as exemplified by Thomas Paine, the reactionary Founding Father. The world needs to see that America again.
There were two persons at his funeral because he had been ostracized for clinging to the revolutionary ideals.
I believe that we need to hear from him again.
Perfect Quote. Paine is timeless.
MJwycha,
Eloquent clarity in your description of the IDEA of America and what it means--and can mean--to the peoples of the world.
UK,
I thank you for your endorsement. Especially for the CEDAW. That is the one to watch.
I will be interested in getting your take on these documents. I can supply some of the reservations and may post on that later.
For the most part the links are to UN UTC documents which are certified. Let me know if you have trouble with the pdf of the ratification list.
Thank you!
(Meant to respond earlier but lost track when this thing rolls back and forth!)
But yes, ratification is like so much other symbolism, it matters if we're willing to make it matter, just like the symbolism of electing a black man with a non-Western name won't mean a thing--will even backfire--if he fails to undo the messes he didn't make. And I hope we can make it matter.
Great post, rated.
Words sometimes come before actions. It is how these conventions can be used by various groups to press for promised freedoms which is one of the reasons the US has not fully ratified any of these. These documents describe health care and education as Public Goods and human rights. If the US embraced these international laws--even though many of them are non-binding--it would still be a base upon which to sue for these rights. This is why Sima Samar from Afghanistan wanted the US to ratify the CEDAW.
What the US does matters.
This is another example of why you are one of my favorite authors to read at OS.
The investment of heart and time it takes to accurately articulate concerns over human rights issues requires so much more than the slipshod, shoot-from-the-hip style online “journalism” that is so rampant.
You do tremendous service for those issues you believe in because you clearly give your heart and soul when voicing your concerns and researching your causes.
Rated and appreciated.
I appreciate having you as a regular reader. When I can attract fine minds such as yours and others who have commented here, I am very well satisfied.
This is a topic in which I am fairly well versed and obviously fully invested. Thank you.
--- Thomas Paine
You are a true activist aren't you? Being new to OS I am struck that you not only generously share your educated opinions, provide accurate information, but also give us easy ways in which to get involved as well. If we don't take the bait, shame on us. You walk your talk, rare in these days, by being so inclusive yourelf. Thank-you.
If you keep throwing this incredible quotes my way, I will have to research our man Paine and post about him. (So, keep it up.)
I hope that these coming bad times to awake the citizenry to they become involved in the process. It is the only thing that works.
Heidi,
Thanks so much for your astute assessment of me and what I attempt to do here. Altho, many have substituted the word "loose cannon" for activist.
So glad to have you here! Need to hear more about your Grandfather.
--- Thomas Paine
--Thomas Paine
Timeless...