Global Security & Human Rights

Human Rights First Recommendations for Global Security & Human Rights

1. The United States should publicly renounce efforts by other governments to use global counterterrorism efforts as a cover for repressive policies toward journalists, human rights activists, political opponents, or other domestic critics.



2. As a signal of its commitment to take human rights obligations seriously, the United States should submit a report to the UN Human Rights Committee on the current state of U.S. compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The United States ratified the ICCPR in 1992, but has not reported to the Human Rights Committee since 1994.



3. The United States should affirm its obligation to not extradite, expel, or otherwise return any individual to a place where he faces a substantial likelihood of torture. All reported violations of this obligation should be independently investigated. The United States should also independently investigate reports that U.S. officers have used "stress and duress" techniques in interrogating terrorism suspects, and it should make public the findings of the military investigations into the deaths of three Afghan detainees in U.S. custody.



4. The United States should respect the domestic laws of other countries, particularly the judgments of other nations' courts and human rights tribunals enforcing international law.



5. The United States should encourage all countries to ensure that national security measures are compatible with the protections afforded refugees under international law.