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Human Rights at Home Blog
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Local Officials Seek Human Rights Guidance from the State Department

By mdavis

On July 22, a group of mayors and local human rights officials — including the Mayors of Salt Lake City, Utah; Austin, Texas; and Memphis, Tennessee — sent a letter to Assistant Secretary of State Tom Malinowski, seeking guidance from the federal government on local implementation of U.S. human rights obligations.

A link to the letter is here.

Guest blogger JoAnn Kamuf Ward of the Columbia Human Rights Institute posted this cogent commentary on Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joann-kamuf/equipped-to-innovate-stat_b_5610394.html

Importantly, this domestic dialogue is proceeding on a parallel track with developments at the UN.  The UN Human Rights Council has established an advisory committee charged with preparing a research-based proposal on the role of local governments in the promotion and implementation of human rights. A status report on that process is expected this fall.