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Update on the State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights

By humanrightsathome

The State Department’s Commission on Unalienable Rights has been meeting monthly since October 2019.  The next meeting has been noticed in the Federal Register for March 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:05 p.m. at the State Department.  More information on the meeting is available here.  After a slow start, minutes of the first three meetings have now been posted on the Commission’s webpage, where they make for interesting reading.

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, was invited to testify at the January meeting of the Commission.  While minutes are not yet posted, Roth’s prepared statement is available on the HRW website.  During his time with the Committee, Roth told testified pointedly:

“When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the formation of this commission in July, I was—and remain—concerned. Its announcement and subsequent open hearings have been fraught with threats to the very human rights that the commission purports to strengthen. This is because, as Secretary Pompeo suggested, the purpose of this commission is not to uphold all rights but to pick and choose among them.”

Roth continued, “Human rights do not exist in the eye of the beholder. Pretending that they do would create a dangerous opening that rights abusers the world over would be happy to exploit. Rather, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent international treaties, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, codify what they term ‘inalienable’ human rights. These treaties have been widely ratified, although, as you are aware, the United States signed but has not ratified the latter covenant. The Declaration and treaties provide indisputable answers to what is a human right. They are based not on the whims of any particular government but upon inclusive negotiations in which the US government played a significant role.” 

The Commission bears continued attention.  While some minutes are now posted, the Commission has yet to announce the form of its final product or the role that open session testimony will have in shaping that final product.  Meanwhile, American Oversight has filed a formal request for production of Committee meeting documents that should be made public under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

For another recent and critical perspective on the Commission, check out Katharine Young’s blog post on the Oxford Human Rights Hub, titled Trumping Human Rights in the United States?