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Article: Holding America accountable: why the United States should take human-rights obligations seriously.(U.S. Compliance)
- Article from:
- The American Prospect
- Article date:
- October 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The American Prospect, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ELEANOR ROOSEVELT, THE MOTHER OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN-RIGHTS movement, famously said: "Where do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home. So close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works."
The human-rights treaties to which the United States is a party--on civil and political rights, torture, and racial discrimination-are intended to protect people "close to home" against government abuses of their rights. But most Americans have never heard of them. Neither have ...