Tomorrow, the United Nations Human Rights Committee starts a review of U.S. compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, ratified by the U.S. in 1992, says the American Civil Liberties Union. Unlike most of the world (another exception being Israel), the U.S. asserts that human rights treaties don’t apply to U.S. activities overseas. The U.S. is represented by a large delegation led by Mary McLeod of the State Department.
The U.S. review will be broadcast on UN TV for six hours Thursday and Friday. Among the issues being considered are the death penalty, solitary confinement, voting rights, migrant and women's rights, NSA surveillance and targeted killings. The last time the U.S. appeared before the UN committee was in 2006, when the Bush administration denied participation in acts of torture while operating secret CIA detentions abroad. The ACLU says that the U.S. human rights record has shown marked improvement since 2006, most notably in the areas of LGBT rights and enforcement of civil rights by the Department of Justice,
U.S. laws and policies remain out of step with international human rights law in many areas.”