Lawyers' Committee Participates in United Nations Review of U.S. Government Compliance With Treaty Obligations

GENEVA, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee) participated in the 72nd Session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) as it reviewed the US government's periodic report to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a binding treaty obligation.

A member of the CERD Committee reflected on this critical time in US history when a woman or an African American man will be the presidential candidate of a major US party. He explicitly cited the Lawyers' Committee's report Unequal Opportunities: A Critical Assessment of the US Commitment to the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, regarding the restrictions that disproportionately affect minorities, including voter ID, felon disfranchisement, and lack of voting rights for citizens of the District of Columbia.

Many CERD members expressed disappointment in the United States government's overly formalistic approach to its obligations under the treaty and recognized severe disparities in housing, education, incarceration rates, and access to health care. "There is a profound disconnect between the US approach to eliminating discrimination and that of the CERD Committee," said John Brittain, Chief Counsel of the Lawyers' Committee.

The sentiments of the CERD Committee were reflected in the comments of Country Rapporteur for the US Review, Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos of Greece, who noted that the US focus is on the narrow letter of the law rather than its obligation to achieve the ends of the Convention. He asked the United States to elaborate on its distinction between direct and indirect discrimination by which the US appears to limit responsibility for the gross disparities stemming from structural, socio-economic and cultural problems.

On the first day of the two-day Review Session, the Lawyers' Committee, together with several US civil society groups, met with a high level delegation representing the US government. This meeting was part of a historic coalition, under the umbrella of the US Human Rights Network, of over a hundred non-governmental organizations that contributed to the review process. The Lawyers' Committee's participation and work in this area are a part of our long-held efforts to extend US civil rights concerns within the international human rights framework.

The Lawyers' Committee's delegation included John Brittain; Marcia Johnson-Blanco, Senior Counsel, Voting Rights Project; and Callie Kozlak, Education Opportunities Project Associate.

The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights legal organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to provide legal services to address racial discrimination.

To obtain a copy of the Report or for more information on the Lawyers' Committee, visit us at www.lawyerscommittee.org.