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Subscribe] FinalCall.com News - Refer This Page National News UNITED NATIONS (IPS/GIN) - The United States is failing to meet international standards on racial equality, according to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. government is drawing fire from the committee in particular for its treatment of American Indians, Blacks, Latinos and other racial minorities. After considering the U.S. government’s written and oral testimony, the 18-member committee of international legal experts March 7 said it had found “stark racial disparities” in U.S. institutions, including in its criminal justice system. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is responsible for monitoring global compliance with the 1969 Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, an international treaty that has been ratified by the United States. In concluding the CERD report on the U.S. record, the panel of experts called for the George W. Bush administration to take effective actions to end racist practices against minorities in the areas of criminal justice, housing, health care and education. This is the second time in less than two years that the U.S. government has been found to be falling short of its treaty obligations. In March 2006, the CERD harshly criticized the U.S. for violating Native Americans’ land rights. Taking note of racial discrimination against indigenous communities, the committee said it wants the U.S. to provide information about what it has done to promote the culture and traditions of American Indian, Alaska Native and indigenous Hawaiian groups. It also urged the U.S. to apply the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The CERD also voiced strong concerns regarding environmental racism and the environmental degradation of indigenous areas of spiritual and cultural significance, without regard to whether they are on “recognized” reservation lands. The committee recommended the U.S. consult with indigenous representatives, “chosen in accordance with their own procedures—to ensure that activities carried out in areas of spiritual and cultural significance do not have a negative impact on the enjoyment of their rights under the Convention.” In its 13-page ruling, the UN body also raised serious questions about the death penalty and the sentencing of minors to life without parole, which it linked to racial disparities between Whites and Blacks. In their testimony, Bush administration officials held that the treaty obligations do not apply to laws or practices that are race-neutral on their face but discriminatory in effect. The committee rejected that claim outright, noting that the treaty prohibits racial discrimination in all forms, including practices and legislation that may be discriminatory in effect though not in purpose. The CERD panel also objected to the indefinite detention of non-citizens at Guantanamo prison and urged the U.S. to guarantee “enemy combatants” judicial review. The panel said the U.S. needs to implement training programs for law enforcement officials, teachers and social workers in order to raise their awareness about the treaty and the obligations the U.S. is required to uphold as a signatory. Human rights defenders who watched the CERD proceeding closely said they were pleased with its observations and recommendations. “The UN is telling the U.S. that it needs to deal with an ugly aspect of its criminal justice system,” said Alison Parker of Human Rights Watch, which has been monitoring discriminatory practices in the United States for years. In a statement, Ms. Parker hailed the UN panel for rejecting the U.S. government’s claim that more Black children get life without parole because they commit more crimes. She said the UN criticism of the justice system was fair. Other rights activists also held similar views about the outcome of the CERD hearings in Geneva. Ajamu Baraka of the U.S. Human Rights Network, an umbrella group representing more than 250 rights advocacy organizations, said the hearings “exposed to the world the extent to which racial discrimination has been normalized and effectively made permissible in many areas of American life.” As part of its recommendations, the committee has asked the U.S. government to consider the establishment of an independent human rights body that could help eliminate widespread racial disparities. Lenny Foster, a Diné (Navajo) representative of the Native America Prisoners Rights Coalition, was a member of the indigenous delegation to the CERD. He remarked during the examination that the United States was “in denial.” “Spiritual wellness and spiritual healing is paramount to the very survival of the indigenous nations,” he said. “There are efforts to prohibit and impede the spiritual access. Corporations cannot be allowed to prohibit access and to destroy and pollute and desecrate the sacred lands.” Bill Larsen of the Western Shoshone Defense Project delegation also testified before the committee, making a strong case concerning environmental racism and the deadly pollution caused by mining on their ancestral lands. In March 2006, the Western Shoshone leaders had received a favorable response from the committee to its complaint about the U.S. exploitation of their sacred lands. The U.S. is obligated “to freeze, desist and stop further harmful activities on their lands,” but failed to take any action. Indigenous leaders said they welcomed the committee’s decision to ask the U.S. to submit its report on compliance within one year. “It is important that all Native peoples within the U.S. know that they have rights that are recognized by international law, even if the United States refuses to recognize them or act upon them,” said Alberto Saldamando, one of the indigenous delegates attending the Geneva meeting. “Now it is not just us,” he continued, “but the international community that has recognized that indigenous peoples within the United States are subject to racism on many levels and has called for effective steps by the U.S. to remedy this situation.”
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