The Situation in Brief

Despite the United States’ leadership history, human rights have begun to erode under the strain of the war on terror and national security concerns. New national security measures further threaten international human rights standards. There are serious concerns about torture. Legal and undocumented immigrants face discrimination and harassment. Neglect of human rights has grown within the judiciary as well as in the other branches of government. Many are calling for a pre-emptive approach to crimes against national security. Over the last 30 years, whole groups have lost their voting and other civil rights because of racially discriminatory sentencing practices.

Reconciliation & Human Rights Programme Goals

The goals of the Reconciliation & Human Rights Programme in the United States are as follows:

• To ensure that key organisations have the technical capacity to advocate for rights in the wake of 9/11 and to help these organisations better co-ordinate with each other.
• To further advocacy efforts toward securing government policies that will protect the rights of documented and undocumented immigrants, including comprehensive immigration reform.
• To support state coalitions and groups in achieving the prohibition of executions, the re-instatement of voting rights for ex-felons and the reform of the public defender system.