Ideals to action: Five ways the SPLC promotes the values of Human Rights Day

Today, nations around the world will observe Human Rights Day, an annual commemoration of the anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948. The U.S. played a leading role in the creation of the declaration and is a party to several of the important international human rights treaties that followed it. These treaties include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Convention Against Torture.

Sadly, while the U.S. actively promotes compliance with human rights standards in other countries, it has done a very poor job of complying with those treaties to protect the rights of its own residents.

Here are some ways the Southern Poverty Law Center has been fighting for greater recognition and implementation of these binding treaties and international human rights law. Meeting these obligations helps support and advance our work to eradicate poverty, combat white supremacy, oppose mass incarceration and the criminalization of Black and Brown people, and protect voting rights and democracy:

• We have been holding the U.S. government accountable for its violations of human rights treaties during compliance reviews at the U.N., submitting detailed reports and organizing testimony by directly impacted people before the reviewing committees in Geneva.
• We have been working with U.N. experts on racism, police violence, education and other vital issues to organize their official visits to the U.S. and ensure that they hear directly from people affected by U.S. human rights violations.
• We are working with the U.S. Human Rights Cities Alliance in seeking to expand the number of cities in our region that commit to incorporating human rights standards in local governance.
• In partnership with a coalition of national and regional organizations, we are working to increase public knowledge of human rights and attention to such issues by providing human rights education and tools to local officials and communities.
• We are pressing members of Congress, the White House and federal agencies on the need to implement U.S. human rights obligations and the recommendations made by U.N. treaty review panels. This includes co-leading the first congressional briefing on domestic human rights implementation since 2017 and a groundbreaking White House convening with federal agencies. We also advocated for the creation of a National Human Rights Institution to oversee human rights implementation.

As we move into a time of great uncertainty for civil and human rights, the need to hold the U.S. government accountable for its failure to uphold at home the promises it has made to the international community will be more important than ever. The SPLC will continue to demand progress toward the fulfillment of human rights.

Picture at top: Dec. 10 marks Human Rights Day, commemorating the adoption of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Pictured, Eleanor Roosevelt holding the English-language version of the declaration in November 1949. (Credit: SPLC)