US Human Rights Network Podcast

Learn about the exciting work of USHRN members and partners.

Learn about the exciting work of USHRN members and partners.

Call to discuss general conference information, overall goals and expectations for workshops, and questions presenters may have.

This is a selection from a training call presented by the ICCPR Taskforce. This part of the recording goes through the steps of how to write an effective shadow report. It can be applied to the shadow reporting process in general (not specific to the ICCPR). Presenters include Amy Bergquist of The Advocates for Human Rights and Jamil Dakwar, of the ACLU.

The ICCPR Taskforce wants to take the anxiety out of creating this important advocacy tool by providing a detailed walk-through of how to write a report, how to frame your issue, and where to gather supporting information. ICCPR veterans and experts will be on hand to take your questions.

The US Human Rights Network is working to promote full implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by educating the public about the U.S. Government obligations under the treaty and by engaging community groups in the effective use of the treaty to promote human rights at home. This year, 2013, the US government is being reviewed on its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and community groups have an opportunity to get involved! In this podcast we speak with co-chairs of the US Human Rights Network ICCPR Taskforce, Jamil Dakwar, the Director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Human Rights Program and Nasrina Bargzie, the National Security and Civil Rights attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. Jamil provides an overview of the ICCPR, and the review process and Nasrina shares why it is important for community groups to get involved.

This is a training call held by the ICCPR Taskforce as an introduction to shadow reporting. Presenters include: Katrina Anderson, Nasrina Bargzie, Marcia Johnson-Blanco, and Standish E. Willis. The call is moderated by Yolande Tomlinson.

On May 8, we held an informational call in which the ICCPR Delegation reported back on their trip to Geneva and we discussed the next steps to take in the ICCPR review process.

The US Human Rights Network and the ICCPR Taskforce hosted a webinar on March 7th, 2013, to discuss advocacy strategy for the March Human Rights Committee session and beyond. This was an open webinar both for those going and not going to Geneva.

On January 21st, President Barack Obama was inaugurated for his second term. In this podcast we look at human rights in the United States, and what human rights defenders are calling for in President Obama’s second term. First we speak with Ejim Dike, Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network about the Network’s 2012 Human Rights Status Report which highlights current human rights concerns, obligations the US has to address them and organization defending and promoting human rights in the U.S. We also feature Jamil Dakwar, the director of the Human Rights Program at the American Civil Liberties Union, discussing the reelection of the US to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council, and the need for the US government to uphold human rights at home. And we conclude with a collage of Network members and partners expressing what they would like to see the Obama Administration do to address human rights in this second term.

The US Human Rights Network and the ICCPR Task Force hosted a webinar on October 24th on how social justice groups can engage the ICCPR review process of the United States. Patrick Mutzenberg, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Civil and Political Rights, gave the main presentation.

In this month’s podcast we speak with Saladin Muhammad about the Southern Worker’s Assembly, a gathering to advance a social justice labor movement in the south. We also speak with Adrian Bernal about the recent Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity. The Caravan toured the U.S. to engage in dialogue about alternatives to the war on drugs.

In this episode of our podcast we have a report on the recent hunger strike by solitary confinement inmates in Georgia. Azadeh Shashahani, the National Security and Immigrants' Rights Project Director for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia joins us to talk about their call to end 287g, the Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s SB1070, and other anti-immigrant measures like the Secure Communities Program. We also have commentary on a recent report 120 African-Americans killed by the police with a look at the specific case in Georgia of Ariston Waiters.

The US Human Rights Network hosted a webinar in partnership with Prometheus Radio Project on August 21, 2012 to share information about how community groups can start their own low power FM community radio stations. Jeff Rousset of Prometheus Radio Project shared the history of Low Power FM (LPFM) radio stations, the larger media context in the U.S, and offered information on the upcoming opportunity to apply for LPFM radio stations along with the logisitcs of starting a station. Cruz Salucio and Adrian Alcantar from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) shared ways they are using radio to get the word out about worker's rights, emergency situations, community building and organizing efforts. Danielle Mkali of Main Street Project shared how groups in Minneapolis are organizing to start LPFM radio stations. After a 10 year fight, media justice advocates successfully passed the Local Community Radio Act in 2011. Now, there is a one-time opportunity to open up access to the airwaves for social justice groups. In the next year, nonprofits and community groups will have a historic opportunity to apply for thousands of new non-commercial FM radio licenses! This will be the first time urban areas can apply and the last big chance ever to get a radio license. These Low Power FM (LPFM) multimedia stations can be broadcast studios and organizing hubs for our movements. They can be a powerful local organizing tool featuring local artists and news. Conservative forces are mobilizing to get these licenses and build more right-wing stations. We need to organize social justice groups to get these stations instead and build a national communications infrastructure that's owned and controlled by our movements.

On June 28, 2012 the Supreme Court issued its decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act! This decision means that millions of people in the United States, many who were previously denied healthcare, will have an opportunity to access health insurance. The Supreme Court decision is a victory for the millions who will now gain access to health insurance but does it guarantee comprehensive and high-quality healthcare for all people in the United States? Does it address inequities in health outcomes? On July 2, 2012 the US Human Rights Network hosted an education call to provide an overview of the decision, discuss its human rights implications, and how we can mobilize for the right to universal healthcare in the United States. Moderated by Tonya Williams, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Johnson C. Smith University Speakers included: Anja Rudiger, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative Aram Schvey, Center for Reproductive Rights Kimberly Inez McGuire, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health Keely Monroe, Raising Women’s Voices for the Healthcare we Need Heidi Williamson, SPARK board member & Legislative and Advocacy Consultant Mary Gerisch, Vermont Workers Center

In our June podcast we discuss Rio +20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Monique Harden, Co-executive Director of the Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and Andrea Carmen, Executive Director of the International Indian Treaty Council share their goals for Rio+20, their concerns around the proposal for a green economy, and the need for a rights based approach to sustainable development.

In this month's podcast, we speak to Andrea Carmen of the International Indian Treaty Council and Tupac Enrique Acosta of TONATIERRA about Indigenous Rights, the Doctrine of Discovery, The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, official visit to the Unites States, and the 11th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. We start with a report from the protest of Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina. Andrea Carmen, Yaqui Indian Nation, has been a staff member of the International Indian Treaty Council since 1983 and IITC’s Executive Director since 1992. Andrea has had many years of experience working with Indigenous communities from North, Central, South America and the Pacific. International Indian Treaty Council www.treatycouncil.org. Tupac Enrique Acosta is a Judge of the First Nations International Court of Justice, Tupac is a founding member of the community-based organization of Indigenous Peoples TONATIERRA in Phoenix, Arizona. A long time researcher and activist in the field of indigenous international law, he has served as representative of Izkalotlan Pueblo to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva, Switzerland and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. As Yaotachcauh of Tlahtokan Nahuacalli, he serves as custodian and ambassador of the Nahuacalli, Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples in Phoenix, Arizona. As international observer, he has traveled to areas of armed conflict in Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Canada and across the US to monitor and report on the violations of civil, human and territorial rights of the Indigenous Peoples in their ongoing struggles against colonialism. TONATIERRA http://tonatierra.org/

In this month’s podcast, The US Human Rights Network’s Sacajawea Hall speaks with Andrea Carmen of the International Indian Treaty Council about the upcoming visit of the UN expert on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We also speak with Gerald Lenoir, Executive Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration about their mission and the upcoming Black Immigration Network National Conference. Andrea Carmen, Yaqui Indian Nation, has been a staff member of the International Indian Treaty Council since 1983 and IITC’s Executive Director since 1992. Andrea has had many years of experience working with Indigenous communities from North, Central, South America and the Pacific. International Indian Treaty Council www.treatycouncil.org Gerald Lenoir has been a leader in progressive social movements for over 30 years. He is currently the Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration or BAJI. He is also a board member of the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Gerald is a co-founder of the Priority Africa Network, which advocates for progressive U.S. policies toward Africa and organizes dialogues between African Americans and black immigrants. Black Alliance for Just Immigration www.blackalliance.org

Malcolm Suber, with United New Orleans Front, speaks on the recent murders of Black youth in New Orleans, Louisiana in February and March of 2012 and what the United New Orleans Front is doing and demanding to secure justice and restitution for the families and community.

Connecting the Dots: the Occupy Movement and the Struggle for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The Occupy Movement, which burst on the scene in September 2011, and quickly spread throughout the United States and the world, is an expression of the growing outrage that working people of all races and nationalities have against their growing immiseration by the austerity being imposed upon them by corporations and neo-liberal governments. At its heart, the Occupy Movement seeks to not only challenge inequality, but the entire capitalist system and its ability to equitably address fundamental human needs and aspirations. The Occupy Movement is also an assertion of rights, the fundamental human right to economic justice and security, to social freedom and liberation, and to access and express culture in its varied forms. This educational call will explore the connections between the Occupy Movement and its assertion of fundamental economic, social, and cultural rights, and make an argument for why the adoption of the ESCR framework is critical for advancing working class struggle and consciousness in the United States. It will also share some of the ongoing organizing work that many organizations and collectives are promoting as means of advancing the 99% movement in 2012 and beyond, particularly the Spring Actions being promoted by the Take Back the Land Movement, solidarity initiatives with Farmer workers and Truck drivers in Washington State being organized by the Black Orchid Collective, and militant rank and file struggles for human rights and dignity throughout the United States being supported by the Black Workers for Justice. Presenters include: Monica Adams, Take Back the Land Madison Monica Adams is an organizer with the Take Back the Land-Movement, as a part of National Leadership Core, as well as a grassroots organizer with the local action group of Take Back the Land Madison. Adams has extensive experience in building the leadership and organizing capacities of most impacted communities, specifically in Black, Southeast Asian, low-income and Queer communities. Adams brings an intersectional and multi-issue approach to campaign development, political theorization, and positive action organizing. Marianne Mork, Black Orchid Collective Marianne is a member of the Seattle based Black Orchid Collective (BOC). BOC is a multi-gendered, multiracial revolutionary collective attempting to develop an effective relationship between theory and practice. We are against capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, imperialism, ableism and the state. We are fighting for a direct democratic, ecologically sustainable society in which we as workers can creatively produce to fulfill human needs, not for the sake of profit. Our aims are to learn from the successes and failures of past revolutions and social movements, rebuilding and re-imaging forms of organization and developing ourselves as working class revolutionaries. A major part of this involves reviving the Marxist method as a tool for combining the best of feminist, anti-colonial, anarchist, ecological, anti-racist, and queer liberation perspectives, while discarding all that holds us back. Marianne was closely involved with the December 12th West Coast Port Shutdowns and the planning to mobilize if needed to Longview, WA to blockade EGT 's ship. She also has been in communication with Seattle port truckers who went on strike for 2 weeks in February. Saladin Muhammad, Black Workers for Justice Saladin Muhammad is the Coordinator for the International Worker Justice Campaign, member of Black Workers for Justice (BWFJ), organizer with United Electrical Workers (UE) Local 150, member of the Million Worker March, and member of the Black Left Unity Network (BLUN).

For this month’s podcast we celebrate International women’s day by highlighting the work of two organizations, The Center for Women’s Global Leadership and SPARK, Reproductive Justice Now! The Network’s membership coordinator, Sacajawea Hall, speaks with the two women about current human rights issues facing women in the US and the work women are doing to address them. Radhika Balakrishnan, is the Executive Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership, Radhika has a Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University and currently a Professor in Women's and Gender Studies there. Her work focuses on gender and development, gender and the global economy, human rights and economic and social rights. Her research and advocacy work has sought to change the lens through which macroeconomic policy is interpreted and critiqued by applying international human rights norms to assess macroeconomic policy. Paris Hatcher, a passionate, radical Black queer feminist activist dedicated to working for justice and liberation. As a life long Southerner, Paris has been organizing for over 10 years, on the community, campus, and international level. Her activism is rooted in an intersectional approach which validates the lived experience of individuals and communities and works to challenge all systemic oppression. Paris is the executive director of SPARK, reproductive justice now!

This podcast highlights the work of two organizations as we speak with Tupac Enrique Acosta about TONATIERRA in Phoenix, Arizona and Chris Crass about the Catalyst Project in San Francisco, California. TONATIERRA is continuing the fight against racial profiling and the denial of the right to education for Chicano/Mexicano and Indigenous peoples in Arizona. Tupace Enrique speaks about some of the recent education and campaign initiatives of the organization to resist these human rights violations. For more information on TONATIERRA visit http://cdb-tonatierra.blogspot.com/. The Catalyst Project just released an anti-racist educational manual called "Catalyzing Liberation Toolkit: Anti-Racst Organizing to build the 99% Movement". Catalyst Project co-founder, Chris Crass, speakes about the toolkit and the potentiality of the Occupy or 99% movement. For more information on the Toolkit visit http://www.organizingupgrade.com/2012/02/anti-racist-organizing-to-build-the-99-movement/. Tupac Enrique Acosta is a Judge of the First Nations International Court of Justice, Tupac is a founding member of the community-based organization of Indigenous Peoples TONATIERRA in Phoenix, Arizona. A long time researcher and activist in the field of indigenous international law, he has served as representative of Izkalotlan Pueblo to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva, Switzerland and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. As Yaotachcauh of Tlahtokan Nahuacalli, he serves as custodian and ambassador of the Nahuacalli, Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples in Phoenix, Arizona. As international observer, he has traveled to areas of armed conflict in Chiapas, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Canada and across the US to monitor and report on the violations of civil, human and territorial rights of the Indigenous Peoples in their ongoing struggles against colonialism. Chris Crass is a longtime organizer working to build powerful working class-based, feminist, multiracial movements for collective liberation. Throughout the 1990s he was an organizer with Food Not Bombs, an economic justice anti-poverty group, strengthening the direct action-based anti-capitalist Left. As part of the global justice movement, he helped start the Catalyst Project in 2000, and was part of the leadership collective for eleven years. He is now a stay at home Dad, involved in the Occupy movement, and working on his book “Towards Collective Liberation: anti-racist organizing, feminist praxis, and movement building strategy”. He lives in Knoxville, TN with his partner and their son, River.

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of the Million Worker March Movement and Occupy Oakland and features Clarence Thomas, the National Co-Chair of the Million Worker March Movement, Executive Board Member of ILWU Local 10, and an active participant in Occupy Oakland. Here, he speaks to us as a rank-and-file member of the Million Worker March Movement about the call for a general strike that Occupy Oakland put out on November 2, 2011 and the follow up that took place on December 12, 2011.

USHRN 2011 National Human Rights Conference

Report Back on the First National Dialogue with the Black Left Unity Network (BLUN) and USHRN November 3, 2011 The need for a national call was rooted in the following assumption: With the emergence of the Occupy Wall Street movement with developing organizational expressions in various cities across the country, members of BLUN have taken the position that it is important to develop a process for addressing the questions that have quickly surfaced related to the political character of this movement and the role and participation of Black, Latino and Native forces. BLUN along with the Labor working group of the US Human Rights Network, hosted a first national dialogue call on Thursday, October 20, at 3pm EST. The call was organized around a series of questions addressed through a conceptual frame and a series of local reports. Framing perspectives were offered by Saladin Muhammad (BLUN) and Christine Williams, Local 100 TWU) highlighting the anti-capitalist and movement building potential of OWS. The role progressive labor and social movement forces are playing in the movement was discussed. Through a series of local reports from San Francisco/Oakland (Clarence Thomas, ILWU, Local 10), New York (Christine Williams, Local 100 TWU), New Orleans (organizer, Endesha) and Raleigh-Durham (Ashaki Binta, BLUN, Black Workers for Justice). Two of the five call questions were highlighted in the reports-- 1) How can the Black left align with the anti-capitalist sentiment and energy of the OWS forces to increase the existing fight-backs in the labor movement and the Black communities? And, 2) Since labor is an important social force in the capitalist system, how might OWS influence and help to mobilize the character and content of labor’s involvement in the Occupy movement? The following core themes emerged: 1. There is an uneven, even missing presence of Black folk in the Occupy movement. Those issues most impacting Black and Brown communities need greater visibility and presence. 2. There is a need to go into Black communities where struggles around Occupy issues have been going on for years. How to “go into” is a key question. What connections need to be made? How? 3. Related to number two is the need to work simultaneously: connect to struggles of the Black masses while linking with progressive OWS forces –white, often male and young. This is not going to be simple while working to specifically deal with the pressing issues confronting the Black masses. 4. A key question is how we can connect multiple energies from multiple sites and forces to build an overall strategy of social transformation? 5. Successes seem to come from specific targets such as marches on the banks. Banks are the local Wall Street presence in many communities. How will this fight connect with broader anti-capitalist energies? 6. Need to find out more about Occupy the Hood and Occupy Hip Hop movements and the recently emergent Hip Hop decolonize movement and work through engagement with these emerging forces. Comments/Analysis: History has demonstrated that the particular relationship of social forces that can lead to a vast improvement in the ability of a resistance movement to advance its interests cannot be pre-determined. Yet, certain events can emerge that can suggest new possibilities for developing and implementing strategies that can strengthen progressive forces while simultaneously taking advantage of the weaknesses of the ruling elements. In penetrating the the pervasive ideological mystification of Capitalism imposed on the people of this country by the collusion of the State, the corporate media and the financial and corporate rulers, the OWS movement provided a moment, however temporary, and a framework for building a deeper understanding of capitalism’s inherent contradictions. But with all of its progressive potential, the discussion from our national dialogue clearly surfaced the uneven and contradictory nature of this movement. It became clear from our conversation that if OWS can serve as a catalytic force for a new convergence of progressive forces, the interests and perspectives of the Black Left, including labor, community-based movements, Latino, Native and all progressive forces have to be reflected in the movement’s demands and organizational forms. The recent developments in Oakland and San Francisco where Black left forces and labor asserted their leadership suggests that spaces for more effective and principled participation of Black and “people of color” is indeed possible and must be paramount. Finally, comments from the call suggested that in addition to asserting an agenda that reflects our analysis and demands, progressive and revolutionary forces must help sharpen the analysis of the structural contradictions of capitalism. This is seen as necessary to avoid the ideological trap of liberal reformism that continues to undermine radical politics in this country along with the false “universalism” that papers over white supremacy, privilege and class contradictions.

This podcast examines the 10th Commemoration of the World Conference Against Racism held in Durban, South Africa and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. It features two members of the Durban + 10 Coalition convened by the US Human Rights Network and the World Against Racism Network. These members are Efia Nwangaza with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Center for Self-Determination in Greenville, South Carolina and Saladin Muhammad with Black Workers for Justice in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Together, they explore the current relevancy of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action in the struggle for social justice here in the United States.

A Call for a National Dialogue on Black Left Participation in the OWS Movement By The Black Left Unity Network and USHRN Labor Working Group Over the last two years, the Black left unity network (BLUN) has engaged in a process that focused on reaching out to Black worker activists in the labor movement, and other core social movements that organize and mobilize the Black working class. We have looked for opportunities such as building support for the Hurricane Katrina survivors and organizing and promoting a Reconstruction movement as a strategic flank of the U.S. anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggle, using Survivor Assemblies as popular democratic forums; promoting a Thank You Cuba campaign to challenge attempts to isolate Cuba and socialism as a racist regime; and participating in the Human Rights movement to help ground it in mass bases of resistance to help shape and influence its demands and anti-imperialist political character. While there is much more needed in developing the BLUN as a unity process; a major aspect of the process must be that of forging Black left unity within the context of trying to unify and give a working class and internationalist perspective based in concrete demands to the struggles and upsurges that originate from or may have an impact on the Black masses. Therefore, with the emergence of the OWS as an national phenomenon with developing organizational expressions in various cities across the country, members of BLUN have taken the position that it is important to develop a process for addressing the questions that have quickly surfaced related to the political character of this movement and the role and participation of Black, Latino and Native forces. To that end, BLUN along with the Labor working group of US Human Rights Network hosted this call on Thursday, October 20. Some of the questions that were discussed include: - While our communities are weakly organized, disconnected from the occupation motion, how might Occupy Wall Wtreet be used to organize our communities for fundamental social change in the interests of the Black masses? Or can it? - How can the Black left help to build alliances between the Black and Latino working classes in particular and with workers of color in general to begin forging Black and Brown working class unity as key to driving a popular agenda and mandate for radical social transformation in this period? - How can Black left forces direct this anti-capitalist sentiment and energy of OWS to increase the existing fight backs in the labor movement and the Black communities? - Since labor is an important social force in the capitalist system, how can Black workers influence and help to mobilize the character and content of labors involvement in OWS? - How can the Black left become a force in helping to promote U.S. accountability to the UN Human Rights Conventions as a transitional program toward internationalizing the OWS movement?

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of Community United for Change and features Malcolm Suber. Malcolm Suber is a long-time organizer who has lived in New Orleans for the past 32 years. He is currently project director for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in New Orleans. He has been a leading organizer against police terror and police murders carried out by the NOPD against mainly Black victims. He was also one of the founders and leaders of the Peoples' hurricane Relief Fund (PHRF) which attempted to organize survivors and their allies for a just and equitable right to return to New Orleans. He is a co-founder and leader of Community United for Change (CUC) which is a coalition of activists and community people who came together in 2010 to fight against police terror and the selection of Ronal Serpas, a former deputy NOPD police chief, as the new police chief under Mayor Mitch Landrieu. CUC has since that time focused on demanding the firing of Chief Serpas and developing a peoples consent decree to put New Orleans residents in charge of oversight of the NOPD. CUC was also instrumental in building support for the prosecution of the NOPD police offices convicted in the Henry Glover case where two NOPD were convicted of murder and in the most recent victory against police brutality and racism- the convicting of five officers on August 5th for the 2005 Danziger bridge killings of two black men and the wounding of five others.

Frontlines of Struggle is a podcast of the US Human Rights Network (USHRN) that highlights the activities and initiatives of member organizations engaged in campaigns to realize the full implementation of human rights in the United States. This interview highlights the work of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign and features JR Flemming and Toussaint Losier. On Friday July 29 five members of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign (CAEC) were arrested while successfully trying to prevent Luz Smedbron and her sons from being evicted. The single mother had owned her home for over 10 years until injury at work left her on disability. As it is their mission, “to elevate housing to a human right” the CAEC is demanding a moratorium on all economically-based evictions. The group is promising to continue to stand with the people of Chicago, including Ms. Smedbron and her family, until the sheriff heeds their call.

This podcast examines the human rights implications of the recent federal debates about U.S. government debt and the debt ceiling. James Heintz Associate Director and Associate Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership and professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey provide analysis and context to the media's coverage of the debates and discuss recommendations on how the human rights community can organize and respond.

We continue an examination of the US so-called war on terrorism by looking at the case of Ehsanul Sadequee, an American born Muslim charged with conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism. In the first half of the podcast, Sharmin and Sonali Sadequee report on the status of their brother Shifa’s solitary confinement in federal prison and the ongoing case. At 9 am, Wednesday, May 20 there will be a hearing to determine if Evan Kohlman (a "terrorism" consultant) will be able allowed to testify as an "expert" in the trial. The trial is set for this August. For more information visit www.freeshifa.com On May 12th the United Nations General Assembly elected the US to serve on the UN’s Human Rights Council. In the second half, Jamil Dakwar, the Director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, discusses the U.S.’s election to the UN Human Rights Council, domestic Human Right’s issues, and the impact of this election on domestic human rights advocacy.

The United Nation’s Durban Review Conference took place last week from April 20th to the 24th in Geneva, Switzerland. It was a follow up to the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban South Africa. The goal of the conference was to evaluate the progress countries have made in implementing the 2001 Durban Declaration and Program of Action which addresses racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other related intolerance. Many Anti-Racism and Human Rights organizations from around the world, including the U.S., took part in the gathering. In this episode we bring you the voices of civil society who participated in the Review Conference.

As we transition from March to April, this episode focuses on two topics related to internationally observed days in March; International Women’s Day and The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Women’s Rights often rely on a conventional definition of gender. As women’s herstory months draws to an end this week, Pauline Park joins us to discuss gender binaries and expanding the discussion of women’s rights and human rights to include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people. Pauline is a transgendered woman of Asian birth who has had extensive involvement with the LGBT community in New York and nationally. She is the co-founded of the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy, (NYAGRA) which is the first statewide transgender advocacy organization in New York. She has written widely on LGBT issues and has conducted transgender sensitivity training sessions for a wide range of social service providers and community-based organization. March 21st is annually observed as The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Sharpeville massacre occurred on this day in 1960, when police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid “pass laws” in Sharpeville, South Africa. The United Nations General Assembly proclaiming the day in 1966 and called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. This year from April 20-24, the international community will gather in Geneva to assess the progress towards eliminating racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances. Ejim Dike (DEEKAY), Director of the Human Rights Project at The Urban Justice Center, speaks with Ajamu about the upcoming conference. Ejim has worked on social policy issues for over ten years and in the domestic human rights arena for the past seven years. Her human rights work focuses on addressing poverty and discrimination using a human rights framework.

This episode is dedicated to all the past, present, and future women warriors. In the United States, March is Women’s Herstory month. March 8, International Women’s Day, is a global day of recognition and celebration. Hundreds of events occur on March 8 and throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. In this episode we celebrate International Women’s Day and take a look at the continued Human Rights struggle for women with a statement from the US Human Rights Network. In addition, Marleine Bastien, Haitian Women of Miami’s Executive Director, describes the current crisis facing over 30,000 thousand Haitians and its impact on Haitian women and children.

December 18th Marks International Migrants Day. The United States has yet to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families. In this podcast you will hear from Sonji Hart from the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana from footage from the USHRN's first bi-annual human rights conference. Sonji makes the link between the prisoner's rights struggle and the migrants struggle as it relates to the Gulf Coast and how civil rights must be expanded to human rights as citizenship does not necessarily ensure protection, especially for people of color and the incarcerated. You will also hear footage from the United States social forum which took place in Atlanta, Georgia. Executive director of the Latin American & Caribbean Community Center talks about the human rights implication of migrants/immigrants in the U.S.

Bernadine Dohrn talks about the United State's role as a pervader of violence aroudn the world in this audio clip from the USHRN's first bi-annual conference in 2005 at the inception of the war in Iraq. Four years later, thousands more dead, her message still rings true and relevant. Dohrn examines five new frameworks with which to utilize the human rights framework: conceptual, linguistic, organizing, participatory and legal. The US is 4.8% of the world's people and has 60% of the world's wealth. The Special Rapporteur did visit Chicago in 2008, visit this page for follow up information on the report by Chicago organizations http://www.ushrnetwork.org/special_rep Following Bernadine Dorne, you will hear from Andrea Smith, indigenous activist with Incite: Women of COlor Against Violence http://www.incite-national.org/ A plenary speaker and member organization, Andrea talks briefly about the historical legacies of colonization on the indigenous community and makes the link between the five conceptual tools mentioned by Dorne and highlights how the human rights framework allows social justice activists challenge US state power not only to past and present human rights abuses but to the continued effects of those violations.

Human Rights scholar Catherine Powell talks about the importance of the new administration to make a commitment to addressing human rights abuses at home. The document "Human Rights at Home: A Domestic Policy Blueprint for the New Administration," a document to be submitted to the administration, is the result of a collaboration of many activists and scholars dedicated to holding the US accountable. In this episode you will also hear select audio from the USHRN National Human Rights Conference that took place in April 2008. Ejem Deekay, Director of the human rights program at Urban Justice Center in New York City, talks about how applying the framework has impacted their city as well as its potential.

The United States is one of five countries responsible for 90% of death sentences in the entire world. As the rest of the world has abolished or is abolishing the death penalty, the US still has a long way to go. In this episode Rick Halprin, anti-death penalty activist and scholar talks about why the death penalty is not only a criminal justice issues but a human rights one. Troy Davis' case is merely one example of how human rights violations are allowed by the state. www.troyanthonydavis.org www.amnesty.org and www.ushrnetwork.org

Featuring Martina Carrera, National Steering Committee Chair for Amnesty International's Death Penalty Program; she is also Anti-death penalty coordinator for the state of Georgia and sister of Troy Davis. Troy Anthony Davis is currently on death row in the state of Georgia. His story has garnered international support in acquittal and the call for a re-trail. In the United States it is not unconstitutional to sentence an innocent man to death if he has been convicted of a crime, regardless of whether the prosecution presented inadequate evidence. Please visit www.troyanthonydavis.org and take action now to end the death penalty.

Intersectional framework and its relationship to human rights, Priscilla Huang from the Asian Pacific American Women's Forum on human rights and intersectionality, Thandabantu Iverson professor at Indiana University and Radhika Balakrishna Professor of Economics and International Studies at Marymount Manhattan College the human rights implications of the recent financial bailout.

Today on the anniversary of the infamous attack on the twin towers in New York city, we are going to take this occasion to look at some if the human rights issues that have emerged in the US and with US policies in aftermath of that attack. We are going to talk with Vince Warren the director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, an organization that has been in the forefront of attempting to cure some of the practices which have been criticized by many in this country and around the world as excessive to the degree of being outside the bounds of law. We are also going to talk with Cheri Honkala, the National Organizer of the Poor people’s Economic human rights campaign who just returned from the RNC in Minnesota, where she will share her organizations work and concerns regarding the post 9/11 political environment for oppositional activists in the country. We hope that you will enjoy the first of hopefully many informative and provocative programs that will be brought to you every two weeks as part of our efforts to bring human rights home. Please read CERD Report "In the Shadows of the War on Terror" http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN15.pdf

This is a recording of a membership conference call that took place October 18, 2007. Hosted by the US Human Rights Network Coordinating Center, if you would like more information please visit our website www.ushrnetwork.org Facilitators: Facilitated by: Tina Minkowitz co-chair of the World Networks of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) & Daniel Hazen human rights activist and advocate with The Mental Patients Liberation Alliance and representative for the Criminal Punishment Working Group of the US Human Rights Network The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will have some of its greatest impact in the lives of users and survivors of psychiatry (people who have experienced madness and/or mental health problems, or who have used or survived the mental health system). For the first time, our rights are guaranteed on an equal basis with others, without any exceptions or limitations. These rights include liberty, free and informed consent in health care, right to live in the community, the right to vote, the right to an adequate standard of living, family rights and parental custody, and most importantly, the exercise of legal capacity in all aspects of life. Age-old practices like guardianship, institutionalization, forced or coercive administration of harmful drugs and invasive procedures, are incompatible with our rights under the CRPD and will have to be ended. These obligations pose a challenge to governments, since they will have to change their laws and practices to comply. Instead of the old ways that beat people down to "social death," supportive alternatives based in respect for individual dignity, autonomy and integrity have to be created, promoted and funded. The U.S. government is far from meeting the new standards, despite The Americans with Disabilities Act and a series of mental health "reforms" (some of which, like outpatient commitment, have made the situation worse). As of today there are close to 2,300,000 people in prison in the U.S. Of these, a large percentage are people with disabilities, many labeled as "mentally ill". With equal rights, people with psychosocial disabilities have equal responsibilities and cannot avert being held accountable for wrong-doing. If we need assistance in meeting our responsibilities, support should be provided. User/survivor activists and our allies in the United States have a struggle ahead: to promote signature and ratification of CRPD without reservations, pass resolutions of support for CRPD in local and state governments, adopt CRPD as the governing standard on the human rights of users and survivors of psychiatry and campaign for all governments including the U.S. to abide by this standard. The user/survivor movement needs to take its place alongside other human rights movements in the U.S. and insist on an international standard for human rights that can hold our government accountable. Please see http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/conventioninfo.htm for the text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and http://www.wnusp.net for advocacy materials prepared by the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry related to the Convention