Human rights

January 22, 2008 -- Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement on the 35th anniversary of Roe. v. Wade:

"As we mark the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade today, Democrats stand solidly in support of women and their right to make important life decisions about their health care.    » read more »

January 22, 2008 -- Chicago, IL -- Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement on the 35th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

"Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, it's never been more important to protect a woman's right to choose. Last year, the Supreme Court decided by a vote of 5-4 to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban, and in doing so undermined an important principle of Roe v. Wade: that we must always protect women's health.    » read more »

Office will work to eliminate discrimination through public outreach, education and the enforcement of the MN Human Rights Act

January 21, 2008 -- St Cloud - Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced today the establishment of the St. Cloud Area Human Rights Office. This office is created in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, the city of St. Cloud and its surrounding communities. The St. Cloud office will work to eliminate discrimination through public outreach, education and enforcement of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.    » read more »

January 16, 2008 -- The year 2007 was marked by a notable setback for global freedom, Freedom House reported in a worldwide survey of freedom released today.    » read more »

17 January 2008 -- A report issued by a U.S.-based human rights group is criticizing the Justice Department for failing to hold private security contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan responsible for acts of violence. The report was released Wednesday in Washington.

The report by the New York-based Human Rights First says private security contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan are not being held accountable for excessive use of force, which has given rise to what the group calls "shoot first, ask questions later, or never."    » read more »

Senate Should End ‘Life Without Parole’ for Juvenile Offenders

Sacramento, January 14, 2008 – California’s State Senate should pass a law this month to end the sentencing of children to prison for life with no possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today in a report on a practice outlawed in most of the world.    » read more »

Statement of Michael Kirkpatrick, Attorney, Public Citizen

Jan. 11, 2008 -- In a decision released Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has given air carriers a license to discriminate against passengers based upon their race or ethnicity.

In writing that safety takes precedence over civil rights, the court put its stamp of approval on racial profiling. We believe this decision opens the door for airlines to arbitrarily violate the rights of passengers.    » read more »

10 January 2008 -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 74 – and the only remaining female judge serving on the highest U.S. Court – has been a life-long champion of women’s and minority rights. Speaking with host Carol Castiel of VOA’s New’s Now’s Press Conference USA, Justice Ginsburg says she had the good fortune to grow up in an era when equality was the “prime concern” in the United States, which had to overcome a legacy of slavery and compensate for “losing the talent of half the population.”    » read more »

Parliament Approval Key to Ending Culture of Impunity for Serious Abuses

(New York, January 9, 2008) – Iraq’s parliament should approve legislation to end immunity for foreign private security contractors, Human Rights Watch said today. The legislation would effectively rescind Order 17 of the now-defunct, US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which grants foreign contractors and their non-Iraqi employees immunity from Iraqi criminal prosecution.    » read more »

01/07/2008 -- A delegation of American lawmakers is visiting cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast and Ghana this week to monitor child labor abuses. Senator Bernie Sanders said before departing for Africa that he hoped "to see to what degree indentured children are being used to manufacture products which come into this country as chocolate."    » read more »

18 December 2007 -- The global campaign against the death penalty secured a landmark victory on Tuesday when the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the call for a worldwide moratorium (suspension) on executions.

In a landslide result, 104 UN member states voted in favour of the ground-breaking resolution. 54 countries voted against, while there were 25 abstentions.

Amnesty International welcomes this timely resolution, passed at the UN headquarters in New York City, as a clear recognition of the international trend towards worldwide abolition of the death penalty.    » read more »

19 December 2007 -- Three British-linked terrorism suspects have been released from the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and sent back to Britain. At the same time a French court has convicted five former Guantanamo inmates of terrorist links.

Jordanian-born Jamil el-Banna, Algerian-born Abdenour Sameur, and Omar Deghayes from Libya were all long-time legal residents in Britain before they were detained at Guantanamo.

The three men were among more than a dozen British citizens or residents sent to the prison camp. The British citizens were all released by January 2005.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine - Remarks as Delivered
December 17, 2007

Good morning everyone.

Thank you all for being here. Today, December 17th 2007, is a momentous day - a day of progress - for the State of New Jersey and for the millions of people across our nation and around the globe who reject the death penalty as a moral or practical response to the grievous, even heinous, crime of murder.

Today, through my signature on this bill, New Jersey abolishes the death penalty as a policy of our state.    » read more »

December 17, 2007 -- TRENTON - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today signed legislation abolishing the death penalty in New Jersey and replacing it with life imprisonment without parole. New Jersey is the first state in the nation to enact a law to end use of the death penalty since it was reinstated by the United States Supreme Court in 1976. To ensure that the intent of the legislation was fully carried out as to the eight remaining inmates on death row, on Sunday evening Governor Corzine commuted the sentences of those inmates to life in prison without parole.    » read more »

Florida Marriage Amendment

December 13, 2007 -- McLean, VA - Fred Thompson released the following statement regarding the Florida Marriage Amendment:

"I applaud the work of Florida Coalition to Protect Marriage. Their efforts will give the people of Florida a voice on this very important subject. I strongly believe in the time honored principle of marriage being a union between one man and one woman, the foundation of any civilized society. Florida's Marriage Amendment will have my support in 2008.    » read more »