United States Mission Geneva

As United States Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, I wanted to register strong support for the request sent to you by my colleague, Ambassador Zamir Akram of Pakistan, in his capacity as Coordinator of the OIC Group on Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues in Geneva, dated July 9, 2010. In his letter, Ambassador Akram called to your attention a report that the Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida plans to hold an “international burn a Koran Day” on 11 September 2010 in alleged remembrance of the victims of 9/11 and to demonstrate against “the evil of Islam.”

We urge the international community to join us in supporting the Government of Afghanistan as it works to combat violence against and repression of girls seeking an education, and works to bring to justice those responsible for these outrages.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years.  The review of the United States will be in November 2010. As part of its preparation, the Department of State, with other federal agencies, has [...]

United States strongly supports the important work done by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, particularly its capacity-building activities to strengthen national rule-of-law systems and respect for human rights around the world.

The United States was extremely disappointed that the Latin American and Caribbean regional group put forward the single name of Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann to fill its vacant seat on the HRC advisory committee on June 18. (The vacancy arose upon the untimely death of one of the group’s representatives.) The position was filled without consultation with members from other regions.

Ambassador Donahoe: “The United States is deeply concerned about the recent inter-ethnic violence and the tragic loss of life in Kyrgyzstan. The adoption by consensus of today’s resolution on Kyrgyzstan demonstrates that Council member states can work together to respond to a crisis situation virtually in real time. The resolution condemns the provocations and violence in Osh and Jalalabad.

The United States, like many members of this body, is deeply concerned by and deplores the recent inter-ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan and the tragic loss of life there. We believe that this draft resolution, HRC/14/L.2, reflects this concern we all share.

Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; and slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” The United States deplores the subjection of human beings to modern forms of slavery in the 21st Century.

Ambassador Donahoe: “Today’s joint statement on the human rights situation in Iran is a significant accomplishment for the Human Rights Council. Fifty-six states from every region of the world came together in this joint statement of solidarity with the Iranian people, bringing much-needed focus and world attention to the human rights conditions in Iran. “